Dresden Plate Tea Towel

I finished the binding on my little frog and forgot I had a cute little button to put on there too. I also decorated a nice towel for another friend of mine, she loves green. I got this towel at the quilt shop and found one fat quarter of the green floral fabric to go with it. I made a small Dresden Plate to decorate the towel with, and I mean small. I cut the wedges at 2 inches, then the circle was so huge and I didn't really have anything to go with it so I just used the same fabric. I could have gotten my circle on a bit better but it still looks OK. I machine stitched around the circle and the wedges I thought it would be more durable. I really don't think she will use it but you never know. I don't think I would use it only to decorate with. Do you have any decorative towels you use??

Fabric Shopping

Yesterday I met Amy for a bit of fabric shopping at my favorite quilt shop in the area. It is a bit of a hike but I do love Sarah's as I had blogged about her store before.

I got caught in a bit of a traffic jam while leaving home. I had to stop so they could get this big thing up the road. It is the bottom of a windmill and it was headed for Illinois. They were going the long way around because they were headed north. I couldn't believe how big it was.

So then on to some fun. Amy and I had a great time, we actually went to two shops. The first one carries the Amy Bradley Designs and have a lot of her quilts in their shop as well. Amy is a local designer and is friends with the shop owner. You can see Amy Bradley's site here. She has some really cute patterns. Amy has one of a quilt lady and it reminds me of Madame Samm when I see it.

Then we went onto Sarah's and tried to see everything that Sarah has in the store, I really don't think that is possible but we gave it a good try. Amy got some nice fabrics and here are the ones that I got one yard cuts of each.....click on over to Amy's site and see her things. Oh and the cute little lady frog I found in the first shop we went into. She was so cute I just could not resist buying her. Every rose garden needs a frog. I am going to keep her around so you will see more of her. Any suggestions for a name for Miss Frog?

Ten Minutes? -----Yeah!

Amy got a pattern for a 10 Minute Table Runner the other day when we went shopping. She has been making them and getting some emails about the pattern. She posted a tutorial this afternoon so I thought I would make one up just to see. Well it worked great. I just pulled some fabric that I have had for ages and ages and made one. I wish I had some cute buttons to put on it but I can just sew the edges down since I think I will send this to my Mom for one of her tables.

Go and check out Amy's tutorial here. Thanks Amy for the great job on the tutorial.

No Internet So I Went Shopping......

I have not had a phone or the internet since Wednesday. Actually it started on Monday. Apparently there was a bad wire on the box outside the house. We are finally back up and running now and I am way behind on blog reading and everything else.

I took the day off yesterday and met Amy at another quilt shop. In fact we did go back to one of the ones from last week. We both got some fabrics and had a great time. I just got some fat quarters and these charm packs. Two of the charm packs I got last week and thought I would get another of Punctuation. The Swell charm pack I bought last week with Amy.

We also saw this 10 minute table runner. Amy bought a kit for it and made one you can see it here. I am going to make a couple of them as gifts. I like something that makes up quick. It calls for 1/2 a yard of a focus fabric and 1/3 yard of an accent fabric, just a couple of seams and your done.

Next Amy wants to go to Sarah's (I posted about Sarah's here) we will have to save up some before we go there.

Be sure and check out Amy's blog to see the table runner she made and the fabrics she bought. Talk to you all later.

A Nice Surprise!

Quilting friends are the nicest people! I got to know Jenna through the Bees Knees, the virtual quilt bee that I am in. We are almost done with that now but Jenna and I have had occasion to email back and forth and her blog Jennadesigns is a regular read of mine. She is super sweet. She made some ipod cases using the nicest fabric. I had commented on how nice they were so she surprised me and sent me one. Also in the package was a huge bar of dark chocolate, one of my favorites. Jenna knows me well.

I just love the little button on the outside of the case and the fabric she used for the inside of it. So thank you so very much Jenna for the nicest surprise. Quilting friends are always best friends. Hop on over to her blog and take a look at all her crafty projects.

My Mom Did It Again!

Old Quilt Magazines and Books

Here are some 50+ magazines and about 4 books that my Mom sent me from an estate that she worked on. I didn't look at all of them yet nor all of the dates but one was from 1981. I love to look at the old magazines. Most of them are in black and white but some of the later ones are in color. Still they are fun to look at. Like the one that has the article on scrap quilts and the pattern for a tumbler quilt. Amy included about 100 or so tumblers that she cut for me in the Christmas box. Then she said if I wanted some more tumblers cut to make it a bit bigger then let her know. I decided that I wanted to make my quilt a bit bigger so she is cutting me some more tumblers. Hooray for Amy and thanks a bunch, your the best.

On another note we are due to have a big storm come in tonight and leave us with 5 to 8 inches of snow. We shall see. Some snow I don't mind but when it makes driving hazardous then I don't like it. It should be a good time to cut some more fabric for those 2 scrap quilts I am working on. Everyone stay safe.

WOW! Look At The Goodies

My dear friend Amy from Not Always With Thread blog fame sent me the most wonderful package! Talk about loot! The beautiful Batiks, the sweet panel, and the tumblers! She cut them with her new AccuQuilt cutter. I have been dying to make a tumbler quilt and these are perfect! Plus all the other goodies wow, I can't get over it. She is very generous and has brightened my Christmas with her gift.

Here is a better photo of the panel that Amy sent. It matches the fabric in this quilt I did a while back. I am going to practice some hand quilting on it. Actually there are two panels, one is on the back so I have two of them to do.

 I ate one of the candies, she knows I love chocolate, like life itself. These little yummies are chocolate covered chocolate and each bite is delicious, maybe I should say each chew because I am greedy when it comes to chocolate and shove the whole thing in my mouth. Believe me, they won't last long and Norm better get one soon if he wants one or else.... So good Amy. I love everything in the box! Thanks so very much, your the best! Love ya!

How Many People Does It Take To Square Up A Quilt?

At least 4! Yup that is right 4 of us, the 2 husbands and the two of us. Amy had an old Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt that she wanted to square up so she could get it quilted and use it. I have a huge quilt table in the basement and told her she could come down to square it up if she wanted to. Joey and Amy came yesterday and it took all 4 of us to get it straight. The guys had a lot of input and helped us by making sure it was square and held the rulers steady. It seemed as though the more you looked at it the more it was off some place. You can read Amy's post about the quilt and see more photos of the process here.

We had a great time working on the quilt. I hope she gets the borders on it soon and gets it finished up so we can all see it. Now we have one more to do so come on Amy get that edge torn off so we can get it done.

A Pleasant Surprise!

I came home from my local quilt shop today(more on that later) to find a package in the mail that was a total surprise and a very nice one too. Susan of Hanging on by a Needle and Thread sent me a snippet bag and a Cancer Hope bracelet. The snippet basket is made out of the cutest fabric. I just love it and will use it. Maybe I won't have so many snippets running around the house now. So very kind of you Susan and thank you so much for your generosity.

Meeting a Blogger

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow blogger, Amy. I knew Amy from another quilt blog but we both left that blog and lost track of each other. Then she found my blog, left a comment and I replied. I had known that Amy's husband does the sort of work where they have to travel a lot. Traveling like she does has its advantages. Some of the deals and all the nice quilt shops she has been too, wow. Right now they are within 60 miles of me. What fun we had.

The photo above is an old building in the town where Amy is. They are doing some repair work on it. I thought it was such a neat building I had to take a photo of it. It is just up the street from the LQS.

At the LQS we got some bargains, they were having their Christmas in July in August sale, guess they have been busy and didn't have time for the sale in July. It worked for me. Amy and I both got fabric and a pattern. These are the goodies I got. I need some pink for another quilt, just a small one for now. I thought these fabrics looked like fun to work with and the pattern is simple and quickly done. And I hope I will be able to do some free motion quilting on it, now I said I hope! I am slowly getting the hang of it, finally.

Then Amy gave me some goodies out of her stash. I liked the color and I can get some brown and some cream to go with it for a quilt we were talking about yesterday. Thanks so much Amy, you are so kind. I hope we can get together again very soon and make the most of your being around while we can.

An Award!

Happy Cottage Quilter gave several blogger's an award the other day, I was among them. Thank You Jocelyn, you are very kind.

We are to pass this along to 8 other blogger's. I have thought about this and there are so many wonderful blogger's that come to my blog and leave comments. I enjoy reading them all. There is so much inspiration in these blogs, not to mention talent, kindness, & generosity.

I do have a few to list but as far as I am concerned I find blogspot a very friendly place to be.

Susan @ http://hangingonbyaneedleandthread.blogspot.com/

Cheryl @ http://ozarkcastle.blogspot.com/

Erin @ http://vesuviusmama.blogspot.com/

Angela @ http://countryscrapuilts.blogspot.com/

Molly @ http://caplady.blogspot.com/ & Jay @ http://chattingwithjay.blogspot.com/ (those 2 just go together)

Debbie @ http://anunruffledfeather.blogspot.com/

Vera @ http://verasquilts.blogspot.com/

and the two ladies @ http://wherethewildthingcrafts.blogspot.com/ they are just getting started in blogging and I have a special attachment to one of them.

There are so many more I can list but I am making this way too long. If you don't want to pass this along it is fine. Here is an Honory Friendship Award as well.

I also want to include all those that I knew from the other blog and came over here, Lane,Quilter, ShirleyMac, Hazel,JnL4God ,Quiltluver, Becky, Auntie M , oldbatt, and of course Happy Cottage Quilter. I can't keep track of all of them or list them all but they know and Thank You all for all your encouraging words on the other blog and this one too.

Antique Show and Sale

Today I thought I would take the day off from all the cleaning and reorganizing we have been doing here lately and while my hubby went to work I went to the Antique Show and Sale for some fun. I was not disappointed. I thought I would share a few beautiful things with you.

First this lovely blue ware. Some of this that is so very blue is called

flow blue, because the blue dye went

all the way through to the back.

Next for Happy Cottage Quilter

Along with this lovely set.

Then I saw this beauty, what a lamp ! Any

one of us could afford it, it was cheap, just

kidding. It had

a price tag of over

$10,000. But it was pretty and the shade was at

least 20 inches across the bottom.

I will post some photos of the quilts that I saw

tomorrow.