Catching Up

I feel like I have so much to catch you all up on and have been too busy to write anything much! 

 I went with a friend to the AQS show in Grand Rapids last week and we had a blast! 

 So many beautiful quilts!  I think this one was my favorite. 

 I want to make a Viking quilt some day too and this one was fabulous!

There were so many beautiful quilts!  These are just a few of the ones I liked. 

 Hubby is a pilot to this depiction of the Blue Angels was pretty cool.

My best friend has a Double Yellow Headed Amazon so I took this shot for her.

The Koi pond was striking.

Of course I loved the cat ones!

As much as I loved all of the quilts it was very exciting to me to get to see Sylvia's original 

Epic Halloween QAL quilt. 

 It is the one that inspired my Hallowedding quilt!

Here is my Hallowedding Quilt so you can see the differences.

Of course no trip to a show is complete without visiting the vendors!  

I picked up a few patterns and this amazing seam ripper/stilletto combo.  

This shows it fully opened.

Then pull them out and turn them around and it is all closed up!  So cool!!

I found a cool pattern for a cat bed too. 

 I already had the insert so now I need to put this on my short "to do" list for the kittens!

Last but not least were some patterns. 

 I bought the two Lynette Anderson patterns on the left and the fox quilt on the bottom at the show.  The other two I bought last weekend on our camping excursion to Shipshewana 

(more to come on that soon)

I am so excited to tell you all about the camping trip too.  

Soon!

Stop back tomorrow for WIPs With Friends!

~XOP~

A Wonderful Weekend Starting With Friday

I don't know about you but my weekend was fantastic!  (except for the drive home anyway)  

I got to spend the weekend with a friend at her cottage in Muskegon.  

She is right on lake Michigan!  

No kidding, you can see the lake from her house!!  

The house sits on a bluff and you have to take some pretty steep steps down to the lake 

but it is well worth it!

We went to the AQS show in Grand Rapids on Friday.  

I think we spent more time shopping at the show then looking at the quilts. 

 Quite honestly I found the show a little disappointing.  

There didn't seem to be as many quilts that stood out to me as at other shows.  

My favorites were not the judges favorites either (big surprise).  

I did enjoy the challenge section, especially the birds from a group of quilters in Ann Arbor.  

I especially loved this duck quilt.

My very favorite quilt from the show was one of fancy birds.  

It was called Fantasy Fowl by Jerre Reese of SC.

Here are some close ups too.

I think this purple one was my favorite!

I did take photos of lots of other quilts and will have them up on my Flickr account 

if you want to see them.

While at the vendors I found a few things.  A new iron.  Freestyle by Panasonic.  

The AQS booth had them for around half price!  

Too good a deal to pass up especially with the glowing recommendation of my good friend Debbie!  

I bought a new ironing board cover too but no pictures to share of that!

I got to demo the new Bernina long arm! 

 I really, really want this!!! 

 There are only 2 right now, one at Bernina USA and one at the show.  

It came with the table you see it sitting on.  

You can also get it with handles and the frame, but I don't have room for that right now.  

There was a show special and I was sorely tempted.  

All they were asking was for a deposit and the machines are not even out until April of next year.  

I told hubby that I bought it and it did not even faze him!!  

I think I need to keep him!!

In the end, with all the house expenses, I left it at the show. 

 I do see this in my future though.

DD2 and I were talking about rings recently and she informed me that she would like an emerald with diamonds surrounding it rather than a plain diamond someday, when she gets engaged. 

 I found this beauty while at the show too, it was an estate ring. 

 GORGEOUS! 

 It also stayed at the show.

This was the only fabric I purchased while at the show.  

I needed some more royals for my Kitty mini quilt swap quilt.  

These were just what I had in mind!

After all the walking around we were starving so went to the Blue Water Grill. 

 I had this lobster sandwich and some root chips with their dipping sauces.  

I would highly recommend this place for a great meal!

And because my friend Rebekah said so, we checked out Stitched-Studio  

A new quilt shop in Grand Rapids.

Cute shop and friendly people inside!

Lots of great modern fabrics too.

I was able to complete my Fox Field collection from this shop!

We then headed home and walked down to the beach. 

 It was kind of a gray day but lake Michigan is always beautiful!

I just had to dip my toes in the water!!

 We watched the sun set and it was a good reminder that life is good!

More about the weekend later!

~XOP~

Excitement Is Building

That's right, excitement seems to be all around me at the moment.  

So much is happening all at the same time.  

I will begin by saying that I learned something new about presenting a quilt gift. 

 My friend, Robin, showed me how to roll up a quilt and tie it with ribbon.  

This will allow me to carry the quilt on the airplane with me. 

 Isn't this adorable?

Thanks for the ribbon Pauline!

 It will be on the plane with me next week when I go to Raleigh.  

That's part of the excitement, going to see my DD2 in Raleigh.  

So excited to see her!

I finished the third Halloween top last night and will be handing that off to the LAQ this week. 

 I am almost done with those now.  

One is done and gifted, one is just about finished being bound and 

now the third one is off to the quilter!! 

More excitement?  

A blogging friend from Australia actually called me this week!!!!  

We were chatting online and she asked me if I was near a phone and then 

BAM we were talking like we were long lost friends.  

Thanks for the wonderful chat Jeannette!!  

 If you haven't checked out her blog you should she has mad talent!

I also talked with my friend Jacquie recently and 

found out that she is going to be very close (~ 3 hours) to me teaching and 

then doing a brunch and trunk show. 

 So I registered for her class and the brunch and made my hotel reservation and 

we will be spending a lot of time together.  

We are both looking forward to this.  

We have been trying to figure out a way to get together 

so now we have that to look forward to at the end of June!!!

(Cat photo inset to make this less boring)
Hallie and Autumn

The final excitement?  

Not really that exciting but still...I have to have a professional photo taken of myself today. 

 I HATE anyone taking pictures of me and usually spend time behind the camera to avoid it

 but in this case I have no choice.

 I need a photo so I called up our photo dept here at work and
I am meeting the photographer at 9am.
 I decided to actually try to style my hair and *gasp* put on makeup. 

 I have my signature aqua on so hopefully that will make people look at my eyes 

rather than the rest of me! 

 LOL. 

 OK, so wish me luck with this one!

~XOP~

American Folk Art Museum

Here is the second installment on my day trip to the American Folk Art Museum.  First of all they moved.  Downsized considerably!  It is now just one small floor.  But the nice thing is they were having a quilt display!  The quilt that greeted me was one commemorating 9/11. 

The National Tribute Quilt.

This quilt was done in 5 quilt sections:

I couldn't stand back far enough to get the whole thing in but you get the idea. VERY moving!

This was the exhibit that was there along with the National Tribute Quilt

all the quilts were star themed! There were some beauties there too! They ranged from the more traditional to the more creative.

Does this one remind anyone else of Swoon?

Very patriotic

Beautiful Seven Sisters and an awesome crazy quilt

There were 2 in particular that caught my interest this one because of how different it was compared to the rest (love the dolphins). Almost a Hawaiian feel to it.

And I have to say I could not for the life of me figure out the "star" theme in this one until I read the plackard. Can you figure it out? It is all tied and the stars are tied in a slightly different color thread! Very interesting!!

The hand work on this one was lovely!

I loved the circular triangles in this one.

Here are a few more

That last one reminded me of something Sarah Fielke might do! I love it!!

The colors in this one were typical Amish colors but it was almost impossible to get any kind of good picture of it b/c it was behind glass with lights beaming directly on to it!

So that concludes the tour of the museum oh, but wait, there is one more thing I saw in the gift shop that I thought I would share with you too. It is soooo true!

LOL. I hope you have enjoyed the tour of the museum with me! There were some beautiful quilts. When I finally left the museum I was very close to the south west corner of Central Park so I decided to detour that way and get a glimpse into at least part of that gigantic place so off I went. They are gearing up for a super huge marathon in the part on Sunday so there were a lot of race type things there. It was a beautiful sunny day so I decided to chance it. B/c let's face it, I needed to carry all that thread and fabric to just a few more places and walk a few more miles while holding it right? (Did I tell you that I am in a challenge at the gym where I have the final weigh in the Monday after I get home? Yeah, so there is that and I am eating so lugging that stuff was helping me right?? right??) LOL.

On to Central Park! I had to walk past this beautiful church on the way, I have no idea which church it was but it was pretty!

This was part of the race concourse

The buildings through the trees in the sun were pretty too

I really liked the pillars on this bridge and look what I found when I looked down to the end of the bridge railing.

Surprise!

As I exited the park I came upon this fountain

And statue

Whew! I needed to get back to the hotel and rest!! Tomorrow is the trip into the city with my DH!! (I think I am going to make him go back to get some more thread, giggle, so I won't have to carry it!!) Stay tuned for more of my adventures. We are leaving on Monday after lunch but spending the night somewhere on the way so I am writing my posts ahead and scheduling them to post so I can keep up with the NaBloPoMo and post every day.

Just a side note, I want to thank everyone that takes the time to comment. I know everyone is busy and all but it really makes me feel good when you take a minute to let me know you are there!! I try to respond to all my comments but sometimes my life gets in the way too, just know that I read each and everyone of them and I really, really appreciate them! I write for myself, to keep track of my life and much like my quilting, because I *have to*. It's nice to know that someone else reads and relates to my life too!! Thanks guys!! ~XOP~