A Great Day

I had a great day on Satuday, and although it's already Tuesday, I thought I'd share part of my day with you.

Friday and Saturday was the openhouse at my favorite quilt shop, Quilt, Etc. Even though I knew I wouldn't be signing up for any classes, I still decided to go check out their sale. As I pulled up next to the the shop I saw three tall fabrics towers outside for their sidewalk sale. All fabric on the towers were 50% off. Now who can resist that?!

I tried not to over do it and only bought two pieces. Each bolt had just over 2.5 yards so I took everything on the bolt. Both pieces are Moda; the red fabric is from the Renewal line by Brannock & Patek and the tan fabric is from the Chocolat line by 3 Sisters.

There was also a table that had patterns and kits marked at 50% off. Again...who can resist that?!

I picked up this fabric kit for just $24. The kit was made up, using all Thimbleberries fabrics, for the Granny's Jam quilt from the "11 Laps from Fats" book. The kit includes 9 fat quarters plus another three pieces that total 3.75 yards. I doubt that I'll actually use this fabric for the Granny's Jam quilt. It'll all just go into my stash. Not a bad thing since I don't currently have any of these pieces. Some I've had, but they live in quilts now.

They also had all of their pre-cut fat quarters on sale at $1.75 each.

For a long time I've wanted to make a hospitality quilt to go in the entrance of our home. I finally settled on the Pineapple Tidbits quilt from the Buggy Barn "Certifiably Crazy" book. I'll add these green and gold fat quarters to my growing collection.

I just couldn't resist the rest of these fat quarters. Aren't they fun?!

Last week was our city's annual celebration. Each year our kids get excited about going to Grandma's house to watch the fire works on Saturday night.

DH's mother lives just a block north of the park from where they shoot the fireworks. In past years the kids have climbed up on the roof to get the best view possible, but this year we sat on the back deck and enjoyed the view from there. These are pictures that Kirsten took from her camera.

Somehow the night ended with a bunch of young "twenty-somethings" in our family room watching a movie until well into the morning. Ya know? It just ended up being one of those nights when we all went to bed feeling happy! Now ya gotta love that!

A Paralyzing Decision

A few days ago, while skimming through some of my favorite blogs, I stopped by Judy L.'s place and came face to face with the "Why/when did you start quilting?" question. Ugh! My conscience was pricked once again as I had to face those blasted "book" blocks.

These blocks were some of my first. Yep, templates. The blocks aren't all that great, but they were started years back with the intention of making a book quilt for my oldest DD. Rachel is an avid reader and has been since she was about eight years old. She must be on a first name basis with the employees at the library. Wouldn't it be wonderful to snuggle under your own book quilt to read a favorite novel? Rachel thinks so! She frequently asks me when I plan on finishing her book quilt. I wonder what's the big hurry? I only started it eight or nine years ago!

I have already decided on a setting...similar to the twist and turn blocks that Kim posted a picture of on Sunday...and I would love to get this quilt finished in time for Rachel to take with her when she heads off to college in the fall, BUT I have a dilemma that keeps me from tackling this project. The dilemma is that theses blocks are made with very inexpensive fabric, purchased in the days when I was oblivious to the difference between the fabric that they carry at JoAnn's and higher quality fabric that they sell at the local quilt shop. So my question is...Should I go ahead and complete the quilt with fabric of equal quality OR should I finish it off with quilt shop quality fabric? Either way, I'm sure it will be loved and greatly appreciated. Your opinion is greatly appreciated!

The (Food) Festivities Continue

Saturday was our final graduation BBQ. We had a "small" group of around twenty. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends...they were all there. Of course, when you have that many people coming to eat, you'd better have a mess of food. In addition to the grilled chicken, I made.....

calico baked beans.....

broccoli salad.....

fruit salad.....

pineapple upsidedown cake.....

and raspberry rhubarb crisp. Hey!!! What happened to the raspberry rhubarb crisp?!!! Apparently, everyone ate it up so fast that I wasn't able to get a picture. But trust me, it was great!!!

And speaking of rhubarb. Check out this monster plant that is in our backyard. No, we didn't plant it. It was already here when we moved in. The past two summers it has grown larger than ever before. As you can see, there is plenty more rhubarb to make another crisp. Next time I'll make sure to snap a pciture before it's devoured by the natives!