O' Fun For... spending more money than I really have

Hello all. My computer has died for now, so I had to figure out how to do all the picture-importing-ness on James' for the time being. I hope the more I use his computer the more he will want to fix mine. After coming home last night to find cheesy Pringles on his keyboard and mouse pad, he explained to me how a person's computer is like their underwear- no one else should use it but the owner. I then told him not to leave his underwear (computer) in the living room if it was off limits...

Back to the topic- I thought I would blog a bit about the happiest place on earth. No, not Disneyland. (How many people actually think that, anyway?) It's...

Gracie Lou's Quilt Shop in Salem!



Yes, it just might be the happiest place on earth. Twenty bonus awesome points each to Lauralee and Shauni for introducing me to it. Here are a few resons why...

It is bursting with so many cute things that your wallet won't know what hit it... and you won't even care. Here are a few of the fabrics:





Those are a small few of the cute fabrics they have. They also have flannel fabric in similar cuteness, ric-rac the likes of which you have never seen before, fringy pom poms, buttons of all shapes and colors, ribbons, patterns, etc.

Also, they have on display throughout the store quilts, aprons, skirts, purses, etc. that make you realize you need to start a few new projects. Then they offer free classes on how to make these. (You pay a $20 deposit to sign up, which is returned as in-store credit to get the fabric for your project.) They have a million of these classes every month. See these cute aprons? Don't you suddenly feel the urgent need to make them?




And if all the cuteness isn't enough, there's the shop dog to distract your kids from wanting to grab everything they see:



They also have a shop Grama who plays with the kids and gives them candy while the moms shop. She wasn't there this time, so I didn't get a picture.

And when you leave, they give you cookies. See there on the counter? Yes. Cookies.



Also, I am not sure if this perk comes along with spending a certain amount, but last time they popped a dinner-menu notepad into my bag with the fabric I bought. I checked on this to make sure I wasn't accidentally shoplifting stuff, but no- it was supposed to be there. Awesome.

I was drooling over the flannel selections today and trying to think of ways to justify the ten to twenty receiving blankets my baby suddenly seems to need...

Here's the address & phone number so you can go visit the happiest place on earth for yourself:

416 North State Road, Salem UT, 84653
(801) 423-1339

After you go, call me and we'll sign up for a few classes together.

O' Fun For... complicated quilters

Last year I made my family quilts for Christmas. I used fabric from my Grama T's sewing room scraps. This year I decided it was about time to make one for myself. I scoured the internet to find the most complex, time-consuming quilt pattern out there. Not really. I wanted something that would look cool with bright colors on white, and the part of myself that hasn't learned to simplify found this pattern. This blog simplified the process compared to other instructions I found for cathedral window quilts, but it still has a ridiculous number of steps. Why can't I learn to enjoy nice, simple projects? What is this crazy part of me that thinks cutting, folding, ironing, pinning, cutting more, folding more, and then sewing is a better plan than cut, pin, sew?

For my quilt I used Grama T fabric for all but about 10 of the 500-ish bright squares, and bought a ton of white quilting fabric for the rest. I made my white squares 12" instead of 9" since my quilt has hopes of becoming queen-sized, so enlarging the pattern made it 3" easier. (What?) Hmmm... what other changes.... I don't pin the white fabric "frame" down, I just fold while it is under the sewing-machine foot then quickly lower the foot and sew, taking one side at a time. When you have a few blocks sewn together, you'll notice that there is a tiny hole at the point where the "window" tips meet up. I sew a few stitches back and forth across this, just because it makes me feel better inside. My sewing motto is "Sew the crap out of it." Then I don't worry that the things I make are going to fall apart. Somehow they still manage to, though...

Here is where I have pinned my "window" squares up so I can choose which ones to use as I sew. I have a post-it where I keep track of the number of each color I have left, so I can make sure I don't end up with a bunch of reds at the end or something not awesome like that.



I cut and fold the white squares about 6 at a time, since this is the most tedious part. Getting them nice and square with clean, pointy corners is a freaking pain. Besides the occasional swearing to myself over the folding part, I have really enjoyed making this quilt so far. (Probably because I'm only about 1/20 done with it...) I like the fact that once you are done, there is no batting or backing or binding to deal with.



While I quilt, I listen to audiobooks on my IPod. I recommend books or short stories by Alexander McCall Smith- especially the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. The first one of that series has a brief languagey moment- don't hold that against me! (she says, shaking her fist threateningly...)

Wow. I sound so grown up and dull, discussing quilting and recommending books. Poo. There, now I feel better and less grown-up.

Now I just need to load a new book on my IPod, and I can use all this feeling-gross pregnant time to get a bunch of this giant project done. I'll post a picture sometime in 2018 or so when I am finished.