Ribba Shelves

As soon as we arrived home today, I went to the quilting studio to install the 4 Ribba shelves I bought at Ikea on Monday. They are the perfect depth for the thread cones. The only problem is that I need 4 or 5 more. Unfortunately, the closest Ikea to home is 4 1/2 hours away. Road trip anyone?
Til next time,
Mary

Mushrooms

I came across a website that showed old wooden salad bowls turned into garden mushrooms. I love repurposing things, so I set out to find the bowls at thrift stores. Couldn't find any, not a one. I then enlisted my mom and big sister, Cathy to join the hunt. They are experienced thrifters. In no time, they found several and mailed them off to me for my birthday. With can of red spray paint in hand, I set to work creating my garden mushroom. Two coats of red, handpainted white dots, and two coats of protective finish and I was ready for the stem. I considered a piece of tree, but decided on a brown beer bottle Gorilla Glued to the underside of the bowl. The tapered neck made it easy to stake into the ground. I wonder how many happy colored mushrooms will pop up in my garden this summer?
Til next time,
Mary

Coraopolis

We are on the road again. This time to Coraopolis, PA just south of Pittsburgh. I brought The Queen and Her Court to work on as my main project and 1-1/2 inch squares as leaders & enders. I am working on Four Patch Revisited from Bonnie Hunter's Leaders & Enders book. It requires hundreds of 4-patches. I think if I had to sew them all at once, I'd pull my hair out. But sewing them in between other projects makes it less tedious. See the empty box? I bought another Janso light from Ikea. At only 2 miles from the hotel, how could I not go there. I also bought 4 Ribba shelves to hold my threads for the longarm.  


These are the four blocks I completed this week: 7,8,9 & 10.

They finish at 12 inches with tons of seams so, I resorted to pressing the seams open to reduce the lumps. 

 Til next time,
Mary

Shop Hop

This weekend was the Spring into Summer Shop Hop. Five shops (Quiltessentials, Calico Basket, Cottonweeds, Mariner's Compass, and Alewives) three friends, and a boat load of fun. So, to add the icing on the cake, Betsy from Quiltessentials called me on Monday to tell me that I had won a prize. Woo hoo! Tuesday morning, DH and I hopped in the car and off we went. This is what was in my prize bag. I couldn't believe it. Patterns, wool felt, fabric, thread, roving, and quilt stencils. Now, to share with my hopping buddies.
Til next time,
Mary