A Different Vermont Shopping Trip

We went back to Vermont last Saturday but not with the intention of quilt shop hopping.

My DH and I have been doing a lot of talking lately about moving back to the states but I'm not too sure that I have another 'long distance' move in me. As a compromise, we are going to explore the possibilities of buying a second residence in the US within a day's drive of where we currently live in eastern Ontario. This leaves us with many choices...upstate NY, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and even Maine.

We are in no rush and have been searching on the internet for prospective homes in different areas. We made contact with a realtor in the Burlington/Montpelier area of Vermont, and decided to meet with her last Saturday just to let her know what our plans were and to make sure that we were on the same page. We left her with our "wish list" and now the ball is in her court to find us that elusive "ideal" property.

So we accomplished what we had set out to do and now what? Turn around and go straight home...without visiting at least one quilt shop? NOT! At this point we were a stone's throw from Strawberry & Rhubarb in Williston, VT. Sam dropped me off while he went to Staples and Chapters and said that he'd be back in an hour.

Well, we all know how much damage we can do with an hour in a quilt shop!

I picked up these funky Christmas fabrics with the possibility of using them for an upcoming swap.

And the photos don't do the colors of these fabrics justice at all. They are waaay cool!

The whimsical fabrics on the right are destined for something for my grand niece who's expected to make her debut into this world sometime next month. The ones on the left just kept calling out to me to take them home.

And look at this fun rick rack by Moda. I just had to have some of that. I regretted not buying some when I was there before so this time I made sure that it was coming home with me.

And our final stop was at Joann's. How could I not stop by Joann's to use my 40% off coupon.

So now the wheels have been set in motion to find a second residence in the US. We're still not sure of where we would like to hang our secondary hats, but we'll know it when the house itself speaks to us upon crossing the threshold.

Happy stitching!

Tisket-A-Tasket Block 4 and Knitting Sox

Well guess what? It snowed overnight! Boo hoo! Even though it's just a dusting, at this time of the year, even two flakes are two too many! On the brighter side, it's supposed to warm up by the weekend which is just a short two days away...so I'm not going to whine too profusely.

Even with a few interruptions with friends dropping by, yesterday turned out to be a relatively productive day. I managed to complete the wool version of the fourth T-A-T block at our stitching group last night. Today I'm hoping to start the applique version.

When I arrived back home last evening, I went on the computer and started blog surfing. It takes me a couple of hours to wind down after our stitching group because we drink pots of tea and eat delicious goodies and I can never go straight to bed without relaxing first. Lo and behold, I came across the Blackbird Design gals blog. I love their work, both the stitching and quilting designs.

I believe it was the the second post where Alma wrote about being at a Moda designers meeting and took in some shopping. On this particular shopping excursion, she purchased some sock yarn and needles and decided to give knitting socks a try. Her story sounded a lot like my initial sock journey so I offered a few words of encouragement and mentioned that I would post some of the socks that I have knitted on my blog, just to show that there is hope for all who might like to venture down this path.

About a year and a half ago, I came across a quilt/yarn shop that had just opened in Renesselar Falls, NY, about 60 miles from where we live. On one of my recent posts, I briefly mentioned that I find it difficult just to sit and not have something to keep my hands occupied. To make a potentially long story short, along with some fabric, I bought a skein of sock yarn, some needles and a pattern...and so began my sock journey.

I was shown how to knit as a child and I think I made a scarf or two, but that was the extent of my knitting. With a little encouragement form the shop owner and a few tips, I struggled through the first pair which I chalked up to a learning experience. After that, there was no stopping me. Last year, I made 27 pairs of socks and the ones pictured above are all that remain. Everyone I know has received a pair of socks, and much to my chagrin, that's all my husband wears now!


So at the end of the day if I sit down in front of the television, I have the luxury of choosing either to stitch or knit socks. Isn't life grand!

Happy stitching...and knitting!

Another Rainy Day

It's another wet, rainy day so what better excuse than to stay indoors and stitch.

My plan for today is to start working on the fourth block of Anne's Tisket-A-Tasket BOM and just for a change of pace, I'm going to do the wool version first. I'll prep both the wool and needle turn blocks at the same time as I find it's much more time efficient that way. Barring any unforeseen interruptions, I'm hoping for a productive day.

This is a little gathering of sewing related antiques and memorabilia I have hanging on the wall near to where I sit and sew in my studio that I've managed to collect over the years. Older things that have served other folks in times past give me great solace and pleasure and I thought I'd share them with you today.

Have a super day and as always...

Happy stitching!

Notions Box

Yesterday was kind of wet and rainy which postponed my yardwork plans. I was a little bit tired after our whirlwind trip to Vermont on Saturday (which I will talk about in a future post) and really didn't feel like starting on a new sewing project.

I'm not happy when my hands are idle so I came down to my studio and started to think about a project that I could do that was quick, easy and gratifying.

How about a notions box? These were the two choices I had on hand so I opted for the larger one.


I decided that I would like to cover and line the box with fabric so into my scrap bin I went and found some Madeira and Shangri-la by Moda pieces that would be large enough to get me started.

I applied the fabric to the sides and top and while it was drying made lunch, then pottered around the studio to see what else I could come up with to embellish my latest project.

After it was dry, I trimmed the excess fabric from the lid and painted the sides of the lid and underside of the box with a coordinating green and blue respectively. I made a pincushion and decided to use some of the new Moda ric(k) rac(k) that I purchased the previous day at the not too LQS in Vermont as well as yoyo's to fancy it up a bit.

I then lined the inside of the box and made a little pocket to hold more goodies on the underside of the lid.


After gluing the ric(k) rac(k) and yoyo's, I then affixed the pincushion to the lid with velcro so that it could be removed and put back easily.

I glued a yoyo to the inside as well...just to add some interest.


And now I have a new box that I can fill up with all the notions that I can't live without because...

~

You can NEVER have too many pincushions...or notions!

~

Happy stitching!

Easter Egg Swap Reveal

Today is REVEAL day!

Briefly, the way the Easter Egg Swap worked involved creating two Easter-themed eggs which were then packaged and sent to Viv, the swap hostess-with-the-mostess. Upon receipt, she opened each package and decided who received which eggs, then sent two eggs from a different source to each of the swap participants.

Today's date was selected for each of us to post a photo of the eggs we created and Viv would post a link on her blog to all of the blogs of those who created the eggs. This would allow us to blog hop to find who made the eggs that we each received.

As you can well imagine, Viv had a lot of work to do. First she had to receive the eggs. Then she had to open all the packages...35 in all I believe, and then store the packages til all had arrived and were accounted for. She then had to open all the packages, take photos of the eggs, decide who was getting what, repackage them and then send them off to their final destinations. Whew!

When I signed up for this my first swap, I was greener than green when it came to blogging. I really had no knowledge of swap protocol, but was told to take photos of the eggs that I had made in order that I could post them to my blog on REVEAL day.

Here are the eggs I made...


I hope that my swap partners enjoy my creations.

Thanks, Viv, for hosting this my first swap experience!