The Final Days...

Now we are down to the final days of The Great Fart...we left Lisa's Friday morning and started towards home - but we still had several shops to visit.  Our first stop of the day was in Cedarburg, WI at Ye Olde Schoolhouse.  This was a nice shop, but even better was the town itself!  Very quaint with tons of neat little shops and restaurants.  We decided to spend the day here and poke around.  We had a wonderful lunch then wandered around town for a few hours.  I wish I had taken some pictures to share with you, but if you ever have the chance to visit Cedarburg, you should do it.  Mid-afternoon we decided to head to Janesville - we wanted to be sure to hit Life's A Stitch on our way home.  After a few U-turns and some confusion as to where in the heck the shop was, I finally called.  Ahhhh...no wonder we couldn't find it - the Quilter's Travel Companion has the OLD address!  It was almost 5:00, so we were afraid we wouldn't make it, and that we wouldn't have enough time to shop (like we really needed to SHOP at this point in time!).  But the owner, Pat, was so sweet - she gave us the correct address and directions to get to her (we had driven right by!!) and assured us that she would be happy to stay open after 5:00.  The shop is in part of her home, and her husband wasn't home from work yet, so we had time!  And it was a great time!  Love her shop and she has three wonderful dogs that came to greet us!  One was a St. Bernard - loved him!  So we again were lucky enough to get our "pet fix" for the day.  Pat also bought some of my jewelry and we had a really great visit.  I definitely hope to visit her again some day.

Back on the road, we decided to drive to Rockford, IL - as there were a few quilt shops on our list to visit there.  We had a very healthy supper...ice cream from Cold Stone (YUM!) and hit the hotel room.  Not quite the cozy accommodations that we've had the last few nights, for sure!  We made sure that we were at Quilter's General Store at opening time, only to find a parking lot full of cars and a shop full of people!  There was a class going on downstairs and a sale main floor.  Perfect timing for us.  They had a 50% off sale on a lot of fabric, so a few things had to come home with me...

These are both Jo Morton prints that I always liked.  The cheddar will be nice in pumpkins for the Fall and hey...for 50% off, how could I refuse?!

Next we found Acorn Quilts, also in Rockford.  Also a nice shop, not really my style of fabrics, but lots of pretty batiks and friendly help.  We happened to run into someone that I knew there (such a small world!) who advised us on a great place for lunch.  She knows all the best restaurants, and has yet to steer me wrong.  So, off to Mary's Market we went for lunch.  It was soooo good.  Great sandwiches and yummy desserts.  I even brought home a dessert for the hubby.

Back on the road, we are now headed to our very last stop of our Great Fart.  Bittersweet, for sure.  Part of me is ready to be home, but we have had such a great, great time - I hate for it to end. 

When we arrived at Yellow Creek Quilt Designs in Pearl City, IL, there was a bus in front of the store!  Yikes!  Luckily the store wasn't too packed - many of the ladies were already back on the bus.  Vicki from YCQD had ordered some jewelry from me, so we dropped that off and buzzed through the shop.  Of course, we had to purchase a few things (because there was still space in the car to shove a few yards in around our suitcases!)  And then we were off towards home.

Unloading everything was a task in itself.  You should have seen us lug those huge boxes of fabric out of the trunk.  And...guess who had to have her nose in them immediately?  Yes...that would be Miss Callie!

She felt the need to hop from one to the other - sharing her fur along the way!

Here are some of my miscellaneous fabric purchases - I was specifically keeping an eye out for reds and blacks for my Barrister's block quilt...

I think my kitties missed me...and maybe DH missed me a tiny bit too!  Whew!  This week of shopping is catching up with me and I'm pooping out fast.  I thought Kim was going to spend the night - as she still had a 5 hour drive to get home, but she got a second (or third) wind and decided to go home.  She was probably sick of me by now!

So there it is...the Great Fart that I have looked forward to for years.  Now...I can't wait to do it again!!

Hope you all have a great day!

Day Four of the Great Fart

And for those of you who don't know what that title means, you need to go read my older posts! 

On day 4, we really intended to head back towards home...but (didn't you just know that was coming?!) Lisa said, oh...just stay...so with that really big twist of my arm...we decided to stay! We were having such a great time that it was easy to just stay another day.  And, we were both fortunate that our husbands didn't mind (does that mean they were glad to get rid of us?) and our arrival back home was open-ended.  Kim and I had a few errands to run in the morning.  Just as we were trying to decide what to do for lunch, Lisa called and said she had a date - meet them at the China Star.  I was under the impression that she was almost there - so we said we'd get there as soon as we could (the GPS is a great thing, but it took us in a few circles - so you never REALLY knew when your arrival time might be!).  About ten minutes later we walked in, but no Lisa.  But...there were 2 familiar faces - Nancy and Jeanine - who waved us over to sit with them.  We had met them at the house on Tuesday.  They informed us that they were meeting Lisa for lunch.  Ok...now we know who her date was!  Lisa showed up shortly and we had a great Chinese buffet lunch, then headed back to the shop.  Why I felt the need to keep going back there is beyond me - I certainly did not need any fabric at this point in time!  But...Jessica had brought out the Rosemary's Garden sample on our first day there and I really liked it!  All wool applique, but the best part is the background is also wool - and they were offering it at a great price (it's also available as a BOM starting in May).  I had gone back and forth on it for the last 2 days, and finally decided that it needed to come home with me!

Again...not great pictures but you should expect that from me by now.  If you want to see better pictures go to Primitive Gatherings website (and order your kit or sign up for the BOM).   See all of those yummy wools and matching threads!  NICE!  Oh...and just a warning...don't ever say anything in the shop that you don't want Jessica to hear!  I asked someone if they saw a kit for Rosemary's Garden - and while we were looking, here came Jess (who was also on the phone) with the kit in her hand!  Somehow she had heard me ask about it, but I didn't even know she was anywhere nearby - actually last I knew she was downstairs.  Scary!  I told her I would never trash talk her! 

This is the kit that I talked about last time that Cindy put together for me...
I always love red/black/tan!

I also wanted to show you the rest of the pictures of the house - you will understand why we were not in a hurry to leave. These pictures are on the main floor of the house.

Love this quilt...

We all hung out in here and watched American Idol.

 Lots of space in here to sew...

 Part of the kitchen, and the door leading to the garage and laundry room

 More kitchen

 Love this lamp!

 Ironing area in the gathering room, and the door to the workshop

 Back in the Gathering room - see that black desing wall?  I love it, and bought black flannel as soon as I got home to make my current off-white design wall into black.  Much better!

 Lots of light and a nice view to the back yard.

 Below are pictures in the basement, which is where we stayed.  Lisa told us we were welcome to any of the rooms, or any beds - except hers.  So naturally...that's where I told her I wanted to sleep! 

So cozy!

So back to Day Four - we went back to the house and stitched in the afternoon. Lisa had invited some of the girls from the shop and the warehouse over to sew that evening.  But, we have our priorities...we had pizza for supper (I ate mushrooms....can you believe it?) and watched American Idol - then we went back to what I call the workshop, and got busy.  Lisa was working on a new design that I can not wait to see when it's finished...think NEUTRAL!  Amy pressed and trimmed a bazillion swap blocks.  Norma worked on some really cute little bunnies.  Kim made lots of hexies.  And I worked on my wool Summertime blocks.  It was after midnight before we knew it!  Norma went home, but the rest of us stayed in the basement. Have you had a slumber party lately?  Actually we were all so tired, we went down and a couple of us read for just a little bit and went to sleep.  Another super-fun and inspirational day!

And that was the end of day 4.  Have you noticed it is taking me an awfully long time to walk you through the entire trip!?  I will try to speed it up after this.

Oh...I am going to back up again.  The first day at Primitive Gatherings we met Lori Kabat who designs awesome patterns under the name of Lily Anna Stitches.  She creates some really wonderful patterns - so be sure to check them out.  I LOVE her wool lamp shade - and have added it to the long to-do list.  I can't wait to see what new things she cooks up this spring! 

Have a great weekend and a very Happy Easter!

Road Trip - Day 3

First I need to tell you the name of our road trip.  We had been talking about taking this trip for months and started calling it The Great Road Trip, or TGRT for short.  Then one day while reading a blog I saw someone referred to a shopping trip as a fabric acquisition road trip - FART.  And so our trip quickly became...The Great Fart!

Ok, so back on track...day three - we kidnapped Lisa and headed to Green Bay to Quilters Connection, where Pam was expecting us.  She has a very nice shop, lots and lots of great samples, which you will see below (yes, I remembered to use my camera!).  She also bought lots of jewelry to take to a show the following weekend. 

The pattern with the crows in the red/tan/black came home with me

If you are ever in the area, make sure you stop and visit Quilters Connection - it is worth it - so much to look at!

Next we went to Kroll's for lunch - it's an old-timey diner that serves butter burgers and milk shakes.  Talk about a good burger! 

Then we were off to Kindred Spirits in Denmark, WI (where I forgot to use my camera!).  Sue also purchased some jewelry while we were there, and I found a magazine called A Simple Life - I have never seen this before - but it has antiques, early homes, history, etc.  I still haven't looked all the way through it, but so far it's quite interesting.  And, there's a cute little outhouse shown in there being used as a potting shed (for all of you who still think I'm crazy to have an outhouse in my yard!).

It was time to head back to Menasha - Lisa had an appointment at the shop.  We decided to hang out there and wait for her to finish.  I thought it was important to use my time wisely so, with much help from Cindy - I now have a kit of cotton and wool, and Valdani threads to go with the pattern that I purchased from Quilters Connection that morning!  You know, I really need more projects, right?

Earlier in the day, I had mentioned (whined) that the layer cake of Seasonal Little Gatherings fabrics (designed by none other than Lisa Bongean) that I bought did not have the little pumpkins or reindeer in it.  I guess I always assumed the precuts had all of the prints - WRONG!  I couldn't wait to use those tiny pumpkins in some centers of my jewelry.  Lisa assured me that she would give me some little pumpkins - then...we could see that she had a light-bulb-moment, when she said..."oooohhhh - this might be your lucky day!".  Well, if you know me...you know I like surprises, presents, or as she referred to them...prizes!  So all day she teased me about winning a prize.  I couldn't wait to see the prize!!! 

When we left the shop, we ran to Lisa's house and she let us play with the strike-offs of Seasonal Little Gatherings, and her newest line, that will be shown at Market in May - Old Glory Gatherings!!!  EXCITING!!  (If you haven't seen these - make sure to check out her blog - she shared pics of them last week).  She even let me choose the ones I thought I could make cool jewelry out of and gave me half of the pieces that she had!  Wow!!!  GENEROUS!  Ok, so I thought I was going to pass out from the excitement of all of this!  So, now I could no longer whine...I had pumpkins.  And reindeer.  And SHEEP!  SO CUTE!!!  We got to play with her puppies, Presley and Jeeter too - they are beautiful.  Love their shiny gray coats.  And it's always nice to get our "pet fix" while we are away from our own pets.  Kim is a huge pet lover too - so I think we were all happy!

Next we were on to the warehouse.  I thought the last stop was exciting - wait til' you see what happened during this stop!  This is all new to me, but evidently Moda sends the fabric designers "scraps" of their fabric lines.  These are pieces that are left over when they cut the pre-cuts.  Take a look at all of these...

HOLY MOTHER LODE OF FABRIC!!!  Yes, this was my prize!!!  All 3 boxes!   Luke had to load them in the car, as we could barely lift them.  They fit perfectly in the trunk, but we couldn't fit anything else in there!  Hmmmm...wonder how our luggage is going to get home? (I think Kim and I both had visions of our luggage being strapped to the top and the car bottoming out all the way home!) Oh well...we will worry about that later!  Needless to say...I don't think I will be running out of pumpkins and reindeer any time soon!  And...most of this is much more than scraps.  For my jewelry, I use pieces that are 3/4" to 1".  There are lots of those sizes, plus pieces that are a few inches wide - but there are also some that are much bigger!  I still haven't gotten through all of it - but I found one piece that is almost a half yard!  My husband said that I won't need to buy fabric ever again!

Wow...what a day!  See why my trip was so awesome?  Amazing quilt shops, fantastic food, wonderful and EXTREMELY GENEROUS people!  This is the Greatest Fart EVER!  Lol...

Have a great Sunday!!

New line

Just a short post to tell you that I just listed brand new pieces of jewelry on my website.  Any guesses on what they are????  If you guessed BRACELETS, you are correct!  Here is a little sneak peek, but be sure to visit the website to see them all!

Have a great day!

Day Two

On day two of our great adventure, as I said in the last post we spent the night in Sun Prairie and visited JJ Stitches in the morning.  There is so much to see there.  When we finished up there we decided to have lunch before we hit the road.  We walked down the street to a Mexican restaurant and had a great (and super-cheap) lunch.  Then we were on our way to Menasha!  Lisa Bongean has suggested that we stop in Ripon at a primitive shop.  I had the name wrong, so we had a little trouble finding it.  We first stopped at what was supposed to be a quilt shop (according to the Quilter's Travel Companion) but was now a coffee shop, and they directed us to the primitive shop.  It was just full of very cool stuff and also had the most wonderful puppy mascot that greeted us!  After taking in all of the primitive goodness and stretching our legs a bit, we were back on the road.  We arrived in Menash early in the afternoon - I gave Lisa a call and discovered that she and the girls were at her house (formerly known as The Gathering) sewing, so we headed that direction.  Lisa gave us the full tour and told us to stay in any of the rooms that we wanted (except her bed or Luke's room!).  As many of you know, the house is just wonderful!  Here are some pictures of the bedrooms upstairs...

Nice, big, walk-in shower

 Aren't all of the quilts wonderful?  I think I could have spent the rest of the day just looking at the different fabrics in each one.  But...we wanted to get to Primitive Gatherings to check out all the goodies there. I didn't ever take any pictures of the shop - not sure why because we were there every day for the next three days!  This is what I purchased on our first trip there...

I already had the pattern and wanted to make this quilt, so where better to buy the kit of fabrics than Primitive Gatherings!  We were at the shop for quite awhile - some of the girls wanted to see my jewelry, so we got that out and they picked some pieces that they wanted.  When we finished up there we went back to Lisa's and moved all of our stuff in.  We decided to sleep downstairs in the basement - I will show you pictures of that on my next post.  It was supper time already, so we ran and grabbed a sandwich and went back to the house to stitch.  We decided to only bring hand work with us, so it was easy to get right to work.  I took my Pink Lemonade quilt to hand quilt and also some of my wool Summertime blocks.  We just hung out and chatted and stitched and all of a sudden it was almost midnight!  Waaaayyyy past my bedtime - lol!  And that was the end of Day Two.  And a wonderful day it was!!

Winners!

I dug out more treasures to add to this giveaway and split the goodies into two boxes.  I could have easily split it into 3 or 4! These boxes are heavy!  The 2 winners are:

#7 Marty (This would be "Marty the Mail Lady" - isn't it appropriate that random number generator picked her?  It's high time she gets a fun box in the mail!)
#8 Carla

I have to laugh - we must all have too much stuff because not very many people signed up to win!

Thought I would leave you with a picture of Callie - partway under a dresser, holding her favorite pink sparkle ball!  She makes me laugh!

Next time I will post more about my Wisconsin trip - I have LOTS more to show you!

Have a great day!