Thank you Andrea - And Paducah!

Look what was waiting for me tonight when I got home from Paducah! Andrea sent me this awesome package! First this wonderful quilt. The picture doesn't do it justice. The colors are so wonderful!

And I also got these awesome socks she made and these adorable buttons! I love them all! Thank you so much Andrea!

And just a peek at a few goodies from Paducah - more later, I"m beat right now.

Linda made me this beautiful chatelaine for a roommate gift! Isn't it wonderful! And I didn't have one so I was excited to get it!

Here are some fabrics I picked up (totally not my normal style) for Emily's graduation quilt.

And here is my annual underwear fabric! For some reason every year when I go to Paducah I get a new piece of underwear fabric. I have no idea why, but it is a fun thing to look for!

Goodies and more wonderful Quilts

Here are my fun fabric purchases from the show!

And more gorgeous antique quilts.

Chicago Quilt Festival Goodies

Had a great time at the last Quilt Festival that will be in Chicago. Next year it moves to Cincinnati, Ohio. I wasn't going to go at first since I"m going to Paducah this week, but well, when I heard this was the last year in Chicago I figured I had better go. Lots to share with you, more than one post can handle, so I"ll try and limit it here! Above are 2 purses I made from a kit (the one on the left) and pattern I bought at the show. That is going to be my purse for Paducah! The one on the right will be for my friend as a gift.

Also made these 2. The one on the left is for my sister and the one on the right is for Holly. Jenna said they were ugly - so none for her. And I knew Emily would stick her nose up at them! This is the pattern I used.

This year they had a lot of antique quilts in the show. Oh they were SO GORGEOUS. How could I ever pick a favorite. So here are just a few favorites.

Ta Da!

It is finished! It is finished!!!!! I finally finished hand quilting my little Friends quilt like the one I made Laura years ago! My top has been done for years, I just never quilted it! So now I can cross one more UFO off my list!

And of course I always like to see the backs.

And closeups.

A bit more progress

A bit more progress on my wool wall hanging. This will be the quilt that I hang my wool water can from! I used some of my fun barn fabric for the center! Of course when I hang up the wool center that will be covered up - but I still will know it is there! Still need to figure out how I want to quilt it.

And here is close to what it will look like when I hang up the wool part on it. I'm going to attach the wool with magnets! How cool is that! You sew those rare earth magnets into pockets that go onto the back of the wool piece. Then you attach it by putting another magnet behind the quilt and click the wool piece into place! I need to trim down the wool piece yet, but this will give you an idea.

This pattern actually has 12 wool centers so you can switch out the center each month. It is by Under the Garden Moon and is their "As Time Goes By" set of patterns. I have the winter ones (but not made yet) and the fall ones (also not made yet). I need to get a summer one next.

Paducah Gifts are Done!

I've been working on my Paducah roommate gifts the last 2 weeks. I'm SO HAPPY to say they are finally done! They really aren't hard, just putzy when I've been busy. They could be better, but for what little time I've had not bad. I"m hoping my friends like them.

I used the pattern by This & That - Nifty Notes.

And I've also been working on this wool wall hanging. It isn't done yet, but I"ll leave the rest a surprise. I finished sewing down the leaves tonight.

I also wanted to share this with you. OK, I might be the last one to know about this, but in case I'm not I wanted to let you know too. The International Quilt Study Center has lectures recorded for download free via iTunes. A lot of them even have the visual with it, not just the audio. I"ve been watching them on my computer. What a treat!

My favorite one was "A Life in Extraordinary Stitches" which is about Grace Snyder and her quilts. I read a book about her called "No Time on my Hands" years ago. It was such a great book. When you think about all the inventions and things that this lady saw, on top of the gorgeous quilts she made, it makes your head spin. If you haven't read this book you have to read it.