Autumn is here .....!

I cannot believe that summer is over. Where did it go? Stephen asked me to take down the pool this weekend. I wanted to keep it up just in case we have some summer days and also, partly in protest. Guess what's presently draining! lol

This is what we had for dinner the other night, Tomato Basil Pie!

It was delicious. Thanks Libby for posting your recipe. It's a keeper.

Except for the tomatoes, our garden was not productive this year. Something is causing my plants to die. Hopefully it will be rectified before next year.

On the quilting front, I finished quilting the In the Pink quilt, a pattern by Buggy Barn. I took a picture of the back so that you could see the machine quilting.

I'm getting the hang of panthos. I'm not so nervous and stiff anymore. I can definitely feel the flow! lol

I received some fun mail the other day from a dear friend, Guðrún. Isn't it just the cutest.

Oh... there was some Djupur Lakkris and some other Lakkris goodies, but they're all gone. I now have an addiction to Iceland Licorice. Thanks! lol

I thought I would use this cute stitchery as my blogger identity for when I post a comment. It's just so adorable and so true. Thank you again Guðrún!

Renovation time again in this household. I'm pretty sure this is the last one for the year. ;o)

We had to change the front door and side windows. They were 150 years old! I think they were due! lol

The original door was much wider, I mean it was huge! This will definitely help lower the cost of our heating bill. Winter is coming ya know!

That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by! I enjoy reading your comments!

Have a great day every one!

Can you smell it....... ?

After catching up on Libby's blog, which is always a treat to read, I had a sudden craving for molasses cookies. Hum....

I'm a big fan of molasses cookies. I do occasionally treat myself to the one's from the Dancing Bear Company . They are my favourite commercial cookies and are absolutely sinful!

First thing this morning was to bake a batch of molasses cookies from Linda's recipe.

Gosh are they good! It's a keeper!

Although the cookies turned out differently from Libby's and Linda's, they taste marvelous!

Tonight's dinner menu, Tomato Basil Pie! ;o)

Back to my trip to Pennsylvania!

On Saturday we did our shop hop. Our goal was to hit 3 fabric stores. Our first stop was at Weaver's Dry Goods in Lititz, PA. The funny part about this first shop is that there was a "road close" sign. The bus drive got out of the bus and moved the sign. lol We could see the shop from the intersection, so there wasn't any danger. Hey, my kind of bus driver!

I didn't get a chance to take pictures of any of the shops. For one thing, it was crowded! You know how it is with a bus load of quilters. They had a nice country theme going the the main shop. There also happened to be a a warehouse sale in a barn. If you bought the whole bolt, the fabric was dirt cheap. I didn't find anything bolt wise.

Our second stop was Burkholder's Fabrics in Denver. That's where we had a nice Amish lunch. They had these peanut butter cookies for desert that were to die for! Another favourite of mine! After we were all well fed, it was back to shopping!

Our third stop was Saunders, that's where I really did the most damage. They had lots of Moda's at a reasonable price. I did loosen up a bit! ;o)

Saunder's is pretty much where I went wild with the yardage.

Here you have fabric cuts anywhere from 3 (three) to 8 (Eight) yards. Yes, that's my backing pile! Who can resist Moda's for backing? Not me!

I did have a mission on my shop hop. I was in search of some folk art oranges and gold for 2 (two) projects that I hope to be starting soon.

These are mainly half yard to 1 (one) yard cuts. The fabric certainly looks much darker in real life! Oh... I forgot 2 (two) fabrics in this picture, a background and a Japanese print. Oh well, I'll point it out when I use it in a project! lol ;o)

Thank you for stopping by! I do hope you are all having a wonderful day! The weather here in Upstate New York is gorgeous.

Keep well!

I've been back... just in a funk!

Thank you to those concerned for my lack of post. Life has been a whirlwind of possibilities. I'm having a difficult time keeping up with it all. And if that wasn't enough, school is starting for me. I have just been so tired as of late. Enough said....

I didn't take many pictures during my trip to Pennsylvania. I think mainly because I was there last year and had reported on my visit.

The show was nice. It wasn't busy at all compared to others I have experienced. I think it was mainly due to being a weekday. Bonus for me! Some of the gals from my guild did mention that compared to prior years, the show was smaller this year. Never having been, I cannot judge, I just know that I had a good time. I didn't see any quilts that jumped out at me, so no pictures.

My number one priority at the show was to meet up with Pepper Cory, which I did at the lunch line. ;o)

Unfortunately, I was not able to take a course with her due to time constraint, but I did want to buy a copy of her book Mastering Quilt Marking. It's out of print and I was hoping she would have some copies on hands.

As you see, it was my lucky day! She even offered to autograph it for me!

My second priority was to seek out the APQS booth, the dealer being David & Gretchen Adams from Afton, NY.

I needed to find out what I'm either doing right or wrong with my longarm. I wanted to get a good feel of things, if you know what I mean!

I did find out that my top and backing rollers are much too tight and so is my loaded quilt. I need to loosen up! She did give me some pointers in regards to my clamps getting in the way.

My third priority was to shop for items I do not have access too in my neck of the woods!

And... Ya know, that pretty much means everything! ;o)

Yes, more hand embroidery patterns! How could I resist! You all know whose fault it is!!!!!! lol

One of the patterns is from Sandy Gervais. A while back I received a wonderful surprise from a dear friend and the pattern will be perfect for the charm pack.

I just love those "This & That" patterns. They make such sweet gifts for friends!

Given that we were going shop hopping all day on Saturday, I did stay away from any fabric purchase. Well......

I just could not resist this kit. The colours are just oh so delicious!

I'm telling you, the Fig Tree look is my new fad! Well, it is a Moda you know and ......... I'm such a Moda girl!

So there you have it, my day at the show! I had a great time shopping at quilt store booths that I would not have the opportunity to visit.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I enjoy reading your comments!

Have a great day every one!

The Good, the Bad and the Fun.....!

Penelope and I continue to have fun play dates.

I finished quilting my dd's winter quilt, which I thought turned out nice, that is, until I washed it!

I used The Tuscany Collection 100% wool batting by Hobbs. It is developed with Harriet Hargraves for "Discriminating Quilters". It specifically states that it "is made with the very best super wash wool, which eliminates most or all of the shrinkage. It is then carded and resin bonded to help retard bearding." Now keep that in mind for the next photo.

I purposely did not re-size the photo because I wanted you to see the results.

After completing the binding, I put it in the washing machine. When I pulled it out, it was covered with balls of wool - beading. Where in the heck did it come out of? Okay, so I stick it in the dryer thinking that it's going to take that stuff off. It did some of it, but not all of it. I did use the "cotton picker" for a bit and gave up!

Notice the beading, the shrinkage? It was dried on low heat. After seeing the results, I decided to read the instructions, "it is recommended to dry this quilt flat. When drying flat, block and square the quilt on an absorbent surface, such as towels. The use of a fan oscillating over the surface will speed up the drying process considerable". Now, who has the space to leave a quilt in the middle of the room to dry? Not me! Oh, and let's not forget the towels and oscillating fan. I wish this had been written on the front of the package and not on the reverse where I have no access, unless I rip open the packaging and turn the paper around! I am fuming....!!!!!!! I'm thinking that quilt needs to be picked and redone! I think the expression "I'm spitting bullets" is appropriate here! lol

What infuriates me the most is that I have another quilt using Hobbs wool batting, not the Tuscany Collection, that hasn't been washed yet because I still need to quilt the inner border. Anyone have room for me to dry a quilt?

On a much happier note, I shall be leaving Thursday morning for a bus trip with my guild, Champlain Valley Quiltler's Guild, to see the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XV show in Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania. Friday will be spent at the show. Saturday, we'll be shop hopping all day. Many of the places I have never been! Sunday we'll be leaving for home. I'm really looking forward to this. I've never been to a show in PA. I'm making sure I bring my camera! ;o) I'm telling you, this year I have been the travelling quilting fool! lol

Hope you are all having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!

Note: The issue was not with the batting but with my inexperience using a longarm. I had the quilt much to taut on the longarm. Once I washed the quilt, the quilt top sprung back to its original size forcing the batting to migrate out of the quilt. Lesson learned!