Stuck in Raleigh

I am supposed to be on a plane right now headed back to St. Louis, but it appears that the weather (or something) isn't cooperating and my plane has been delayed for hours.  I am still hopeful that I will be able to get out of here tonight. 

I've been in the Raleigh area since Sunday evening.  I managed to get several of my BOW blocks done while down here - I will post pictures later.  I also managed to make it to a few shops.  There were a couple of shops in Cary, one of which was mostly dedicated to machine sales and didn't have much fabric at all.  I didn't bother to go into that one.  The other, Elegant Stitches, ended up being right across the street from my hotel.  I didn't get any pictures, but it was a nice little shop with lots of really fun, bright fabrics.  I have fallen in love with Kim McClean's patterns and love the fabrics she uses - Kaffe Fasset's and other brights.  I can't wait for her "Stars and Sprigs" pattern to be released - I think it's due out in September.  I picked up several 1/8 yd pieces of bright, happy fabrics to save for that project.

The other shop I found just happened to be one of this year's "Quilt Sampler" featured shops.  Plain & Simple Quilt Shop is located in Apex, NC, and is absolutely wonderful!  The shop is located in an old house and each room has a theme.  The "cottage" room was full of Bunny Hill and Blackbird Designs-type patterns and fabrics:

Isn't it cute?  There were three other rooms and more displayed in the hallway.  One room was Civil War repros, another primitive, and the fourth was sale fabrics.  The hallway contained a couple of Moda lines and a really adorable new BOM the shop is offering:

Of course there were plenty of copies of "Quilt Sampler" available, too!  They had quite a few Primitive Gatherings patterns and a small selection of wool.  There were tons of Jo Morton fabrics.  I could have gone completely nuts in that place if I wasn't limited to what I could cram in my suitcase.  I picked up a cute pattern by a local designers and a really nice striped fabric that I think would make an awesome backgound for it.  I also grabbed a few neutral fat quarters - a quilter can never have too many! 

Teri Tope Workshop

I am still struggling to get used to the new blog design...I decided to give the new Blogger design tool a try and now can't figure out how to get rid of it!

Teri Henderson-Tope spoke at our guild meeting on Tuesday and I was able to sneak away from work for part of the day yesterday to attend her "Doodle in Reverse" workshop.  Her reverse applique is phenomenal!  I loved the workshop and can't wait to work on my project.  It's certainly a lot of work, though!  It took an hour and a half just to trace the pattern onto the background.  Teri had lots of great applique tips to share, and looking at her projects gave me all kinds of ideas.  I love reverse applique!  Here's a shot of Teri demonstrating how to reverse applique perfect circles:

I also managed to finally finish my Applique Affair block assignment for June.  It was such a relief to finally have it done!  Now it's time to work on the last My Garden Album block.  I am so excited about nearly having that one finished!

I plan to spend what little time is left this evening working on week two of the summer BOM.  I'm  so far behind - but what else is new?!?

Fantastic Weekend!

I had such a wonderful and productive weekend!  It's a shame there isn't some reason to be off on Monday at least once a month.  I got an early start to my weekend on Friday, heading over to Bread Company with a friend to sit outside (the weather was absolutely wonderful and completely atypical for this time of year) all afternoon and work on binding Bird Party.  I was 75% finished by the time we left for the day!  I finished whipping it Friday, stitched the binding tape down Saturday, and did the final steaming this morning. 

I finished the first week's applique blocks for the Summer BOW late last week but didn't get a picture posted.  I have prepped the applique for week two.  I haven't started on the pieced blocks yet.  I am absolutely loving this project!  The pieces are tiny but the blocks are so cute!

I also managed to finish the first sewing step of my Runaway Mystery quilt this weekend.  I was really worried about how all this scrappiness would turn out, but when the blocks came together I was very happy with them.  I took a peek at the next step thinking I would get going on it, but the first instruction involved making 80 of something - an immediate turn-off!  I went back to my applique.

Last, but not least, I did get some applique done.  I am still plugging away at last month's AA assignment.  It's an obnoxious block!  I have 27 of 45 pieces sewn.  I also took a quick break today and started one of the quilts that I have been wanting to work on for a long time - one of the Nancy Page Quilt Club patterns.  I appliqued one block but still need to add embroidery.  I will write more about the quilt and my Nancy Page obsession at a later time...

Home Again

What a crazy last couple of weeks I have had!  I headed to the Ozarks directly from the airport on Thursday. I finally made it home on Friday evening.  It's good to be back in the normal routine for a while!

It's once again time to review my progress against goals...this is starting to feel a lot like work! (Which reminds me...I never did write my mid-year review!) 

1. Applique Affair block 7 - started, but not very far along
2. My Garden Album block 11 - Done!
3. Hook June flowers - didn't happen...looks like a project for this weekend!
4. Finish Bird Party - Almost done - hooked and steamed, just needs to be bound
5. Runaway Mystery (finish Feb clue) - also didn't happen
6. Primitive Gatherings BOW (weeks 1 and 2) - week one applique completed
7. Sue Spargo BOM block 1 - didnt happen
8. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1 - partially completed

Hmmm.....it doesn't look like I did so well this month!  I did finish one item not on the list - the 2009 Summer BOW block.  That's about it for the month.  We were so busy on vacation that I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I hoped.

So here's another ambitious list for July...

1. Applique Affair block 7
2. My Garden Album block 12
3. Hook June & July flowers
4. Bind Bird Party
5. Runaway Mystery (finish Feb clue)
6. Primitive Gatherings BOW (all blocks for weeks 1-4)
7. Sue Spargo BOM block 1
8. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1

There's so much more that I want to work on such as my Baltimore blocks from Elly's workshops, but my list already seems too long.  I'm definitely going to make the best of the long holiday weekend!