Thursday, May 03, 2007

Remarkable Restraint!


Paducah, Kentucky, home of the American Quilt Society, as well as their annual show, is a tremendous event. There are so many things to see and do, for years, we have made the comment to those attending for the first time, "Bring $10,000, because you will want to buy everything you see!"

In past years, I've wedged bags of fabrics under the seats, and stuffed things into my suitcase to return home. This year, I had taken my Longaberger Market Basket, in which I placed some journals and pens for "room-mate gifts" for my quilting friends. Once emptied, it was the perfect place to put my purchases. Surprisingly, all my quilting items fit into that one basket. I had a stray bag that contained seven skeins of yarn for socks . . . also known as "Socks - some assembly required". Three books came home with me, too . . . Elly Sienkiwicz's newest Baltimore Title, and another applique book, and Nancy Bush's Vintage Sock pattern book.

Inventory of the basket revealed a 7 1/2 yard background fabric (amazingly, shown as background in the picture) for use in a block of the month called, "Songbirds"; 6 sampler packets of 5-inch squares; a few fat quarters; a Benartex tone-on-tone small quilt top in beige, pattern is Autumn Wreath; clearance table finds of another "ready-to-quilt" tone-on-tone white lap quilt, as well as a small pink one; a cute little embroidery kit which says, "Sew , Gather Love" with a sweet little girl quilting by candlelight; and a fun print of pretzels, which inspired me to collect a few batiks to make a wall-hanging.

I brought back a few gifts, too. My friend, Sandra, couldn't make the trip at the last minute because of water in her basement. She's fond of redwork, so I found a set of patterns with little girls month-by-month, a red print fat quarter, a blank lace-edged hanky, and a sampler of 5-inch squares of feed sack reproductions.

I bought my husband a book about buttons. He frequently picks up jars full at auctions, and carefully sorts them into sets. He's always asking if this one or that one is glass. The book has a big section on glass buttons that I thought might help him identify them. The downside? He's been dismayed at how many buttons he's had and given away that are shown in the book!

My youngest son has become a real homebody, and loves to cook. I found a slow-cooker cookbook that I thought he might enjoy, and provide some complements to his grilled masterpieces.

Now that the big trip is behind me, I need to get inspired with my quiltmaking. I have some applique that I volunteered to do for our Guild's raffle quilt, a block for a friend, and several blocks for a block exchange in August. Should be fun . . . but first, I need to "plow" my studio!
Didn't post this right away, because I wanted to add the picture. More photos later!

5 comments:

Sweet P said...

What a nice haul! Enjoy your goodies. Can your son teach my son to cook?

atet said...

What wonderful finds -- love that lime green floral in the front!

Hedgehog said...

Love those springy colors - and the pretzel fabric!

Quilts And Pieces said...

That background fabric is going to be perfect!

Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said...

ooh great fun.....maybe one day it will be me! Cheers, Tracey