Quilting, quilting, quilting....

I got to sew this weekend! It was wonderful! Due to my self inflicted sewing exile to study-I have not sewn since Christmas! I did sneak in a quick table runner but that didn't count because it was a stress break versus and real sewing opportunity. Saturday I got to get to work on my stained glass wall hanging and made great progress. As I was working I was uncertain about my color choices but as it came together I am quite pleased and excited to see it hanging on my wall. I will tell you though that all those pieces were quite annoying to me-trace, iron on fabric, cut them out again, fuse on the main blocks, machine applique.....on and on and on. I will re-think a project like this again-SO FAMILY THAT READS THIS-when you see my beautiful wall hanging-NO YOU CANNOT have one too-sorry I cannot subject myself to such monotony again! ;) Although I would gladly loan my wall hangings for a small fee-gotta save for that frame exclusive machine somehow.

I did have an opportunity to pick up the Thangles BOM that my local quilt shop is having this year. I chose the fall colors-it is one block a month versus the past 2 years which were 6 smaller blocks a month. I had a hard time keeping up-lol-I still am sitting on about 4 months of the batik paper pieced quilt. OH well, add it to the list! Can you believe that I had to buy 1.75" Thangles?! Gasp! Those who know my quilting style-I DO NOT LIKE or CONDONE Gadgets and Gizmo's. So for me to buy a Thangle it truly is an event-and shhh don't tell but I LOVE them and now have them in every size available! After 9/11 Mom wanted something patriotic for her office wall. So we saw a picture in a magazine and recreated the wall hanging. The daggone thing had a gazillion 1/2 square triangles in a variety of reds and whites-I made 1/2 square triangles for DAYS! I hated them by the time I was done. Two years ago I bought a Jack-O-Lantern kit that used 5" Thangles-WHERE WERE THESE THE YEAR I WAS DOING THOSE FLAG WALL HANGINGS!! I used them again for tree skirts and now the list goes on and on and on-no more 7/8's for me!

Well shopping in Atlanta was not successful in terms of the shopping list-it was successful for other stuff!! I did a nice little 2 hour road trip after my meetings on Thursday. I travelled to a cute shop in Conyers, GA called Sweet Home Quilt Co. It was real cute and had a nice assortment of wools. I didn't find anything on my list but I ended up with the Little Miranda bag pattern and some Moda fabric for the bag.

The next stop was in Marietta, GA at Tiny Stitches. This shop had a great variety of patterns but I will admit I suffered from sticker shock. The patterns and books were reasonable but holy cow-$4 for a fat quarter-I was afraid to look at an entire bolt. That certainly didn't stop me from buying-I got a Layer Cake book and a roll of fat quarters that are Coffee themed and crazy brown, cream and blue colors-I love them! I picked them out of a sale bucket!

The final stop was Red Hen Fabric-too cute! it is a bright red building with a quilt painted on the side. Inside it is jammed packed with fabrics, books and gadgets. It was nice to wander through and see all the colors-I would have liked to been inspired to pick out a project but my commitment list of 2009 was nagging me so I refrained.....darn!! I did walk away with 2 fat quarter which cost me $4 total!!

Sunday's Super Bowl was GREAT-4 HOURS of uninterrupted sewing time!! I got all the pieces cut out for my stained glass wall hanging-what in the world was I thinking!! There are 8 stained glass looking blocks-each with 4 pieces-then there are another 8 blocks with pieced centers-UGH! Not only ironing them on to the fusible web, but then cutting them out and then sewing the 3/4 in strips together! The cherry on the top was having to order the Clover Fusible Quick Bias Binding-jeese $42 later! Oh well-it will be beautiful and well worth it when I am done-hopefully in this lifetime. ;)

I have joined, and been accepted in, Toni's Miniature Booty Swap 3. This time around we will be creating for our partner's kitchen. I have some ideas and think that I bought the perfect fabric in Nags Head last summer-now where could I have put it when I organized everything.....hmmmm.