My Annual "May" Run

May run around here refers to opening of fishing season...but for me it is quilt sale and my road trip to see my two quilting buddies. We are known as the "fabric piranhas"!

My bounty from the quilt store

Yesterday three other friends and myself headed to my favorite local quilt store(two hour drive away) for her annual 50% off sale. I cleaned up, bought enough fabric for 3 quilts plus a couple of extra pieces that were to pretty to leave behind.
The burgandy,beige and thimbleberrie(upper right) are for a sampler quilt for an DH aunt.Dusty rose print(lower left) is backing for a whole cloth quilt with the darker for binding. The teal and beige(upper left) are for a wedding present, need a chocolate brown yet. I am making a feathered star quilt with that.The teal was bought for the front of the quilt but I might use it for the backing instead. The other little pile(lower right) is just pretty. The teals are what I am looking for the wedding quilt but there wasn't enough yardage but don't they match that floral stripe well. It was meant to be. I have more of the floral line that I can add to.
During our full day we even fit in a stop at a yarn store.
Next week I head south to spend some time at a couple quilt shows and shopping with the other two piranhas.I always come home so inspired and exhausted. I always feel like a kid in a candy store. There are so many quilts stores to see there and I haven't many in my local area. So now it is to get going and making these piles into quilts. I always have a hard time starting a new quilt...that first cut into yardage is intimidating!! But here goes.....

Happy Snowy Mother's Day

Yup that is snow or slush!

That's right it is snowing, slushing whatever you want to call that wet, thick rain! So definitely no stitching outside today for me. But I got to do some knitting in the car  on a 3 hour round trip me and DH took this morning to pick up a water tank for his hunt camp. The rest of the day I am just relaxing and enjoying the day...indoors!

It is cold and wet 

embroidery, 1 strand of orange and 1 of yellow

 With just a little handstitching and trying to keep warm.Last weekend I was sunburned and this week we are back to heavy coats.....even I(who loves the snow) wants summer to begin!!! So I am doing some finishing on a project that I started 5 or more years ago. Embroidering these blocks and then cutting them apart. I have some fabric set aside especially for this in oranges with dragon flies!
This week my favorite quilt store is having a half price sale and I received a gift certificate for the store for Mother's Day...woohoo you know where I am headed...road tripping with some girlfriends this week. Enjoy your week too!!

Good News all Around!

My 2nd place machine quilted quilt

Well it has been a busy April. Our quilt show is over and it was a success. Anytime you can raise money for a good cause, it is always a success. I entered one quilt to be judged and I won a ribbon. I was proud of this one because I free motion quilted it by myself on my machine. Anyone who knows me knows I am a hand quilter at heart but sometimes  I will machine quilt and this one pushed my limits.

Older quilt with embroidery, some stitches are missing

One of the pillowcases, isn't the embroidery pretty

The other weekend I helped to empty my hubby's aunt's house. I brought lots of goodies home with me including a 1918 Singer Sphynx treadle sewing machine(that needs some TLC),household goodies and several  large tubs of yarn. I also saved some older embroider pillowcases.I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them but after washing them and finding one pair shredded because of age and idea came to me. I have this older quilt, that I was given by my mother,it was sandwiched between two pieces of more modern fabrics to make it usable. I removed the outer fabrics to find this treasure but the binding was ragged  and I wanted to repair the it and didn't have similar fabric to use.The older pillowcases I got are just about the same fabric so I cut two of the better ones up  to make binding. Don't scream and yell at me, I saved the embroidered part to make a small doily or something. I could have gotten enough out of one pillow case but it was really yellow in spots so it took two cases to do the binding. Very please at  least now I can display the quilt and enjoy looking at it.

Yesterday was cleaning day in my sewing room. I have been just dumping things into it and I was barely able to enter the room. So today I am stepping back into my two mystery quilts that I am teaching at the guilds I belong to.
Well got things to do and the girls are coming over this afternoon to knit so the morning is going to go by fast! Have a great day!!

A Deer Day

Enjoying birdseed and apple I put out last night

So when you start your day off seeing this cute little fellow at your back door, you know it is going to be a good day. I could just watch them all day. He(she) not sure, is one of three that have been visiting regularly this winter.Hubby says soon momma will kick these young ones out in preparation for the new fawns.

Today is a sewing day...well all week will be.Dear hubby is out of town so I get a "ME" week. I will post later this week all that I got accomplished. Till then you can enjoy these shots I got of my visitors!
Have a great week!

Outside my backdoor 12feet away

Family on the other side of the creek

Slow Stitching Sunday

April   14 outside my front door

A slow stitching day is just what is needed today. Last evening my hubby and myself were invited to a potluck dinner of epic proportions. Only catch he had to bring along his guitar to play with the six or so others muscians.....country and bluegrass music!There is just nothing like a room full of people playing and those of us, enjoying the music.

Little fairies fabric for a little girl

 So today is a lazy day here and as I look outside there is no incentive to outdoors. We have had a freak spring/winter storm which left 6-8 inches of snow on the ground.

Pooh and friends

 So today I will finish the borders and maybe machine quilt this one on the right and I just have the binding to do on this one below . Our neice has adopted a baby and while in the midst of the paperwork she found out she was pregnant. So voila...two new additions to our family. So these two quilts are for them.

Head over to Kathy's Quilts and see what others are doing on slow stitching Sunday!

Will Spring ever Spring?

My cousin's bag, she wanted red and black,
hope it isn't to light for her!

Well Easter has come and gone and the house is getting back to normal. But the weather that is another thing! We have had sunshine,snow and blustery winds which are more part of late November weather not April. Oh well that just means that I can stay indoors and sew, and that is what I have been doing. I have gotten caught up on my 2 mysterious, and made a bag for a cousin who has wanted one for awhile and hemmed a pair of pants for a friend (she  gives me maple syrup as payment). Today I have the morning to sew and put laundry away and then off to knitting this afternoon with the girls.

Spring has sprung!

Our dog watching for squirrels

Appliqueing down the pink corners

Happy Easter everyone...although here it looks gloomy and overcast ...Spring is definitely in the air and the snow is leaving very slowly. My pretty pic of the creek is not quite as pretty now. So before the great outdoors beckons me outside to garden and other things, I am going to try and finish up some UFO indoors. On this slow stitching sunday, that  Kathy Quilts has...I am working on some applique for a mystery quilt and hand sewing down the binding on my daughter's quilt. Yes it is finally off the poles but before she gets to take it to her new apartment, I am going to put it in our quilt show at the end of April. And if there is time before supper, I will finish the bag I started putting together yesterday. It is not ambition...but all the chocolate the Easter Bunny left that has me doing circles!!!

Daughter's quilt just needs binding completedcreek