(With thanks to my friend Leeanna for the funny!) I spent three days last week and at least two more planned in coming weeks on quilt shop hop road trips. Fun! Barbara, Patty and I decided to try to visit each of the shops participating in the Mid-Atlantic Shop Hop for the east central region (the one we live in). We will likely visit many of the shops in the west central region, too.
I did not take photos of the goodies I bought ... or of the insides of the shops (most owners object:) ... but I DID take pictures of the lovely flowers we saw. So pretty! See the end of this posts for photos.
The day of Mimi's Grad Class we visited Bears Paw in Towson and Domesticity on Harford Road in Baltimore. The next Tuesday we went to the shops on the Eastern Shore - starting with Vintage Pink and Green in Snow Hill (highly recommended) ... through Serendipity and Church Street Quilting ... to Delaware Dry Goods. On Thursday we saw Tomorrows Treasures in Crofton, The Crabby Quilter in Annapolis and Covenant Quilting in Easton. Busy, busy!
That regimen pretty much exhausted me last week. :) I've also been working on building myself a paper crafting corner in my brother's apartment (partly to move it out of my house and partly to give me an excuse to go see him more often ... and WITH his permission). Here is the result of one full day's construction with his help:
This is a sturdy metal drafting table that took four hours to build.
Here is the desk with a side organizer basket/shelf unit to hold tools and art media. I have a mat for under the rolling chair and another small organizer with shelves for paper on order.
I've taken two trips already to ferry my bits and bobs of stuff over - and have cleaned off the top of my desk here at home in the process. :) Still have stuff under my desk and in the sewing room corners to move over. I did sit and work in my art journal for a while on Sunday afternoon. Kevin seemed to enjoy my company and I needed the break. I guess it amounts to a mini-atelier away from home, eh? :)
The only sewing I've done in the last ten days is constructing blocks for a round robin I'm in with my guild, Faithful Circle Quilters. It's a row project - you must make enough blocks (between 6" and 12" wide) to fill a row as long as the foundation beginning (the robin is anonymous so I don't know whose row package I have). The one I have to work on now is a 36" long row of farm animal blocks. I expect it will be a baby quilt when it is done. Here is what I've made so far to add:
These carrots are 3"x6" each. A free block by Leila Gardunia.
This piggy made me giggle. Also a free block, by Linda Worland.
Here they are as I have joined them together:
I have more blocks to make (a rose, a cow, a butterfly and wheelbarrow) and those will get done in the between-road-tripping days. :)
I have to get started on my plans for a trip to Wisconsin for the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in September soon. I am meeting a very long time friend from my undergraduate days, my daughter and her mother-in-law for more fabric fun (not to mention hugs with my two grandsons and my son-in-law:).
:) Linda
PS Pretty flowers:
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