Florida Fun!

Two years ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to St. Petersburg, Florida, by my friend, Melanie. We managed to visit a few quilt shops, and learned that we missed a shop hop by just one week. But, that didn't mean we would miss the next one! Last year, eight of us flew into Tampa-St. Pete, and participated in the shop hop. We rented a mini-van, and hit the quilt shops during the day, had appetizers and Margaritas on the deck in the evening, before going out to dinner. We had such a good time, we decided it should be an annual event.

Just two weeks away now, and there will be six or seven of us on this excursion. Last year, we decided to do a block swap, and each of us made a Margarita block. Those blocks were given to my sister-in-law, Jan, somewhat as a repayment for a practical joke . . . and also, as another practical joke, since it meant she then had several projects going at once. Jan is a project person, and works through start to finish. Just hates to have more than one thing going at once. Her quilt turned out just wonderfully, and a picture of it appears in March 3, 2006, posting to Laura's blog. It shows all of us with the quilt on the front porch at one of our retreats, pointing to the block we made.

This year's block is flip flops. I made mine Friday evening, and completed it Saturday. It was great fun. We are using Pat Sloan's flip flop pattern (www.quiltershome.com) from her free pattern, titled, "Where are your shoes and socks?". I chose to put mine on a white background that has brightly colored little stars. The soles are pink with multi-colored, multi-sized polka dots. For the thong portion, I used a piece of trim that looks like flowers, and embellished the toe with a ribbon rose. Every time I look at it, it makes me giggle. It's not only frilly, it's silly! I just love whimsical quilts.

I'm looking forward, too, to collecting the blocks from the shop hop. Since going to Florida last year, I have participated in one among vendors at the AQS show in Paducah, which featured Judy Martin's fabric line released last spring. I've not made any decisions on how I will assemble it yet. Just a few weeks ago, Marguerite and I made the rounds of the First Annual Illiana Shop Hop. I was pleased that the fabrics in those blocks include some in my stash already, and the blocks will make a great border to a plan I have to use them. And, of course, I have the blocks I collected in Florida last year, with a more than adequate quantity of additional fabrics to make a great quilt. If there is ever a cotton shortage, I've laid aside a good supply of fabrics and projects to get me through the "drought"!

Reminds me of the time I came home from a little trip with two books of 1001 embroidery transfer patterns. I told my DH they would provide inspiration for quilt making. He responded, "Oh, heart be still . . . that's what you need . . . 2002 more ideas for quilts!"