I had a great time visiting my sister the past few days in Bremerton. On Friday, we visited a couple of quilt shops nearby. I really liked Material Girls in Silverdale. When you first walk in the door, you are greeted with a stunning selection of really beautiful batiks. There are wonderful quilts on all the walls. The fabric selection is just the sort of stuff I really like. This shop also carries Bernina sewing machines. My sister is looking to purchase a new machine, so she did some research while we were there. I also looked at the 350 and the 380. They are just what I would like to have, but I just got a new quilting machine and frame, so my old Honey will do just fine.

One of the things Honey needs is help sewing straight lines. I wanted to buy a foot that had a 1/4" guide to help me, but it was $45.00. My sister has the same model of Bernina (old 831 from 1972), so she let me look through her feet. She didn't have the one I wanted, but she did have an open front foot, another one I wanted. It has a hole in the back of it. When I got home, I pulled out my box of accessories and found a piece that goes through the hole, and creates a 1/4" guide. Wahoo!! Thanks, sis.

Another wonderful surprise is two more bins of fabric from Merlyn. I am so excited. There is one bin of creams and whites, and one of browns and incredible paisleys. I am so lucky to have my own quilt angel. Thank you, Merlyn.

The photo above shows the progress I am making on my grab bag quilt. I found the prettiest flannel to back it at Material Girls. It should be ready to quilt in the next few days. I just have to get two other quilts done. One goes on the frame tomorrow morning. It is going to be a busy quilt week for me. This is a good thing.

Busy studio day

I had a very busy day in the studio today, and got a lot done. I finished piecing 12 of the 16 nine patch blocks for Mary Ann's quilt. I just had to cut them up and get them on the design wall. Of course, I had to go buy a new design wall because my two small ones were filled. I am loving the colors of this quilt. It is primarily batiks I have collected over time, some left over fabric I had from Moda's Tranquility line, and a wonderful piece of purple fabric, also from Moda. I found some rich warm brownish paisley for sashing and borders. On Thursday, when I get back into the studio, I will finish up the last four nine patch squares, cut them up, add them to the wall, and start to cut and sew the new blocks together. I have designed this so there won't be any seams to match, at least not too many.

I also got all the strip units sewn and cut for the bonus grab bag quilt. There will be 30 5 inch squares. I am going to add sashing and borders to make this a comfortable lap quilt. I think there may be enough fabric in the bag to complete the top.

I have quilt guild tonight. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and hearing what everyone got over the holidays that is quilt related . We also get our new block of the month, and make some decisions about other projects we may want to continue or not. I am hoping we continue the mystery quilt, but I will have to wait and see until this evening.