Hershey Quilt Show Loot

I went to the Hershey Quilt Show with a couple of friends this past Sunday, and came home with some fantastic loot!

This is an over-view picture. The pictures below separate it all into groups...

WOOL - Since I did my snowman candle mat, I'm hooked!! It's fantastic to stitch on & I think it looks fabulous to boot! I haven't tried felting it yet, but that's up there on my "things-to-try-soon" list!

NOTIONS: a couple lighted crocheted hooks, a chalk liner, rubber thimble, Marvy erasable fabric marker, a few HQ reusable bobbins, and that round thing is a chalk eraser and/or fuzzy remover.

I didn't buy much fabric. Unless I'm looking for something specialized, most likely something novelty, I resist buying fabric at the shows because it's darn expensive. So I look for smaller cuts of novelty for the most part.

FAT QUARTERS: pickles, "manly", lime green, orange w/spider webs, "I love soccer", two purple bats, and a couple candy corns.

Had to show a close-up of the "manly" -- They're more difficult to find. I cannot fathom what I'd make with it, but well, you know, I still NEEDED it.

FREEBIES: Oh yeah, you read that right!!! I got all these various sized cuts below FOR FREE!! I guess the folks at Epicurean Crafts thought I'd spent enough at their booth that I'd earned some free loot!! I'm all for that :) 

(the stuff I bought from them are the patterns at the end for stitchery)

THREAD: Cones for the HQ16

ORNAMENTS: Halloween & Christmas patterns for felted wool

SEWING: a Bible cover & a 12"X 12" mini quilt for summertime

STITCHERY: Halloween, Autumn, runner, and Easter wall-hanging, and a book of "edgings"

Are you all familiar with "stitchery"? I've come to love it! It's simpler than full-out embroidery & works beautifully in my very old home. I was thrilled to see so much of it at the show this year. Last year this wasn't the case & choices were more limited.

That's the end of my loot-sharing. The pile seems a tad small to me when I consider the total price tag, but alas, I know I haven't picked the cheapest hobby. 

AND I don't have the most restraint when I find myself in a room filled with sewing/quilting stuff... or books for that matter... or in bakeries ... or in any other restaurant... or in an education store... office supplies stores...

Perhaps I need to work on self-restraint??

Quilt Show Ramblings & Some Eye Candy

I'll admit to not being particularly inspired to write much of anything this last week. Lots of emotional stuff just clouding my thoughts. 

But in an effort to push past, I thought I'd share something that does make me feel inspired...

my trip the the AQS Lancaster Quilt Show!!

This venue was anticipating upward of 20,000 attendees representing 48 states & 4 countries! This amazes me, since we live right in the middle of Cow Town USA, BUT we are known for our quilts!

I don't me "we" as if I'm known for my quilts, because I most certainly am not -just meaning in the more collective Lancaster County, PA way ;-P

I like to look at the spectacular quilts, BUT, they do often give me a bit of the "will I ever grow up to quilt like that????" feeling. The talent can be a bit overwhelming. 

Of course I try to reassure myself that I COULD if I REALLY put my mind to it. I just choose not to. I'll concede that some of the quilts, those with the perfect, tiny stitches that just about cause your eyeballs to implode from strain, would more than likely truly push me over the edge into the oblivion of insanity. 

(Or wait, am I already there?)

I didn't take any classes while there. I'd been hoping for a longarm quilt class, but there wasn't anything offered for me. (Looking forward to Hershey's show in July for that!)

And really, if I'm going to be honest here, I go for the shopping. Period. It's something akin to the giddy pre-teen girl feelings over boys -- only it's not. It's middle-to-older-aged women getting giddy over fat quarters, notions, threads, and patterns out the wazoo!!!

So here's my loot:

Big cones of thread for the longarm machine!

 I'm loving this Australian woman's designs -she combines simple embroidery stitches with piecing/quilting. (The two on the left are Lynette Anderson Designs.)

These patterns below are for my mini 12"X12" standing quilt frame.

 My good friend, Suzanne, and I bought the red "Holster". It's touted as a rotary cutter holster, but we thought it looked a little small for our rotaries & decided they'd be perfect for holstering our cell phones to our jeans!!

Then there are some fabric markers, a scary looking scalpel I use for mega stitching errors, and some Handy Nets for my big cones of thread.

 I was beyond ecstatic when I saw AQS had added THIMBLES to their collectibles this year!!!!! Yes, I collect thimbles! 

And I always get a pin at the bigger shows that offer them. Not last year, though, because they were overrun by our masses & ran out.

 And the real Eye Candy is the fabric...

I guess you realize I didn't happen up this kitty at the quilt show. No, but my Furry Purry Stan Stan the Hairy Man was waiting for me when I got home.

Snowman Stitchery

At the end of the day when I'm too tired to keep working or cleaning but not tired enough to go to bed, I've been doing a fair amount of hand stitching. 

I'm not sure when I'll get around to finishing it (edging it) so thought I'd just show it now. I think I want to back it with fabric & make it into an "ornament" to hang on an artificial tree we've put in the dining room. I thought it'd be cute to sew and/or stitch up little, seasonal ornaments that I could switch out.

Dang, I've been doing a lot of "thinking" by the words of that last paragraph! Now if I could only translate that into more productivity!! I can't help that I don't seem to have very many productive hours lately!! At least I don't think I can. I don't seem to be much of an early bird OR a night owl. Oh I'm up till midnight or later, however, as I've alluded to earlier, I'm mostly incoherent after I'd say about 10pm. I'm awake but my brain starts shutting down & the politeness in me starts to sleep as well ;-)  After 11pm I like to be deeply immersed in a good book while snuggled under my electric blanket.  But I digress...

I have a thing for snowmen...

-a close up.

Hmm... seems a silly day to share a snowman when it's so springlike outside! Ah well, we still have all of March to go through, so I think the snowmen can hang around a while longer.

I have another little snowman stitchery started, but since I'm either a very slow stitcher or just mostly incoherent by the time I'm stitching, perhaps I should start on the spring/summer set now??