144 miles, 7 1/2 hours later....

...I made it to 5 more shops today! So close! I have one more shop tomorrow. This SHOP HOPPIN' business is HARD WORK!

OK....first stop this morning was in Byrne Sewing Connection. This shop is HUGE and is all about the machines and the classes. If I ever decide to REALLY LEARN how to sew/quilt....this would be a good place to get to know! (hee) Oh...and they had SILK fabrics and patterns for fabulous things...(spendy spendy, tho'!) Bonus points to them for thinking to have mini bottles of water for their guests! (Like JCrew stores. I think everyone should offer these....but not exactly GREEN, I guess). OK...I digress....here is their take on the SHOP HOP quilt:

Next stop was Country Quiltworks....this is one I could have spent HOURS IN. Lots of great fabrics (bonus points for also offering FAT 1/8ths!) and tons of patterns and samples everywhere. They had some Amy Butler that I hadn't seen elsewhere, and Heather Bailey patterns (no fabric tho! Am I destined to NEVER SEE THAT STUFF IN A DANG SHOP?) I scored the LAST strawberry pincushion kit! (lovely felts/wool bits)....but did not splurge for the $12 patterns. Ugh. Remember the good ole days when patterns were 50 or 75 cents? This shop gets bonus points for offering up an extra pattern with their quilt block for the Shop Hoppers. It's for a Christmas Tree made of fabric yo-yo's. Cute. Their quilt was done in black, white, and tans (sorry for the lousy photo...it was much lovlier in person!)

My haul!

They had a FULL ROOM devoted to patterns and books...and in the center was a twin bed with this gorgeous quilt: "I SPY" - all novelty fabrics....and some really lovely pillows. YUMMY fabrics, don't you think? The I SPY quilt is 6" blocks with squares appliqued in the corners somehow....clever clever....I need to look into that pattern!
Yum Yum....scrappy pillows.

Third shop was Granny's Sewing Den. They get bonus points for giving away a piece of fabric to each Shop Hopper! AND...instead of doing a full quilt? They made each block into a PURSE. How clever is THAT? (AND...they are raffling off one of the totes....a dollar a chance. WOOT!) Favorite find there was the retro Santa fabric (like MOM's SANTA MUGS, sisters!)

These purses were really well made. I'd be happy to win ANY of them...I forget which one is being raffled off. Not a fan of the fabric selection...but they looked great all grouped together. Very clever, eh?

My haul from Granny's! The black fabric with the Christmas balls on it was the "free gift." Very nice!

Number 4 stop today was Quilter's Corner....this is a shop I frequent fairly often....and since I was short on time...I dashed in and got my book stamped and zipped out. I wish I had time to linger...looked like they have lots of new bolts since I was there last. They are raffling off their Shop Hop quilt - you get one chance for every 10 dollars you spend! Nice! I saw some really cool retro or comic book strip looking fabrics that have you written ALL OVER THEM, Stella!! Gotta get back there soon to check that out.... here is their quilt:

And my fifth and final stop for the day was in Neward DE at Quilter's Hive. This shop is new to me also...TONS of space - lots of beautiful samples and nice selection of fabrics...I scored another piece of Amy Butler's Belle collection as my final purchase of the day! yippie!

I {heart} you, Amy Butler's Belle Collection, I do!

OK...off to go PLAY with my new toys now!

I really, really do....

....and I really, really loved Purl Patchwork, too...

Scraps are your FRIENDS!

Remember the fabulous stash of Anna Maria Horner fabric I bought last year? Here is another pillow...my first attempt at the "wonky log cabin" square (inner logs not 'wonky' enough...I think I get it now, tho'!) Suddenly in love with WHITE sashing. (Tho' that means VERY clean backs of your square, because every.little.thread.shows.up.behind.white!) The back of this pillow is cut from fat quarter from AMH's Chocolate Lollipop line....and I used a WHOLE BAG of polyfil to stuff it.

How about a sneak peak at my "design wall" (more like a scrap of quilt batting taped to the basement door. Wonder what the pizza delivery guy thinks when he gets a peak at it from the doorway?) Hoping that masking tape doesn't take the PAINT OFF THE DOOR when I take it down? hmmm....good reason to leave it!

Sewing Basket Make-Over

Yes---I did the unthinkable. I took the LONGABERGER FABRIC off the lid of my LONGABERGER SEWING BASKET! (It was Garden Splendor, for those fellow or former cult members! But shhhhh!! Don't tell Tami or Rachel! hee!)

But how lovely is this? All Anna Maria Horner fabrics (from her Garden Party line). So loving piecework these days....

Fabric fabric everywhere...

....but not in the trashcan!

That's right. I admit it. I cannot toss even the SMALLEST smidge of fabric. Is it just me or do you "real quilters" and seamstresses do this? I have a stash of cut pieces as large as 9" squares, and my "save this piece because it is AMY BUTLER FOR HEAVENS SAKE!" and the 2x2" pieces awaiting assembly into a postage stamp quilt...all the way down to piles of snips from the yo-yo's.

And yes...I actually sat today and stitched a fistful of the yo-yo scrappies onto a piece of canvas.

Don't ask how much time I spent arranging and rearranging the bits and pieces.

It's a sickness, isn't it?

Treats Two Days in a Row!! I'm Not Worthy!!!

OH MY.

Lookie lookie lookie what just arrived!! (thanks to Anna Maria Horner's holiday sale - 15% off studio stacks---my prezzie to me and Sirryha for stitching goodies for her room. And no worries--there is plenty extra for other prezzies through the year....watch for RAKs, my peeps!)

Seriously. Anna Maria Horner's new line- Good Folks - is due out THIS MONTH (where is it where is it where is it????) And I am still in love with the latest two (Garden Party and Drawing Room.) Planning to do lots of room and wall decor in Sirryha's room (in progress! big reveal when done!)

I can't stand it!! Opened my STUDIO SCRAPS bag and out popped a half dozen or so TRIANGLES (some already pieced together)....which I remembered from this post. And how perfectly SERENDIPITOUS is THAT because the project I plan to work on next for Little Miss's room is a fabric banner.....(inspired here and here)...and oh my let me hurry with my other projects that are OVERDUE so I can get to these, too!! xo

Can I Just Move in Here?

Photo from Anna Maria Horner's (Prizewinning!) Quilter's Market Booth

Oh how much do I love these BLUE WALLS? I have been daydreaming for weeks now about redoing Little Miss's room....always come back to the lovely, talented Anna Maria Horner's blog for inspiration...

I have a small can of cherry red paint that I am using to recolor picture frames and some small doll furniture...(Christmas-y--then they will find a full-time home in Sirryha's room!)

...and tonight I am putting together an inspiration board of photos and images that are yummy to me. (And THEN I will start on the holiday cards! There's still time, right? sigh.)

More pics from Anna Maria Horner's blog....seriously--how does she get it all done? She has FIVE CHILDREN AND ONE ON THE WAY! wha? Seriously! SERIOUSLY!

Is it the weekend yet?

'Cause I'd rather be playing with this stuff rather than going to work again in 12 hours. Working on a set of fabric blocks for Little Miss (this one took an ENTIRE BAG OF POLYFIL! Yikes. Gonna have t0 scale down!) And the quilt topper is for a doll bed in the making (2 inch squares)....it matches Little Miss's Crazy Nine Patch quilt. Are you seeing a pattern emerge here? I can't stop! LOL

I am DYING to see Heather Bailey's new fabric lines.....has anyone seen anything from Quilt Market? Pop Garden and Bijoux are her two new lines...I have only seen one little adorable outfit made from the fabric on Flickr. Oh my is that the cutest ever?

Another One About Pottery Barn Pillows

Why, Pottery Barn, why? Why must you tempt me so with your PILLOWS? I want them ALL. And so I splurged on a pair. My new strategy is to buy (or sew!) just the cases and switch 'em up every now and again (thus avoiding the OVERFLOWING MOUND OF THEM STORED IN THE CLOSET). Not sure why, but pillows are scrumptious to me.

Bought two of these: (snagged the "R" and "S" on the table there on sale at Anthropologie....will nail them up on the wall when it is late enough to start hammering....oh, in about 30 minutes? 8 am on a Saturday morning...that's 'sleeping in,' right? Think the DH will notice?

OK...maybe instead I should start whipping up some of these:

I love a BIG SQUARE pillow with a center button. And I love ANNA MARIA HORNER's fabrics....so these are pretty much PERFECTION in my book. Snagged the photo from Melissa Averinos's blog "YummyGoods" - go CHECK HER OUT. She has a fabric line coming out in August and she took tons of photos of all the booths at Quilt Market....and you will just DROOL over the fabrics and creations. I want to MOVE INTO ANNA MARIA HORNER's booth. And spend my summers in Amy Butler's. scrumptious. I want to know how these quilting/sewing/fabric designers get SO MUCH DONE?!?! Anna Maria has FIVE CHILDREN! And she PAINTS! And DESIGNS FABRICS! AND SEWS AND QUILTS. AND TAKES PICTURES! Have you seen her KITCHEN? Check out her FLICKr photostream.

Maybe I need to start mainlining coffee or something? I just want to shadow them for a week or two and figure out how they do it all.