Inspiration From All Around

We've been on vacation this past week on our annual beach trip.  (Yes, I have even MORE vacation pictures to share soon.  I'll understand if you pass on the opportunity.)  Thanks to the wonders of technology and an unlikely amount of planning on my part, I was able to write a few blog posts and schedule them to post while I was away.   And I've been able to keep up reading all your blog posts, but alas, my techno-savvy stops there.  You see, I find commenting on my iPad a bit difficult so I tend not to comment as much as I normally would.  And my smart phone decided to stop being smart, so it no longer sends me email.  I've tried every trick I know but it stubbornly refuses to cooperate.  I fear this means a trip to the phone store where they will try to sell me a new phone that I really don't need, especially since I barely need the one I have.  I keep hoping that my phone just took a bit of a vacation too and will soon be back to work sending me email.

It takes about five hours for us to travel to the beach.  We like to stop several times on the way and one of the stops is usually this fantastic quilt shop:  The Quilter's Corner.  I came home with these 1930's reproduction fabrics and then some other pieces that just sort of called to me:

 

My husband also got into the act.  He picked out this for me to make, not really knowing exactly what it was.  He thought it was a quilt kit, but it's for a teeny tiny paper pieced project.  I've done some paper piecing but nothing this small, so I have a challenge!

 

The day before we left for the beach my local quilt guild had a visit from Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilting Company.  I wasn't able to stay for the workshop, but I did get to hear her speak and see her trunk show.  She is SO much fun to listen to and so very creative.  I wanted to make every quilt she took out to show.  She works a lot with pre cuts...something I've never done, but I wanted to run out and buy some after listening to her.  She has a great web site and sells a ton of precuts.  Each day at midnight the website lists a new "Deal of the Day".  And they really ARE good buys.  The deal is good for 24 hours or until the supply runs out, whichever comes first.  Shipping is five dollars for any amount or free is you spend $100 or more.  And, there is now an "Iron Quilter" contest going on which sounds like a lot of fun.

 

So, between my fabric store trip, Jenny's talk, the Iron Quilter challenge and some browsing on my iPad, I came home with enough ideas to keep me busy for the next year!