Purchases in Lancaster

I really enjoyed the trip to Lancaster. I hadn't been there in several years, and they definitely cater to the quilters that come. Even the keys had potential quilt patterns on them.

 

I bought a couple groups of color wheel fat quarters from the show vendors. They will make nice blenders in several projects I have in mind. The left one is from Andover Fabrics and the group on the right is from Quilting Treasures. I have boxes of modern prints divided by color, so these went right into the stash.

 

I really liked a booth called L'Atelier d' Isabelle (Isabelle's Workshop). She had lots of patterns and kits that use linen for the background and wool felt for the appliques. I also bought some coordinating linen fat quarters to use in blocks around the finished needlework. Of course, I have a couple penny rugs that are long term work in process, but this was so fun, and it has a cat on it. Some friends told me they like Soft Fuse for placing the pieces on this kind of project, so I got some and will try it.

 

 

While out looking around the area for quilt shops, I found a few more pieces of fabric that I had to have. Another bundle of color wheel fat quarters came with me, from Burkholders.  in Denver, PA. These are from Alison Glass, and the line is Sun Prints 2017. Into the stash it goes!

Then we got to the Old Country Store in Intercourse, PA. They had just received the new Tula Pink All Stars fabric, so I bought a yard of each! And they had two different packs of ribbon from Tula and Amy Butler, so they were a must.

 

 

 

Lastly, at the Old Country Store, I got some 2 yard pieces of Cherrywood fabric. If your not familiar with Cherrywood fabric, it looks like it's been brushed. It has a really soft feel, and catches the light really nicely. Cherrywood has run an annual contest for several years that you may have seen. There have been traveling exhibits at large shows. I saw the Lion King exhibit at Machine Quilters Expo last year, and the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit was at the AQS show. 

MQX is coming soon, April 11 to 14. They weren't able to schedule the Cherrywood challenge this year but there will be plenty to look at. I'm sad I'm not able to go as I'll be at a retreat with Jacqueline DeJonge of BeColourful Quilts.

I've had a quilt on my to do list that is made with your embroidery machine. I've been embroidering for a long time, and have made a couple HoopSisters quilts in the past. But now I really want to make this Mandala Quilt from Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery Designs, located in Australia. 

I went to the 9th Annual Fabric Extravaganza (Facebook) back during March 8-10 and found some Cherrywood fabric on sale. So when I found some of the same colors at the Old Country Store I decided it was time to try this quilt. You can make it bigger by just continuing to add rounds. There are left and right triangular blocks and left and right rectangular blocks that make up the quilt. Adding rows is super simple. But, each block is done in a 5x7 embroidery hoop and it will take quilt a bit of time to stitch them all out. I might leave it wall quilt sized, if I start to get bored with stitching them.

Does the amount of shopping you do equate to the amount of fun you had? Both were high!

Mary

My Stash Storage

Happy Wednesday,

After posting about my sewing stash storage several of my local friends asked about it. And I just happened to get new boxes, and a new fabric line in the last couple days. So I thought I'd share photos.

Here is the fabric that came, called Bally Hall by designer Di Ford-Hall. I bought a bundle with a yard of each of the large bird prints and fat quarters of the rest, from Reproduction Fabrics. As you can see it has a lovely color palette and is dated mid-nineteenth century. I don't know what I'll do with it yet. After making Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Mystery this year I'm ready to use more of my fat quarters for scrappy-like quilts.

The boxes I use are from Snapware and measure about 8" tall, 9" wide and 16" deep. You can find them at Amazon, or World Kitchen where they happen to be on sale right now for $6.74 each, and shipping is free if you spend $99. They are also offering 20% off your order if you sign up for email. I really like them because they are a medium sized box, and don't get too heavy if you fill them with fabric. They also have a handle on the top which makes them easy to carry.

I fold the fat quarters selvage to cut edge, then again. Fold in half lengthwise and you have a perfect fit. You can do the same with half yards and they fit fine, but larger than that takes up too much space in the box. I also don't stash larger pieces of fabric. When I buy yardage it is for a specific purpose or project. These boxes make good project boxes, and they cost a lot less than the ArtBin boxes. 

Lastly, I have a Brother label printer, model QL-700, that uses rolls of labels. I have the size visible on the boxes, which is the standard 5160 address label that comes in sheets of 30. On a roll like this I can print as many as I like. I also have a roll of file folder labels, and you can get several other sizes. 

I was a computer programmer back when I held a full time job so I do love my technology. In addition to the label printer I have a color laser printer, an inkjet photo printer/scanner, and document scanner that is super fast and scans both sides of the document as it feeds through. All very useful! Really, I need 4 pieces of equipment. 

I also have a Brother Scan 'n Cut and I need to learn how to really use it. Maybe after the coming guild quilt show, which I'm doing the program for. My quilts for the show are done, yay!

Back soon with  a 101 Patchwork Patterns block.

Mary