A start on the selvage chair!

A look at what I "auditioned" today

First, I traced the seat of the chair using muslin and a sharpie:

Then I cut batting to fit the seat as well:

As you saw above, I auditioned some selvages.

Nothing is pinned down yet. I also need to sew some

shorter strips together before I can really make decisions :)

I'm happy it has begun.

Flora and Fauna Crestwood Bag is finished and fantastic!

lining, pocket and label:

Since we were snowed in today,

I used the time to finish the bag I am

making for DD's BFF's birthday.

I love how it came out!

Snow is the word of the day.

We have at least 18"

and it is still coming down strong.

School is already cancelled for tomorrow,

so I will get to work on my selvage chair!!

New fabric and 8-10 more inches of snow predicted tonight!

This is the Moda  L'amour Charm Pack.

Since Sunday is Valentine's Day,

I'm thinking it may not be until next

Valentine's day before I use it.

Oh well, it was too pretty to pass up!

Just as we get back to normal from the huge snowfall

Saturday, mother nature is stopping by again tonight!

A bargain! $1

I stopped into my local Border's store today,

and all remaining calendars are $1.

I looked at this before, but then forgot to go get one.

I have to make up for lost time :)

Some progress on the bag:

Although not as much as I hoped,

the body of the bag is together!

I love the combinations of fabric

that my daughter chose.

Blizzzzard!

Crazy amount of snow in my neighborhood today!

A new recipe- SUCCESS!

I have been searching for a new beef stew

recipe, and tried this tonight-

parkers-beef-stew-recipe

(food network photo, not mine)

I made a few slight changes, mostly leaving

out the sundried tomatoes and not dredging the meat in flour,

and the whole family LOVED it!

I am not a red wine drinker, so I picked up a bottle of

Sutter Home Red

at Sam's yesterday, and it worked out well!

Thanks for the great recipe, Ina Garten!

Bag progress!

Today I managed to get all the batting pieces cut out,

and matched up as well the pieces of the pellon 70.

I also threaded

my machine in the chartreuse thread

and loaded two bobbins .

I am waiting to start sewing until the morning.

I found this

Coats and clark color chart

which makes me happy!
Anyone else enjoy the little things?

Fabric cut for bag!

I had time today to get the fabric cut,

and hopefully, with a foot of snow in the forecast for

Friday-Saturday, I'll be able to get this done!

Lancaster Quilt store addresses:

Hayloft Fabrics, 150 Moreview Blvd, Morgantown, PA

Sauder Fabrics, 681 S Muddy Creek Rd, Denver, PA

Burkholder's Fabrics, 2155 W Route 897, Denver, PA
Weaver's Dry Goods, 108 W Brubaker Valley Rd, Lititz, PA
Old Country Store, 3510 Old Philadelphia Pike,
Intercourse, PA

Zook's Fabric Store, 3535 Old Philadelphia Pike,
Intercourse, PA

 Fabric & Quilt Shack, 3137 Old Philadelphia Pike,
Bird In Hand, PA

Dutch land Quilt Patch, 2851 Lincoln Hwy E # A, Ronks, PA

This is the route I have planned from NJ
to the hotel in Lancaster!

I have allocated a full day to visit all these shops!

Lancaster, PA quilt shops

Kathie, who follows my blog asked

"so are you going to share Pat's

favorite quilt shops in the Lancaster area?"

when I blogged Saturday about the selvages I bought from Pat.

I'd be happy to!

Here are all their websites: ( in no particular order)

http://www.burkfabrics.com/

http://www.oldcountrystorefabrics.com/

http://www.hayloftfabrics.com/

http://www.dutchlandquilts.com/

http://www.zandsfabrics.com/

http://www.thequiltandfabricshack.com/

http://www.sylviasquilts.com/

If anyone has visited these stores, I'd love to hear your comments!

I will be sure to give my reviews

after I visit in March

New Fabrics!

I picked this up last week at Mouse Creek.

My daughter and all her friends at sleep away camp

wear rain boots, so I HAD to get a cut of this!

This is Alexander Henry's Bag Lady that I won on ebay.

It arrived today, and the photo I already posted

didn't do this fantastic fabric justice!

Progress on strata-gizing

I was able to work on my strata-gizing yesterday.

I need to work the left side of the curve

to make it smoother, but overall I am

happy with how it "sewed in"

Curves are always interesting!

I originally wasn't going to put the background

fabric along the bottom, but i think it needs it.

Now I need to decide how big to make it.

Also, the question is how to quilt it?

Thoughts are straight lines following the background pattern,

rays continuing out from the half circle,

circles out from the half circle?

I think I will stich in the ditch for the half circle.

I welcome any and all ideas!

Selvages in the mail!

Pat, whom I buy selvages from,

sent me this amazing collection of selvages!

Perfect timing, as I hope to start working

on recovering the chair this week!

She also sent me great info on her favorite

fabric stores near Lancaster, PA.

I will be heading there in March for the AQS show,

and will also spend a day fabric hunting!

Giving new life to an old chair

This chair was in my in my inlaws

bedroom for years.

It has spent the last 10 years in our

basement, doing nothing.

I am going to upholster it in selvages

and putting it in our playroom!

Alexander Henry Bag Lady

I just won an auction on ebay,

literally moments ago,

for a yard of this fabulous fabric!

Just look at that awesome selvage!

I always seem to be drawn

to the Alexander Henry fabrics.

Do you have any favorite fabric lines?

Cool find at Joann's

I was at Joann's yesterday to pick up

chartreuse thread for the bag I'm making.

I saw this fabric, and knew I had to get some.

I have used this type of fabric in the past.

It is really simple. It is purchased by the inch.

You sew up an edge,

and instant sundress/coverup.

I was thinking I would make this for me,

but my daughter took one look

at the pattern, and now it is for her.

45 cents an inch and a 50% off

coupon , so it cost less than $10!

A milestone!

Today is the 100th post since

 I started blogging this fall!

I really enjoy this, and have already

made some great friends along the way!

I appreciate all the comments,

and am thrilled that people

have chosen to follow me!

I love sharing my creative journey.

Similar to what they say at the end

of the Sex and the City movie

"To the next 100 (thousand)"!

Flora and Fauna by Patty Young for Michael Miller!

My DD and I headed over to Mouse Creek yesterday

to select fabric for her BFF's birthday gift

I will be making her the same tote that I made my DD.

I love her fabric selections,

and again, awesome selvages for me!

You Got The Notions by Project Runway for Kaufman Fabrics

I recently won this fantastic

fabric on an ebay auction.

It arrived yesterday, and I love it!

It has incredible selvages!

Fabrics for strata-gizing project

click to enlarge

I went to Mouse Creek Quilt shop

yesterday to select fabrics.

I am making it into a rectangular wall hanging,

so I needed a piece for the center, and the background.

I realized that I already had a piece of the

fabric we liked for the center in my stash,

Now to get it sewn, and put a backing on it!

more lime green bins!

My husband went to another Target,

and they still had plenty! Now they are on sale. BONUS!

I got 8 more, probably more than I need,

But better safe than sorry!

I need to adjust the shelf spacing,

and then will see what else I can fit.

There is always the top shelf.

I spent some time yesterday

arranging the fabrics by color.

I love diving into my stash and re-visiting

all the great fabrics I have collected!

Matzoh cover

Once I made the stars quilt for my dining room,

I wanted to make something out of this

 awesome fabric I had hunted down on the internet!

A matzoh cover is used during the

Passover seder, festive meal.

It has 3 compartments, each which

you place a board of matzoh into.

The middle board is broken during the meal,

and becomes the afikomen or dessert,

Traditionally, children steal it and hide it, then

bargaining for some type of treat

before it is returned to the seder leader.

3 compartments:

Stars

Quilting Corner left a comment on

Monday's entry liking my star quilt.

I realized that I never have blogged about it.

It is a pattern called Tradition by Fay Nicholl Designs.

http://www.faynicolljudaicadesigns.com/patterns/ttttttradition.html

which was only 4 stars, so I added my own spin on it!

Back fabric,
which inspired the colors in the quilt:
(sorry for the weird angle!)

Selvages!

I have bought selvages from Shannon before,

and this new batch certaintly didn't disappoint!

I love her taste in fabric, and I am excited to put

them to use in my next selvage project!