So easily distracted

Yep that’s me.  Usually when I plan a vacation and plan lots of sewing time, that’s what I do.  Sit for hours on end and sew.  But this time I’m easily distracted — maybe because there are too many things I want to do or maybe because I keep making stupid mistakes on the things I’m working on.  Or maybe I clearly didn’t plan ahead well — had to order batting and wait for that to arrive; today it was a thread issue.  So this afternoon’s distraction…. I decided to head to a little strip mall not far from me in search of the thread I wanted.  I had something I needed to pick up to make the dinner too so thought I might check out the new Hyvee store that just opened near the little mall.

Well, first stop in the strip mall was Wisconsin Craft Market which redid their yarn department a while ago and for a not huge store, they have an extraordinarily nice selection of brands I usually order on line.   I did find a color changing yarn that I like much better for the scarf I’m making Dad so will set aside (and probably rip out) the other one I was doing and use this.  Lots of different colors in it and since I don’t know what color his winter coat is (or if he even has a winter coat anymore), I wanted something with colors that would go with anything.  So, that must be about start number 5 or 6 on that scarf. LOL (yes apparently even yarn has been distracting too).

They also had Three Irish Girls yarn in the store which I truly love.  Now the bad thing (really it’s a good thing) they only had one sock weight hank of that yarn and it was in a color I already had so I didn’t feel compelled to buy it.  BUT they had DK weight and in a blend I hadn’t seen before — Wexford Merino Silk – 60% silk 40% merino wool.  I can’t even tell you how wonderful that feels.  Now the dilemma is do I keep it or make Mom’s birthday present out of it.  I was going to make my Camp Loopy project for her but this yarn just happens to be her favorite color and a color she looks really good in.  I will have to see what patterns I can find for this weight yarn and the yardage I’ve got and see what plan I can come up with.  I’ll have to take a picture of it tomorrow.

Next stop Hancock Fabrics – I was searching for invisible thread and they apparently stopped carrying the brand that I liked – or at least that was what I was told.  I was pointed towards some but a not so helpful clerk who, when I asked if that was the only brand they carried, told me yes.  Hmmm…  walked to the other side of the thread racks and found two other kinds — neither the ones I was looking for but I got some to try.  Anyone have a good invisible thread they use?  I’ll have to see if I can find the one I used to use on line.   Then, Rocky’s pizza parlor is right there and the minute you walk into that mall you smell pizza.  Well it was 1:30 and I hadn’t had breakfast or lunch so I went to visit Rocky.   Never did make it to check out the new Hyvee — I wasn’t in the mood for wandering a large grocery store — so grabbed what I needed at Walgreens and then caught the bus home.

Meanwhile I realized the women’s golf outing that I always make quilts for is fast approaching and has really snuck up on me.   I do have some smaller quilted wall hangings I can donate but I normally like to have a larger – at least large lap size quilt – added into the mix if not something larger.    The Cobbled Path quilt will probably end up being used for this and I also previously bought this too cute pink ladybug fabric with the intention of using it for the golf outing since the pink is appropriate since it’s a fund raiser for the Komen Fund.

ladybugsI love that ladybug print – I have just a fat quarter of the same print in different colors in the stash too.   I started pulling some fabrics from the stash to go with it.  I need to see what else I can find.  Don’t know what sort of design I’ll use — something super simple I’m sure since I need to get it done in record time but I also don’t want to really cut up the lady bugs much.  It may just be a simple snowball block alternating with 9 patches but I’ll think on that some more tomorrow.  Time to shut down the sewing room and go knit for a while.

Sale!!!

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Yep – a Memorial Day Weekend Sale at EQ Boutique.   You can see my designs for sale at that  link – or get to the many many other block collections and quilt patterns by the other wonderful EQ Boutique designers.

And if you haven’t tried it yet – it’s simple to do.  Just register yourself for an account, and then “buy” one of the FREE patterns to see what it’s like.  Yes, you need a Windows-based computer or a Mac that runs a parallel program (which I don’t understand since I don’t have a Mac but requirements are listed on the EQ Boutique info pages).  Once you “buy” the free pattern, it’s a simple download.

You can also see  a slide show of  quilt patterns and block collections plus some “inspiration quilts” using the block collections by clicking the My EQ Boutique button in my blog sidebar.  “Block collections” are just blocks; “quilt patterns” have full assembly instructions so you need to read the descriptions of what you are ordering.

A bit more Cobbled Path

I got a second wind last night and headed back into the sewing room and stitched pieces until I ran out of one particular section that I knew I hadn’t cut all of them for yet.

cobbledpath so  a dozen more blocks were finished.  I’m going to have to move this one to the larger design wall – I need to add one more row in the width and I’m out of space.  But on that wall at the moment are the blocks to the graduation quilt.

So I’ll probably switch gears today and first get the graduation quilt rows set together before I pull it off that design wall – or at least move it over so I can move the other quilt there.

 

 

And I’m now well stocked if I ever get to clearing off the table to layer some quilts.  Delivered yesterday along with a new free motion foot to try on my machine.

I’m glad I didn’t really have anything planned to do outside this vacation.  I think there was one really nice day so far and the rest it has been rainy and gray and wet.   Today is  no exception.

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