Yes, WE can!

      I have been busy, busy, busy and almost forgot my weekly blog post-- unfortunately, there's not a lot of sewing or digitizing going on. It's the time of year when those outdoor painting projects need to get finished up-- especially since they haven't even been started yet! For the past two years, I felt that my natural habitat has been in front of a sewing machine or computer screen, but this past week, it has been on a ladder!

     On the plus side-- I am still BUYING things, so we can always have a chat about that! I discovered, in my new closet, if I push back the plastic bins of fabric, I can fit another row of fat quarters in front. Also, there's a certain amount of square inches on top of the bins that is not fully utilized yet, that I bet I can fill, as you can see below!

      First up, the New England Shop Hop has begun! The shop hop  is a concept that has now fully involved into a giant nationwide machine called "Shop Hop, Inc.," complete with celebratory fabrics, magazines, and major awards. So you would have to be nuts to actually drive New England for days, stay at hotels, buy something at each shop (because you HAVE to if you go in, right?) collect all your stamps and be eligible for a drawing for a grand prize. I bet you could just BUY the grand prize, with all the money you spent hopping! But here in the USA, we're a competitive bunch, so I have no doubt multiple people will accomplish the goal.

    I'm happy with just supporting my local shop, so I sallied forth, and had to BUY something, of course, which isn't really a chore. This is what I got:

    It's a great little I Love Maine wall hanging with a set of extremely meaningful jelly roll strips with all the Maine things-- Lobster buoys, chickadees, blueberries, etc., etc. This would be great in my new studio-- or there's endless gifting opportunities for new Maine friends-- or family you are trying to get to move here.

    I also snagged this panel. If you've been paying attention, one of the fabric companies is going through all 50 states over the past few years. I've picked up ones that have people I know living in them, but so far, none of them has made it to my longarm! Couldn't you see it with a pretty blue and white flying geese border?

    I tried to familiarize myself with all of the things on the panel since I now live here and I don't want to go around like an ignorant fool. So there's blueberries, a chickadee, and a pine cone-- those are the easy ones. The blue ox has me puzzled-- is it BABE the blue ox with Paul Bunyan? I didn't know he was from Maine.

     Then here's the famous light house-- I should learn it's name-- a boot for L.L. Bean, I bet, the loons, and, of course, the Whoopie Pie. One of the first things I learn about an area new to me is it's associated food. Teehee.

    Finally there's the moose, the lupines, but I confess myself stumped about those three brown, hairy, ombre beans under the moose. Does anyone have any insights for me? Potatoes are from Idaho. Maybe I'll ask a neighbor.

     I didn't find the Shop Hop "official" fabrics there yet- I'm still on the lookout for those and I would definitely like to OWN them to add to my collection-- I have last year's somewhere in those plastic bins.

 Then, in internet shopping, I also succumbed to the FLOWER CART!

    So, for someone who initially was not impressed with this designer's first collection (too pastel), I am in deep! It is Heather Briggs from My Sew Quilty Life-- the fabric collection is "Flower Girl." First, I received some in a Sew Sampler Box and I made this:

    The Flower Cart is just too cute-- I'm still not best friends with pink or pastels, but there's someone in my extended family who would flip over this. I have to say, Heather Briggs put a fantastic package together. Each month, you not only get the pattern, but she printed up a chart to check off progress, little alphabet squares to label your pieces, and a give away each month. It's already well into the sew along, so I may just save it for the winter and do it all at once. I got this kit from Bella Rose fabrics on line-- it's almost sold out everywhere else.

    Then, my last purchase for the week-- as if this weren't enough-- I also succumbed to the Hey Boo fat quarters. One of my online friends just kept putting it before my eyes!

    I'm sure it's going to be gone soon-- I had to search on Etsy. So I still want to buy the matching fabric panel which I am going to do next before it's too late. All this cuteness and all this pink-- my goodness! More stuff!

     I did somewhat finance these purchases with selling off some of my older kits. If there's one thing that galls me more than leaving a bunch of UFOs for my kids, it's having them sitting on a gold mine of fabric that they don't understand the value of! I divested myself of some 2020-2021 Halloween boxes and like fine wine, they did increase in value. Of course, I then signed up for the 2024 "Spooky Box" from Fat Quarter Shop, so let's hope it was a good trade. This area of my closet has thinned out a tad, even though it doesn't look like it. The closet is going to have sliding barn doors over the winter, so all this work waiting to be finished won't be in my face as much.

     In the very little time I did sit before a computer screen, I designed a fall quilted in the hoop table runner. I'm just going to use the leaves from the new fall wreath-- they came out so pretty and deserve it. Are you into it?

And the Village of the Month is an apple farm!

    In the finished column-- it's "Star of Wonder," off the longarm! Since I have, at most, one hour a night to sew, I decided to pick just one thing and finish it up. I am so pleased with the way it came out. This is my second longarm finish since getting it set back up in the new space.

     I don't like to practice, so I just went for it. Now, don't get intimidated, because if you look up close there is much to be desired. I drew every feather in with a blue marking pen and badly, badly sewed over it-- it doesn't bear close inspection. But I left it on the floor in the guest bedroom, flat as a pancake if you notice,  and Mr. SFO said-- "What is that?" I hesitated to answer-- like, obviously, IT IS A QUILT! Then, since I didn't say anything, he continued-- "That is really beautiful, sweetheart!" 

   

 xox

   That amounts to an extreme, ultimate compliment from Mr. SFO. He always gives a totally honest critique of whatever I'm working on, which is what any artist really needs. Just remember-- if I can do it, you can, too, so consider dropping those feed dogs and just try!

    I started thinking very positively this week-- and I just want to leave you with a thought-- nothing is impossible. We can do it! Finish all the UFOs, get those bindings on, start new stuff-- you bet! Just stop thinking about it, and DO IT! 

     And now that it's about time I got back up on that ladder-- here's a final picture. We really wanted to clean up our cabin siding since moving in two years ago. A lot of elbow grease, right? We've been thinking about it all this time and finally made up our minds to do it. Just take a look-- if you would have told me that we would get 30 year old siding back to looking brand new, I never would have believed it! Just look at the difference between the top and bottom.

    In just one day, two sides are done already.

Yes, we can!

xox
Carol