Trip to Raleigh, Blogging Friends, Fun and Shopping

On Tuesday I got to meet up with my friend Sara and her son Ayden. 

 They picked me up in the morning and off we went to some quilt shops. 

 The first one was close to Kelsey's and it is relatively new.

  It was in a cute little older house and called Cary Quilting Company.

Nice stock of Glimma

Some PB & J yardage

I LOVE how this pattern came out using the PB & J line!

Super adorable wreath welcoming us too! 

The owner was very sweet.

I would go back to this shop in a heartbeat.

I bought these gloves while we were there and some "skin" colored fabric for my paper dolls.

We traveled on to three more shops.  

These were my purchases from those shops.

I found this funky cat panel. 

 Won't it make a great baby quilt?

More awesome cat fabric.  

The one on the bottom looks like Kelsey's cat Mitch.

Some grey fox and some Ed Emberly Lions and Tigers along with a FQ of Where's the Narwhale

The BEST was this score of Full Moon Forest, pink trees!!  

I wish I had bought more already! 

 LOL

The other is Hushabye that I bought for the next round of the Tula Pink swap.

We went to lunch at Tony's Oyster Bar and the shrimp nachos were the BEST!! 

 I need to go back there.  

The shrimp were kind of sweet and crunchy and the cheese was slightly sweet, it was amazing!

It was fabulous seeing Sara and Ayden again too. 

 We had a great time.

You know the paper doll craze I have been in right? 

 I made 2 small wall hangings and  I gave the polka dot one to Sara. 

 It was not finished but I thought it could be a collaborative effort. 

 It was supposed to represent Sara and me.  

Thanks for a fabulous day, guys! 

 I am looking forward to another visit in the future and lots more shopping!

On Wed morning Kelsey and I were going to the Farmer's Market for breakfast,

Then I get to meet the infamous Mrs. Goodneedle.

I can't wait to tell you all about it.

~XOP~

A Little Birthday Celebration

Does it seem like birthday celebrations become birthday season celebrations?  

Or is it just me? 

 Well whatever, I am enjoying it all the same!  

On Friday night Cori and I prepared to go out on the town together to celebrate our July birthdays. 

 First up a manicure, for her, and a pedicure, for me. 

 It was so much fun!

  Here are the results!

Then of to dinner at The Melting Pot in Ann Arbor.  

The Ann Arbor art fair was going on so it was BUSY downtown but we decided to try it anyway. 

 Cori made a reservation and we were golden. 

 For those of you that don't know the Melting Pot it is a fondue place. 

 Realize that all my photos have Cori in them and I'm pretty sure hers have me!  

We started with a glass of wine 

(we thought it was pretty funny that there were so many glasses on the table). 

 What to order? 

They let us sample a few and then we each ordered a glass.

 First up was the cheese fondue with bread, veggies and apples, YUM!

We ordered the meat part with Lobster, since it didn't cost too much more and

 we were both happy that we did. 

 The lobster and the pork tenderloin were our favorites.

First, I can't believe how full we were at this point and 

second I can't believe how long the whole experience took. 

 I think we were there for just over 3 hours!! 

 It was so nice for both of us to be out of our homes, together, and catching up.

  I am excited to make this our annual birthday celebration. 

Now on to dessert!

I didn't think to take a photo until we were half way though our food! 

 The rice krispie treats were the best dipped in the milk chocolate. 

 We decided that for our birthday we would also share a dessert of choice (chosen by the birthday girl)

 mine was Tiramisu hers with this!  

I joined up to the eclub for the Melting Pot and got a certificate for 6 free chocolate covered strawberries.  We had to call ahead and they had them waiting. 

 The manager gave us 2 separate ones for our birthday too.

I took the 2 individual ones and sent these with Cori.  I hope her family enjoyed sharing out night out!

Just when I thought it was back to reality a package showed up on my doorstep from a friend. 

 She asked that I not blog about it but told me I could share one part of the HUGE package.

  She and her daughter are so amazing and I am so happy to have them as my friends.  

 Isn't it funny how sometimes an online friendship just clicks?

  It is great how the internet has shrunk the world! 

 Thank you my friend for your generosity and thoughtfulness.

  It made my day!!

Life is better with friends!

Thank you to ALL my friends for making this birthday a great one!

~XOP~

North Carolina Shop Hop

I can't believe how far behind I am in still telling you about my trip!  

On Saturday I got to meet Freda and Sara and her son, Ayden.  

These are some seriously nice folks! 

Freda picked me up and we met Sara at Wish Upon a Quilt. 

 I have to say this is a fabulous shop!! 

I have decided that I really need to work on a quilt my DD1 drew and 

so I needed some specific batik fabrics for this.  

Not my usual "go to" fabrics so those were on my list of things to look for and look what I found!  These will be perfect for "Prismata"! 

 (More on him another time)

I did happen to buy just 2 additional fabrics at this shop and these are more my typical style.  Although I don't have a lot of Kaffe,

 I love this feather print and it will blend with some other grays I have on hand.

Next on the travel stop was Bernina World of Sewing.  

Also a very nice shop!

Where I happened to find these beauties. 

 Not that I needed any of them but...

Who can resist some Joel Dewberry and some Curious Nature? 

 Not me that's who!

Next in line was lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. 

 I had never eaten at one and was stunned to see how HUGE the lunch salads were! 

 STUNNED!!!  

I can't imagine a dinner salad.

The one on the left was Freda's and the one on the right was mine 

(Sara helped me finish mine!)

Sara and Ayden's lunch was

amazing too. 

Lettuce wraps and a pepperoni pizza with little tiny pepperonies on it!

Next stop was Elegant Stitches. 

I found some real treasures there like 4 1/4 yards of this OOP print!!!  

(On sale too, isn't that Swell?)

I also found some Laurie Wisburn and the cutest whip stitch piping! 

 Anyone know where this piping is available wholesale??

Then we went to the Whistle Stop.  

I didn't buy anything there but their shop was cute and this pillow was amazing.

Last stop was The Quilter's Nest. 

 I did a little damage here too.

This day was wonderful! 

 I met some new friends IRL which was awesome.

 Freda, thank you from the bottom of my heart for driving me around!!  

You were more than generous.  

Sara, thank you for the beautiful dish towel 

(that is actually too pretty to use and may be made into an apron.)

And Ayden, thank you for th entertainment!

 I wish we lived closer!!!

Aren't blogging friends just the BEST??!! 

 I have a lot more stuff to share, although not too much more from the trip, but quilt related. 

Enough of a tease for everyone?? 

 LOL

~XOP~

Blogging Friends and More Cleaning At My Dad's

Blogging friends are so wonderful aren't they?  

I have a friend, Faith, that lives in the UK. 

 She sends me the most thoughtful and fantastic gifts! 

 Here is the latest gift send to me from Faith.

I have not eaten the chocolate yet but those little coconut babies on the left? 

Freaking AWESOME!!

I went to my dad's on Friday instead of going to work. 

 This is my life every other Friday. 

 I took him and my sister to see my other sister because he has not seen her in awhile. 

 She lives in a group home and has a lot of mental problems 

(born mentally retarded, cataracts on both eyes, schizophrenic and bipolar).

 I have not seen her in a very long time either. 

 Unfortunately, she did not really know any of us and did not talk to us.

 We stayed and visited as best we could and then I took them home. 

 She is on a lot of medication to keep her psychosis under control. 

 She also has to have ect (electro convulsive therapy) 

every other week, so I understand her not knowing us.

 I'm glad I could take my dad to see her though. 

 Then we came home and started cleaning his dining room table.

 See that clean half? 

That took  3 hours to do with both of us working!!

I also cleaned some of the front closet out, still more to do there but it's a start!

Lest you think I didn't do anything quilt related, I did. 

 I got the binding sewn on the Halloween Quilt. 

 Aiden approves!

I also worked on my dad's quilt some this weekend. 

 I got half of it sewn together. 

 I only have 1 more snowball to rip apart and re-sew then I can begin putting the last 4 rows together.

I hope you had a productive weekend too!

~XOP~

Aren't Friends The BEST?

I am overwhelmed by the blogging friends that have all taken time to
send me some blues for my dad's quilt.
 I received more in the mail this week. 
This is a GREAT thing as I need to add some more variety to the mix. 
Also I received a package from Australia from Badskirt Amy. 
She just happened upon some Mendocino and I scored BIG with her help.
 Thanks Amy!

These blues also came along from Amy. 
Hey, so I just noticed the black spots on both of these pics.
 I will have to check and see if that is really on the fabrics when I get home! 
I suppose I can work around! haha



These are the other blue packages I have received, one from Brenda
(a fellow Michigan quilter)
Thanks, Brenda!

The other is from Jan Maree.

Spectacular!! Thanks Jan Maree.

I did manage to get a quilt bound this week but have not been able to get any photos, hopefully soon! DH came home last night and it was good to have him home. 

 I brought the dog with me to go and pick him up as he was going to be at his work

 so the dog was allowed.

 I think she almost had a heart attack when she saw him, it was hysterical!! 

She may be even more excited to see him than I was! LOL. 

The cats were not impressed.

Have a wonderful day!

~XOP~