My Little Trip Out Today

Friday night I had gone to the grocery store to get all my groceries with the thought that I was not going to leave the house all weekend except to go to church on Sunday. I was not going to breathe that pollen that the pollen report said would be 11.3. Now that is high!! Most years it will never get over 10, but this year has seen many days over 11. Makes my eyes water just to think about it. But then I got invited to a pizza lunch my sister, Colleen, planned with Mom in the lobby of Mom’s skilled care facility. Colleen’s birthday was this last week, and she had not really had time to celebrate it. So how could I pass that up?! We all had a great time. Mom enjoyed it so much. Colleen took Mom outside so she could smell the roses growing. She always loved all kinds of flowers. I passed up that little session, and headed to the car with a tissue over my nose. I know I look stupid walking around outside that way, but I don’t really care!

Anyway, I found several pieces of fabric. Uhhh….several is not exactly the number, but won’t say exactly how many that was. They were all 30% off, and one piece was 50% off. I really pitied the poor people behind me in this loooong line at the cutting table. I could almost hear the groans as I pulled out yet another bolt from my over-flowing cart. Most of the time they only had one person cutting. What’s up with that??? Maybe I need to apply for a part time job when I retire. Hmmmm….well not right away. This quilt I want to make just had so many different pieces of fabric, so I couldn’t help it. I only needed a half-yard of all but 3, and it was a yard of those 3. Actually, what I really needed was mostly a bunch of fat quarters, but they didn’t have those, so I had to buy a half yard in order to get the size of the piece the pattern called for. So I actually had to buy twice as much as I really needed. Ahhh…. but can you ever really have too much fabric???? Well, don’t answer that!! :) I’ll just add a bit to my stash.

Well, anyway, my fabric is all washed, dried, ironed, and neatly folded.Here are all the fabrics for the quilt/wallhanging called Fanciful Flowers. It is in the April issue of "Quilter's World" seen below.

These are enough fabrics to make Jeannine 4 bag shells and straps. I'll post those when I get them together. And then I'll post pictures of the bags she she adds her applique and embellishments.

Some of my latest creations

Here are some the more recent things I've been working on. I saw this on the front of a magazine and knew I just had to make it. I'm usually a little more on the conservative order in my quilts, but just loved the brilliance of this one. It's the first time I've used rick-rack in a quilt. And I seldom use black and white fabrics.

I've eyed this little ditty for some time and finally dug into my stash for the colors. Still working in the zig-zag around the applique, and then after quilting, it will adorn my fireplace.

My daughter, Jeannine, has found her niche in the craft/sewing world making children's bags. She made some for each of her girls, and when her friends saw them, they all wanted one. She has an etsy site (http://www.etsy.com/shop/cnjsonnier), but can't get caught up, much less get ahead to list them there. They are all her original design, and each one is unique and designed for the person in mind. I love the creativity she has when it comes to adding the appique embellishments. Here are a few examples of her bags.

This little bag has a quilt block on the front that is left over from a fairy quilt Jeannine made Sofia.