Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop 2011

Thursday through Sunday is Atlanta's Quilt Shop Hop.  I missed the past couple of years and really didn't need to go this year but a little retail therapy would be good about now and well, there's my excuse.  The theme this year is A Quilter's Tour of Homes.
Thursday, I stopped by Intown Quilters on the way home from work. Intown's style is mostly modern fabrics, Kaffe Fassett, Amy Butler, batiks, and a lot of fabric from Freespirit and Westminster companies.  Intown was decked out like a coffee & tea shop. 

I can never resist gray and purple fabrics and I found a couple of fat quarters and a cute-as-can-be pattern for an owl tea cozy. 

I may have to make several owl tea cozies.

On Friday, I took a half-day off work and zoomed up to Little Quilts in Marietta.  To get to the shop, you turn at the Big Chicken.





 There is so much traffic in the metro area you can take photos from inside your vehicle. Not that I know first hand or anything...

Here is Little Quilts. 
Little Quilts can be very dangerous on the pocketbook....


I always want one of everything when I go there.... 







The shop was decked out as a bee hive.  With a super-cute display at the front door. 

I found some Barbara Brackman Civil War Reunion fabric for my Civil War block of the week quilt.  Red for the sashing and the purple-y fabric for  ????? I don't know but I really needed some.  I also picked up a few fat quarters to use in the quilt.  Little Quilts has the most tempting little fat quarter bundles all tied with ribbon. 



Next stop was Tiny Stitches in another part of Marietta.  I really should have taken photos of the shop dressed up as a castle and the Queen herself holding court. Check out the photos on my friend Becky's blog (she has some great ones).
Oh good you are back. Tiny Stitches is a great shop to find any kind of fabric.  They have LOTS!  Whatever you are looking for, it is probably there.  I bought some Lilac Hill fabric to go with the jelly roll I already have. 

I had to hurry before traffic got bad worse Dante's seventh circle of hell nightmarish.  I zoomed around the eastern side of Atlanta in a big arc south to Conyers to visit Sweet Home Quilt Co.
Sweet Home was decorated as a school house.  Since I am there at least once a month if not every other week, it was challenging to find something that I needed.   But look! I found a little bundle of purple wool.  Isn't that handy? Goes perfect with Lilac Hill.  Hmm. Needed that.

Saturday I stayed home and sewed sewed sewed on Eventide. I am ready to be done with this quilt!

Super Sunday Sewing

Edgar Poe being very cute :) and "helping"

No big (American) football fans here and yet I still went out to get pizza, Greek salad and buffalo wings for dinner LOL!  Not a whole lot going on this weekend, although at was at Sweet Home Quilt Co. twice this weekend. 

Saturday was the last Groovy Girls meeting.  I can't wait for the next season to start sometime after spring quilt market.

Today, I was there to pick up the first blocks for a block of the month.  I came right home and finished it. Each month is two 6-inch blocks made from Thangles.  There are three different colorways to choose from. I picked "folk art."

I finished sewing the jelly roll sampler top on Saturday (with Edgar Poe's help of course) and started my February UFO challenge (oops forgot to get a photo--will do next post). I also made this week's Civil War block called "Richmond".  Something was off with the measurements and it ended up kinda wonky with points missing. If I get ambitious, I may remake this maybe with the 4-patches a smidge smaller or just live with it.

I can't believe it's nearly Monday already.  Seems like this weekend flew by too fast.

"Block" Friday and Small Business Saturday

The only "black Friday" shopping I did was at Sweet Home Quilt Co.  Melisa opened the store at 7AM and had some great deals (and yes I was there at 7).  I *may* have bought some thread, a ruler, a book, and some various fabric goodies. My co-conspirator Kristie and I will never tell. It was a bunch of fun getting to the store nearly before the sun and shopping and chatting with Kristie.

That was about the extent of the excitement to my day yesterday.  I did finish catching up on my jelly roll BOM--it was BLOCK Friday after all.

Only 3 more blocks to go.

I bought Mackenzie's presents online and had them shipped to Michigan.  No waiting in line or traffic there.  Hope the economy is not relying on me lol!

Today is the first "Small Business Saturday" (started as a Facebook campaign I think) so make sure you visit your favorite small business in person or on-line (preferably your favorite quilt store) and shop local.  As Martha would say "It's a good thing!"

Edited to add: Oh I forgot to give my Thanksgiving report.  Wednesday I made 2 pecan pies with homemade crust.  I was in the kitchen from about 7AM til noon and made roast turkey, homemade rolls, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy and gingerbread cookies. I made green bean casserole for S. (I don't like the traditional dump-out-of-cans green bean casserole so I improvised and made steamed fresh green beans, a sauce with organic mushroom soup and fresh onions.)  I had eleventy hundred dirty dishes and used all my dish towels (all this for just S. and I!). S. helped by opening the can of organic cranberries lol! The cats had bites of turkey and they napped all afternoon. S. and I took a huge plate of food and a whole pie and the cookies up to Starbucks for my former co-workers.  They loved it!! And by 4PM were ready for some breaks and food. The best thing about the day was sharing dinner with friends and I didn't have to clean house.  A fun, laid-back day.

Fun Weekend

Halloween b-day cake!

It's my b-day weekend! And I'm having lots of fun watching movies, hanging out with friends, and of course, fabric, food, and cake are all in there somewheres too.

Sarah (no blog), Karin and Becky

Melisa at Sweet Home Quilt Co. was having a big sale on her porch.  Lots of quilters and Silver Thimble members showed up to stock up on patterns, books, and fabric. I bought some yardage for backings and a kit on sale.


S., E. and I went to Fox Bros. BBQ last night to celebrate my birthday.  I love barbecue and have several favorite BBQ joints around the metro area.  Fox Bros. is Texas-style BBQ and is always packed (you have to get there early or wait and wait and wait). 

A pint of local brew and fried dill pickles with ranch sauce--YUM!

E. had beef short ribs (looks more like something from the Flintstones!!), fried okra and Frito pie (Frito chips, chili, and cheese served in the little bag).

I think I'll eat salad all next week!

 S. had chopped pork and I had chopped beef brisket.  Their mac n' cheese is wonderful, the jalapeno cornbread with honey butter is to die for, and so is their banana pudding (made with real custard instead of box pudding). We left stuffed and with lunch for later. I had my banana pudding for breakfast :)


Last night we watched the movie Zombieland. It's a very funny movie (if you like zombie movies) and was filmed in Georgia so it was fun identifying all the locations.

Hope everyone is having a great October weekend!!!!

Another Finish and Celebrating October

I LOVE October!  Let's all do a Snoopy Happy Dance for October!  It is my absolute favorite month of the year.  October is the beginning of Autumn in the ATL; fall festivals; my favorite holiday Halloween; time for pumpkins, apples, squash, apple cider, stews, soups, and yummy comfort food; and oh yeah my birthday month!!!  I've been gathering some goodies for a big b-day giveaway later this month (check back or better yet sign up to be a follower if you are interested). Onto my next finish...
Voila! 

This poor quilt was lingering around without its binding for a couple of years(!!) and I finally finished it.  The pattern is by Gundrun (who is hosting a super fun October blog hop).  I can't remember what the real name of the quilt is but I call it "Sleep Deprivation" because I made the quilt while working insane hours at two jobs and the crazy colors and pattern perfectly fit my zombie life at the time.  Gorgeous colors in this Moda line.  My quilt holder was outside mowing the lawn so I thought I'd get photos in daylight so the colors would be true.

Yesterday was Groovy Girl day at Bad Melisa's.  Tons of fun at 8:30AM. Check out Melisa's new fall display as you walk in the store.

The project for this month is the best set of drawstring bags ever. I'll be working on several this month.
 
Melisa also has a great display of Dr. Seuss fabric. I love me some Dr. Seuss!  Especially the Grinch and Max.
 
















After a lengthy visit at Sweet Home, I went to Old Navy to finish up a little goodies box to send to Mackenzie.  I bought a great little bib for her at Target this week and rounded out the outfit with a Halloween shirt and socks at Old Navy. How cute is that shirt with the little black cat????!!!???  I bought some other cute fall outfits (no pink!) on clearance so she'll be stylin' this fall. I love being an aunt :)

Retro Blog Rewind: Inaugural Edition

Does anyone else come up with great blog posts in their mind then proceed to not blog about the events, then realize that too much time has past for the blog post to be timely, and then well, there it goes, missed blog opportunity? I hope so because I do this all the time.

So today's post is a Retro Blog Rewind Post! If I was clever and tech savvy, I would design a cute button for other bloggers to put on their blogs and start a whole trend.

Because I am not tech-savvy, I'll wait for someone else to co-opt my idea.

This inaugural Retro Blog Rewind Post is made under duress.

Seriously, if I don't post these photos, Sarah no-blog is going to come and get me. She is a physical therapist and they have ways of making you do painful things that you don't want to.

Not that blogging is painful; I'm just under pressure. So without further ado, here are photos taken by Sarah no-blog to go along with the previous post about the Party on the Porch at Sweet Home.

Here is Bad Melisa casting a spell on quilters in the surrounding five counties
("you shall come to Sweet Home and buy fabric, books, notions and patterns")
(see look what happened to Carol!!!)
And Cindi and Karin

Sarah no-blog is toting how many bolts???!!?? Don't you love her big bag? She is super sweet, a gifted quilter, and really needs to write her own blog.....

As reported previously, we started a new tradition this year with a post-Party on the Porch side trip to Bruster's Ice Cream
Say "Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Hot Fudge Sundae!!!!!"

The nice ice cream "dealers" at Bruster's took our photo
The End.

I really hope Sarah no-blog liked this post. And now back to our regularly scheduled blog....

Party on the Porch: Post Game Show

Well I forgot my camera for Party on the Porch. I do have a photo on my camera phone, which is at the moment not talking to my laptop. Technology failing me, I took this one from Karin's blog.
We had lots of fun playing games from 7Pm until Melisa finally let us in. If you see Melisa, be sure to ask her about making up rules to games in the middle of playing them...she is very good at this LOL!!! We also received little goodie bags and won prizes including some little patterns and chances to win a big bundle of fabric. Then the shopping began. I did pick up a couple of items.
. The new Quilt Sampler magazine, a jelly roll of Barbara Brackman's new line called "Arnold's Attic" and a couple of charm packs for more Schnibbling. There's my little goodie bag in the back.

Afterward, Sarah (no blog but needs one!), Cindi, Karin, and I went to Bruster's Ice Cream. Cindi, Karin, and I went all out on hot fudge sundaes with chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream (my favorite flavor!) . Sarah had a black cherry waffle cone (Sarah also has the incriminating photographs maybe it's a good thing she doesn't have a blog.....). Us party animals were out past 10PM on a Friday! Hope everyone has recovered... Friends, quilt shop shopping, and ice cream--what a great way to spend a Friday evening!

The rest of the weekend has gone by too quickly. I've worked on Double Delight in between doing some chores and having to go buy a new refrigerator today...More about that later...

I'll leave you with Morpheus doing some paw modeling.

And showing the last vintage collar wear.
He's so handsome!

Party on the Porch Pre-Game Show

Can I get a HOORAY it's Friday? Another rough week this week and I am SO happy it is Friday.

This isn't just any ol' Friday though.

This is Party on the Porch Friday!

"Bad" Melisa at Sweet Home Quilt Co. is celebrating the 5th b-day of the shop this weekend.

This is the porch that is going to be filled with quilters waiting to get into the shop for some late night shopping. Porch party starts at 7PM with fun, food, games, and general quilty rowdiness (yes, Melisa notifies Conyers Finest (police dept.) well beforehand...). She won't let us in the store until 8PM no matter how much we beg and carry on.

Why am I here writing this blog when I should be on my way? Well because ATL traffic is so bad either I got there at 4:30PM (and took a nap on the porch) or I get there at a fashionable time. I decided to come home and feed the kitties and get some chores done before I head back out.

Of course I don't need one little bit of fabric or a book or anything else but I could really use some fun-with-friends time so I'll be taking my camera and reporting back.

DIY for Quilters: Plumbing

This weekend it was time to tackle a pesky leaky bathtub faucet. I have been putting this off because (1) I didn't want to spend the money to hire a plumber and (2) although I've done two minor plumbing jobs, this seemed more complicated.

Step one in any DIY project when you are a quilter is:

Go to your favorite LQS. Yes that is step one. You need to visit your favorite place and hang out with some friends and soak up some good vibes.

I went to Sweet Home Quilt Co. to see what was new and sign up for Melisa's new Groovy Girls club that starts in September. Karin was there and she *made* me buy this cute-as-can-be little kit to make little Halloween treat bags from the new Quilts and More magazine

well actually I think it's Bad Melisa's fault because how can you resist this cute little bundle???
A bitty piece of Halloween fabric "just because", two charm packs for a future Schnibble, and some matching on-sale Moda marble and I was ready to tackle home repair. Trust me it works. Girl Power!!!

Step two: go home and drink some more coffee. While you fuel up on caffeine, check emails and blogs.

Step three: Call your dad and find out if he remembers where the main water shut off valve is. This serves two purposes (1) my dad has a good memory and can describe things over the phone well and (2) puts him on notice to keep his cell phone handy in case problem arise. After describing the water meter and lines under the house, sure enough, dad knew where it was. Turn off the water all the way. Remember righty tighty, lefty loosey. These things really need labels. Nice decorative hang tags or a small sign. As soon as I finish this plumbing job, I'm labeling everything in the crawl space.
With Martha Stewart gift tags.

Step four: Get your tool box and most importantly your laptop. Having a wireless router is so worth it just to be able to take my laptop all around the house.
Luckily the bathroom has a handy laptop holder. Use the power of Google to find several websites showing step-by-step instructions on how to take apart your faucet. Verify that the water is off completely, cover the drain with a old towel so you don't drop important pieces down the drain, and take apart the faucet. Use your favorite tools and cuss words here. Take all pieces and parts and put them in a quilt project bag (aka ziploc baggie).

Step five: Get thee to Home Depot. Wait do not go directly to the store go to.....

Step four and a half: Add more power steering fluid to Xena because along with everything else, Xena the truck is leaking power steering fluid. Geez... Realize you can't wash your hands because you turned off the water....

Step five: go to Home Depot with your quilt project bag and match old pieces to new pieces in the plumbing aisle. This takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Spend a few minutes wondering why the silicone caulk and teflon tape are not with the plumbing supplies. Wander around and get these items from their most unlikely places.

Step six: go home and start replacing pieces which requires three hands. I only have two. Use whatever tools seem helpful. Bash your knuckle and drop crucial piece down inside the wall. Use more favorite cuss words here.

Step seven: go to Lowe's. It's closer and you are now sweaty and grumpy and still can't wash your hands. Wonder why they don't sell big bags of M&Ms and wine at Lowe's because you could really use some of both right about now. Buy replacement piece.

Step eight: Get back home. Say in a loud voice "let's do this!" Cats think you are crazy and wonder why you are playing in the bathtub. Finish putting faucet back together. Be amazed with yourself.

Step nine: turn the water back on, remove camera, laptop, cell phone from bathroom--just in case... Be even more amazed with yourself when nothing leaks and faucet is working correctly. Finish tightening all fittings and get silicone caulk all over everything. Realize you are even more sweaty, gross, and now sticky and you can't take a shower for three hours until the caulk is set. The bathtub is dirty with footprints and ooky stuff from the old pieces. Be happy no one is around except the cats.

Step ten call your dad so he can be proud of you. Be proud of yourself. Wonder if you can join the plumbers union.

Step eleven: Call for take out and quilt the rest of the weekend. You did good.

An Adventure for Morph and A Quilty Weekend for Me

I thought I'd start off this weekend wrap-up post with a funny story from Friday. I had to take Morph to the vet to get some blood work checked. My cats all hate going to the vet. They hate being tricked into getting in the cat carrier and they hate riding in the car and protest all the way. By the time we get there, me and whichever cat is going along is pretty frazzled. Morph meows at the top of his lungs all the way there. On a scale of 1 to 10, Morph's going-to-the-vet meow is 11.

As I drive to the vet, I try to calm him down by talking softly, singing a shhhh it's OK song, listening to BBC podcasts and anything else I can think of. On Friday, there were lots of Gwinnett Co. police out, so as I was trying to calm Morph down and stay calm myself, I also wanted to make sure I wasn't speeding (aka trying to get to the vet quicker). About a mile from the vet's office, the blue lights came on behind me.

Oh good grief! This is not what I need right now with Morph meowing at volume 11 and me frazzled and British historian David Cannadine lecturing on my iPod. I pulled into a parking lot and told Morph "we just got pulled over by the cops, please be quiet so I don't have to explain why you are meowing so loud, please, pretty please." Morph said "Meow?"

The cop wanted to let me know that I had a tail light out and went back to his car with my license. Morph said "Meow?" I said "Hang on the cop is coming back." I got my license back and promised to get my tail light fixed and was let on our merry way. Morph continued meowing at volume 11 the last mile, into the vet's office, in the exam room, and in the back throughout his blood draw. I had the vet check Morph's teeth because and sure enough Morph needs to go back and get his teeth cleaned and perhaps one pulled. I better get that tail light fixed before we venture out again....
Morph needed a nap after his big day.
On to quilting--

It was Thimbles weekend and I had fun sewing with the gang on Saturday. I worked on another Schnibble and some more little nine-patches for Scrappy Nines. I sewed some more after I got home and then all day today. Here's a hodge-podge of things. Two more blocks done for the Moose on the Porch jelly roll quilt sampler.
Blocks 9 and 10.
Here is the latest block from the Quilt Room jelly roll BOM sampler
Block 5. I am really loving this quilt! And am anxiously awaiting a new book from those fab Lintott ladies. I hope Bad Melisa has my name on one :)

Speaking of Bad Melisa's, here is the Schnibble I worked on last weekend at Sweet Home. It's "Cindy Lou Who" made in the new Moda line "Park Avenue." Charm packs and pattern bought at Sweet Home.

I'm trying to decide whether to add an outer border or not. I'll let it age a week or so and decide then.

Sewing at Sweet Home

Some friends and I had reserved the upstairs classroom at Sweet Home Quilt Co. for a sewing day. Karin and Cindi arrived before I did and were busy checking out all the new fabrics and bringing in their stuff. Becky and Kristie had to miss out this time :( Melisa had rearranged the store and Mr. Brown Truck had brought lots of goodies since the last time I was there.
. Melisa had the store decorated for Teddy Bear Picnic Day. How great is that huge bear? It was a fun sewing day. We alternately worked on projects and went downstairs to check out the shop. I nearly finished a Schnibble top; I'll post it tomorrow. Karin was working on a Christmas quilt and Cindi was finishing up a quilt for her nephew.
I was so busy I forget to take more photos except for a display of fabrics coming soon to Sweet Home.
Looks like Moda man is bringing some great new lines soon!!

In sports now--is everyone ready for the World Cup finals? I'll be cheering on the Netherlands, sewing, and getting photos and posts together from my trip to Michigan.

Fabric Fix

Yesterday I was in need of a serious fabric fix so I took a road trip to Bad Melisa's AKA Sweet Home Quilt Co.

Melisa's hydrangeas were beautiful! I was so happy to see Melisa and hear all about Spring Quilt Market. Apparently wool is back "in" which will make my mom happy. My mom will also be happy to hear that Moda is making silks and linens for crazy quilting. My mom loves crazy quilts and has one started. Does anyone else out there do crazy quilting?

Melisa had lots of new yummy fabric. Since I wasn't shopping for anything in particular (maybe because I have fifty-eleven projects already), I spent a lot of time wandering around looking at everything. I ended up deciding on 2 charm packs (time for another Schnibble quilt I think) and I broke down and bought a jelly roll of the latest French General line (even though I told myself I really didn't "need" another jelly roll...) because I know I'll regret not having some of this line when it disappears.
I just love the timeworn and timeless look of French General fabrics don't you?

I also wanted to pick up two books I saw in a bunch of quilt market posts. I just couldn't wait to get my copy of the new Blackbird Designs and Primitive Gatherings books. These are just as wonderful as I expected and now I need to add a couple more years to my already overwhelming amount of quilt project-making lifespan.

Which brings me to the award-winning klutz moment of my Saturday. Upon arriving home, I happily settled on the couch with my lunch (cereal) and the Country Inn book when for absolutely no reason at all I dropped my bowl of cereal and milk all over me and the open book.
.......Yes, that's exactly what I said....or maybe worse....
What a mess! I flung the book on the floor to get the milk off as quickly as possible. Milk and book pages do not go together. Not to mention cereal flakes all over the floor. Luckily the couch escaped. So I cleaned up as best I could and I hope the book isn't completely ruined. At least the pages aren't stuck together but it just one of those things that make you disgusted in a completely out of proportional amount.

Anyway--I haven't sewn much this past week and am behind in the jelly roll sampler BOM and really need to get back to those 895 million bitty nine-patches but so you don't think all is lost here at Stella Bella's, I did start working on my Hocuspocusville stitchery. I hope to have this done by oh maybe Halloween 2012....