Shop #2 on quilty day

It might be Christmas by the time I get around to posting all of the fun stuff we did in Minnesota, and about the Galena show!

Our second stop on quilty day was in Walker, MN at a shop called "Front Porch Quilts".  It's hard to get past the porch - they have those baskets that I am in love with.  Must. Have. Restraint.

There are all kinds of tempting things inside...

 Tempting...

 More tempting...

 Aunt Nancy couldn't resist - she bought the Halloween kit shown above...

 And look at those pretty wools!  And that little basket - I can't control myself with all of this!

And look at these cute miniatures!!  Oh so tempting!

I could not resist these 2 pieces of wool.  The top one is for pumpkins and you know I love red - had to have it!  I actually had some of the miniature patterns and a little stand in my hand - but I for once, showed restraint, and put them back!

The owner, Jana was not in the shop that day, but Merrily was working - it was nice to meet her - and she was also at the guild meeting that night.  As a matter of fact, I made 2 pair of earrings for her this week!  Merrily....if you are reading this...they will be in the mail on Monday!

Thanks for visiting...more to come about "quilty day" later.

Have a great day!

Our own little shop hop

I am finally getting caught up enough to post more about our trip to Minnesota.  Monday was our quilty day.  First we went to Piecemakers in Hackensack.  They really have a nice shop - here is a little tour...

 This is Ollie - he is the shop mascot - such a good little dog.

 Love this patriotic sample.

 Enlarge the above picture - I love the little stocking, and the flowers in the old window frame.

 Lots of wool and wool felt projects to drool over.

 They have lots of cute displays.

Yummy wool.
I was proud of myself - I used much restraint during the whole trip, but I did have to have a few things...

Fabric that I could not live without!

Sorry about the sideways pictures - and these are not the best quality, but I don't have time (or patience) to make them better!  This is a calendar that Piecemakers put together - Aunt Nancy and I both made the calendar - I forgot to take a picture of hers (see how selfish I am!).  You can see that I am September.  If you would like to purchase a calendar, send them an e-mail - I thought they were on the website but I didn't see them this morning (I could be missing it!). 

That's all for today, I have to get busy - more of our shop-hop on the next post!!

Have a great day!

Galena Quilt Show

I have so much to show (and tell) you about the rest of my Minnesota trip, BUT...I have no time!  Today I am unpacking, doing laundry, repacking, finishing up some last minute jewelry, taking down my booth (I've had it set up in my basement since the show was canceled a few weeks ago) and packing it all up to go to Galena in the morning.  So....the quilt show is still on - they are unable to have it at the DeSoto House as planned due to the water damage that they received a few weeks ago.  The show will be held at the Middle School - 1230 Franklin - Galena, IL 61036.  I really hope you can come and visit!!

Have a great day!!

The rest of the pictures...

I am having a heck of a time, and I know I am jumping all over the place, but please bear with me.  The above is Sue who was working at the Quilter's Parlour in Jenkins.

We thought that we needed our pictures taken with Paul Bunyon - Johnna and Linda are on the right.  I am on the left.  We have no idea who the little kid is...he ran up and wanted to be in the picture with us - that just makes me laugh!  Maybe he thought we looked like more fun than his own family.  See how he is missing he is missing his two front teeth?  So cute!

 Here's Johnna and I posing with Paul...

Now going back to our trip up - when we stopped at Country Threads, we decided that we wanted to buy Aunt Nancy and Larry a barn quilt for their 24th anniversary, which is today.  I couldn't wait for Aunt Nancy to see it, so as soon as we got home from brunch we had them open it.  Imagine my surprise when she opened it up and the one on top was the one that I wanted (not the one we got for Aunt Nancy and Larry!).  Well, DH and I will be celebrating an anniversary next weekend - I will actually be in Galena and will celebrate with Mom and he will celebrate with the fluffies.  Anyway...Mom secretly got a barn quilt for us too!  I am so excited - I love it.

This afternoon we took a boat ride with the neighbors, Carolyn and Ron, in their pontoon boat.  It was a beautiful afternoon - the weather was just perfect. 

These ducks have decided to make themselves at home on the dock - I think we were annoying them!

Ok...that's it for now...sorry about the double postings!

Have a great week!

First days in Minnesota

We made it to Minnesota - Mapquest says it should take less than 9 hours, but it took us TWELVE!!  We stopped at Country Threads for a little over an hour, and the rest of the extra time was just stops for bathroom breaks, gas for the car or a bite to eat.  We were glad to get here - and of course, Aunt Nancy had supper waiting for us.  We weren't there too long before we went to bed.  I don't understand how sitting and doing nothing in the car can make you so tired!  Here are some pictures of Aunt Nancy and Larry's house.  We sleep upstairs in the loft.

Nice little fish pond and waterfall....

 This is the back of the house...

 Love it!!

 This is the view from the back porch...

 And back to the Koi pond

On Saturday we took a quick trip to a couple of quilt shops.  The first one we visited is in Jenkins, called The Quilter's Parlour...

The flowers are all so pretty - see Johnna in the above picture?

Below are some pictures of the inside of the shop.  Shirley, the owner, was out of town this weekend, but I talked Sue into being in a picture.

  (ok...blogger is not liking me...I think I tried to upload too many pics and now I can't find the one with Sue in it - will try again tomorrow!)

 The second shop we went to on Saturday is in Pequot Lakes called Mother Originals.  I took this picture of their sign outside, then forgot to take more once I got inside!  I was not meant to wield a camera.

 

This morning we had brunch at Bar Harbor in Nisswa.  On the way home, Johnna felt the need to pose with this sign...

We were quite entertained (doesn't take much!).  I have a bunch of other pictures to show you - hopefully I will be able to upload them later!

Tomorrow is our big quilt shop day.  We will be headed to Bemidji, Walker and Hackensack.  I bet I will find some treasures!!  I hear there will be Civil War repros and wool - sounds right up my alley!

More later!

Have a great night...

Trips, trunk shows, the weather and cats!

I'll start with the weather...finally a break from the heat!  The high today is only supposed to be 76 degrees!  Much better!  Hopefully it will last for awhile. 

On Friday Mom, Linda (my SIL) and Johnna (my niece) are leaving for Minnesota to go visit Aunt Nancy!  Can't wait to get there!  We have changed our plans about a hundred times but hopefully we are set now.  Hubby is staying home to hold down the fort (and take care of all of the fluffies) - he's not interested in our girl trip.  I am hoping to stop at Country Threads on the way there.  Linda is not a quilter but I have taught her to fondle fabric and I think she will like the setting of Country Threads with all the little buildings and animals.  While we are in Minnesota I will be doing a trunk show for Aunt Nancy's quilt guild.  I am having a heck of a time deciding what quilts to take.  I am packing them in the biggest suitcase I have and it's not big enough!  I need to get that figured out today.  Aunt Nancy told me to shove them all in there and sit on it - and it seems that Callie is trying to help with that.

I don't think she is going to be much help.  Maybe she just wants to get packed in there and go along with us.  This is what happened when I got out the suitcase (they don't like it when the suitcases come out...they know that someone is leaving them!)...

This is Callie in denial  - maybe if she just hides from it all it really won't happen!  Later she decided that if I was going to be gone, maybe she better make friends with Ozzie...

The bad new is, she can't just lay there and be nice for more than about 5 seconds.  It wasn't long and she forgot her little manners and started biting his throat!

I better get busy - I have a million things to do before we leave, and when we get back I will be home for one day and will turn around and go to the rescheduled show in Galena!  Don't forget - if you are in the area, please come!  The dates are August 20th (our anniversary!) and 21st.

Have a great day!

BOM, a new notion and a couple of cats!

On Monday I had another fun, squishy package in the mail (love them!) - it was my Civil War Chronicles, Month 8 from Primitive Gatherings.  I decided that I needed to be very productive yesterday and actually pieced them all.

There are four blocks again this month and not as many HSTs as usual.   They really didn't take long to put together, and I love the blue.

I remember reading a lot of blog posts after market that were talking about a new Pilot pen with disappearing ink.  There were rave reviews about this pen and that it is perfect for marking quilts.  The next time I was at Staples I found them...

I bought this 3 pack - I think the pack was around $6.  I tried them for the first time yesterday, and they work wonderfully!  I was finally quilting my banner for my booth - and just marked it using the black pen.  When I was finished quilting I just touched the lines with a hot iron and they disappeared!  Works great - and they are much less expensive than most of the markers that are made for quilting.  These are called Frixion by Pilot - give them a try!

I was going to end here, but it's just not the same without a cat picture.  This is a really bad pic (shocking...they are ALL bad pics when I take them!).  Two calicoes in the window.  How long do you think this lasted before someone (CC) threw a little hissy fit?  Yeah...about 3 seconds!

Have a great day!