A Quilter's Garage Sale

Over the week-end, a local quilter decided to donate most of her large quilting stash of books and fabric to fund several 4H quilting monetary prizes at our local county fair next year.  There were more than a few other wonderful ladies who helped organize and sell too.  Any 4H kids were literally given anything they wanted from the to start a quilt.

I got there a few hours after the sale started, and despite the large amount of things that had already walked away, there was still no shortage of fabric, books and magazines.  The books were $1 each, magazines free, and the fabric priced to move quickly.  The pile of books and fabric above was $10!  I donated a bit more as well.

The ladies had organized many "grab bags", and teased that there was a few really nice pieces in each bag, but you had to buy the whole gallon zip lock bag.  I saw this purple print that I had to have.  It reminded me of the thrift store dress I recently re-purposed.  Yep, same exact print! I bought a few large cuts of fabric too.  The first picture is the fabric I wanted, the second is the grab bag fabric that I'm now determined to turn into a quilt or two! I forgot how much I love the old "dusty rose" colors that are no longer out there.  And that yellow is a small corduroy that has gone out of style and is now back again LOL!

Let me tell you, the amount of fabric there was overwhelming (even after a huge amount had already been sold).  There was an entire large table piled with just solids, one with just apparel fabric, and many more with prints and pieces.  There were over 200 books, and 2 full tables with nothing but magazines, some decades old.  My stash really doesn't need to grown any, and I realize that these yard, thrift store finds and clearance sales are my weakness, but it all goes to such a good cause, right? I guess the moral of the story is to try to use what you have and once you get to the point that you know you won't be able to, find a good place for it while you still can.

End of Summer, and Exciting News!

With my kids back in school, (finally, as they started a week ago) I'm hoping that I can get back into the blogging routine again.  I guess when your kids suddenly aren't kids anymore, you quickly realize how short of a time you have left with them in the nest, and I really want to make the most of it.  We had a really nice summer. We even managed a final camping trip in and around the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness Area, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from us.  Other than a few bow hunters, many of whom waited 15-20 years to get an elk tag here, we were the only people we saw there.

But!  I also got some exciting news.  I finally took the leap and applied for a Modern Quilt special exhibit at MQXWest that is coming up in Portland, OR, in October, and both of my quilts were accepted!  My Modern Granny and my Medical Technologist Quilt will both be there.  It's a non jurried event, which is perfect for me.  I'm hoping to at least make it to the show, and perhaps take a class. The whole process has been a learning one for me, and gives me a whole new appreciation of those quilters who do this regularly.

Finally, I recently hit the half way point on my City Sampler Quilt Along.  Here's the first 50 blocks!  By the time this quilt is finished I wouldn't even want to guess how many hours it'll have in it.  I'm hoping to make a quilt for our bed (queen, maybe King).

Mom's Undercover Music Quilt

Each August, for the last 3 years, my mom flies out here to Eastern Oregon from hot muggy Dallas, TX to see us and to escape the heat.  It's becoming a tradition to take her to see snow in August.  She loves to camp and this is also an opportunity for us to camp and travel with her.  We've been to Glacier National Park, Mt Rainier, and this year, Mt Hood.

Last time I visited her, I took a good inventory of the colors and decor of her bedroom, and started scheming out a queen-sized bed quilt to make for her to send back with her to Dallas.  She's computer savvy, so I've kept this quilt under cover (har har), as I wanted it to be a surprise.

I saw a similar quilt / pattern at our local quilt show in May, and used my EQ7 program to design it.  I used my "Tri-Recs" ruler that I won last year to make the triangle blocks.

My mom's passion is music and gardening, so I found some cream batik fabric with music notes on it, and some blue botanical fabric to match her room decor.  I also added a musical "touch" to the quilting.

I used my new "go-to" method of labeling via the binding, and even added a quote to the back binding.

I had a panel of batik snowflakes in my fabric stash that matched the quilt perfectly, and used other stash and non-stash fabric to piece together the back.

She loved it!