Peer Pressure, shopping, sewing, kitties and a contest

I don't really remember a lot of peer pressure in my school days, but I am feeling it now!  Some of my quilty friends are rather villainous!  One of them is Nancy - she lives in California, but her son is in Minnesota.  Which is good for me, because recently after a visit with her son, she drove south to my neck of the woods! We met at Inspirations quilt shop in Hills, IA.  I think Nancy fell in love immediately!  We had a great time there - she found a few kits that had to go home with her and I added to my meager (haha) stash.

Next we went to The Woolen Needle in Williamsburg, IA.  I love this shop too - they have so much wool - even more this time than the last time I was there.  What a fun place!  Nancy found another kit or two with her name on them.  There were several things that I wanted, and the peer pressure almost got to me, but I just came home with this one...

The pattern is designed by The Woolen Needle - isn't it nice?!  I already know where I want to hang it, now if I could just get the time to make it!

We made a stop in Kalona as well.  Kalona has a large Amish community and is an interesting place to visit.  We stopped at the cheese factory and bought a few cheese curds.  They have a lot of unique things there, including chocolate cheese - which sounds horrible, but it's really good - it tastes just like fudge.

The next day we decided to stay spend the day sewing. Here's a picture of Nancy - she's making Poor Lil' Punky...remember him? I'm not sure that she's fallen in love with paper piecing just yet, but she may be one step closer.

 It was a blast, even though I evidently do not know how to sew a quilt top together.  I was working on my summer block of the week (from 2 years ago) from Primitive Gatherings.  As I said in my last post, all of the blocks are finished.  I just need to sew them all together and add the borders.  Easy, right!?  NOT SO MUCH!  I used my seam ripper way too many times, and finally gave up and went back to making tiny blocks for jewelry.

Look at the fun presents that Nancy brought me!  (You know I love presents, right??)

I love the lip balm and lotion (upper left corner) - have you tried them?  The brand is EOS.  The pink is berry scented and the yellow is lemon.  LOVE THEM! And look at the cute little kit!  It is for a 6" pillow - all of the wool is included - so cute.  I can't wait to make it!  And what cute socks?!  My feet are frozen for about 9 months out of the year, so these are just perfect.  And yes - that is a pin cushion in the lower left corner!  Love it!  It is nice and thick and heavy - just like a pin cushion should be.  Love!!! I almost forgot to show you this awesome little zipper bag she gave me!  It's already traveled to Florida and back (more on that next time!).  Yep...love it too!

Can you tell that  I LOVE it all!??!?!  Thanks Nancy!!  We had so much fun, and her stay was much too short.  Hopefully next time she will be able to stay longer.

Oh...and the peer pressure that I was speaking about?  Yes...due to the pressure of my quilting friends (let's just blame Nancy and Yvette), I CAVED!  I am signed up for Sunflower Gatherings -  the Summer Block of the Week.  I don't regret it!  Since I signed up a little late, I received the first 2 blocks last week.  And guess what?  They are prepped and ready to stitch!  I'm hoping to keep up with the prep work at the very least.  I didn't start stitching them yet - I'm going to be visiting a friend for a few days next week and plan to work on them then.  Here is Ozzie modeling my blocks...

Aren't they awesome (and isn't Ozzie The Model a pretty boy)?  I love sunflowers and I just know this is going to be a gorgeous quilt.  They always are - I've asked Lisa to design something ugly so that I won't want to make absolutely everything she sells, but she feels the need to keep making beautiful stuff!

I don't want to leave Callie out - so here she is, being her bad little self.  Yes...that is my kitchen counter she is sitting on.  And she could care less that I am standing right there yelling at her to get down!  I'm telling you...it is her house and her rules.  She does not see me as an authority figure!  Brat.  (And to those of you who think it's disgusting that I am "letting" her sit on the counter...I did make her get down!)

Have you ever entered a quilt in a contest?  I think a lot of people are intimidated by it. But...Jennifer, from The Quilted Cow is running a contest on Facebook right now.  It's free to enter and all you have to do is send her a picture of a quilt that you have pieced!  SIMPLE!  And, the winner gets to choose a piece of jewelry from my website, as the prize!  FUN! I really hope you enter - there are only a couple of days left.  But, at the very least, go vote!  The quilt with the most "Likes" is the winner.  Here is the link to take you to the contest page...Quilt Contest.  Hurry up!  Enter a quilt!

I want to leave you with this - these fabrics are waaaaayyyy outside of my comfort zone.  But...I have decided that for Charming 3 we are going to do something a little different.  The new charms will be offered in darks and also in brights.  So...if you are a lover of brights - you will like these charms.  If you are interested in Charming 3, the sign ups will be next month.  Send me an e-mail (julie@meandmystitches.com) to get on my mailing list, to be sure you get the info.

Have a great week!