friday road trip

this is the new england quilt museum in lowell, mass.  friday we went there to see the current exhibit on quilts from the maine documentation project.  it's in a terrific downtown location.  i am a member of the museum.  the gift shop has really expanded since i was last there about 8 months ago.  the quilts were gorgeous; all antique and one a quilt of tiny yo-yo squares set on the diagonal.  they have a library and i borrowed some videos; gwen marston and ruth mcdowell plus "quilts in womens' lives," and they also have tons of used books for sale, but i resisted.  i met some friendly quilters in the library who share my memories of the new england guild of long ago, now defunct.  we stopped for a delish seafood lunch on the way back to vacationland.  the weather was simply beautiful; sunny, not too hot, breezy; typical early fall.  if lowell were closer to the coast, i might move there....seriously.

another bonnie fan?

this is the tie brian williams had on last night during the NBC newscast.....cheddar and blue?  just goes to show bonnie hunter's influence is far reaching, way beyond quilty circles!  i am certainly impressed.  hmmm, you think his wife makes quilts?  is a quiltville fan?  could be.....**** no quilting today, off daytripping AGAIN, that's the 3rd day this week.  boy, this unemployment stuff can be challenging!  plus wednesday was the shopping day; these have really cut into my sewing time.  oh well, winter is coming and there will be weeks when i hardly leave the apartment no doubt.  we are taking advantage of this oh-so gorgeous fall weather to the max!

a busy 2012

on a whim, i roughed out my 2012 UFO list, perhaps a bit premature since it's still 3 months away. i could conceivably finish another bed size quilt before the end of the year OR i could knock off some of the small projects i started this year.  with no real quilting mojo today, i'm just lazing around watching old tapes of "simply quilts."  judy mentioned them on her blog today and they are a great source of quilty info and entertainment.  i plugged the old VCR in and am getting inspired all over again. 

nearly done

with only few more white spaces to quilt, less than 10, it looks like the quilting part will be done this week.  then it's on to the binding.  this will be finished in plenty of time for its final destination.  with 2 months left in the year, i might get another bed size quilted before year's end.  i thought about going on to the amish center diamond, since it's already basted.  the red/cream top isn't done and neither is the amish scrappy.  i'm also hoping to get my halloween wall piece done in time for the big day.  plus i've a couple of small projects to finish as well.  ***** it's downright cool here this morning.  had both quilts on the bed last night; course the window is still wide open too.  even with the less than summer weather, 7 cruise ships will be in port this week.  they come in, the people get off and onto a bus bound for LL Bean, maine's most famous retail destination.  **** will be visiting the local veggie stand for the last time this season on saturday.  want to cook a few things to freeze and stock up on squashes, etc.  picked up some delish cider the other day!

a marden's sale

spent part of monday indoctrinating some of the quilty faithful in the delights of marden's fabric prices and eureka! they were also having a sale!  that's right, several bolts had been pulled and set aside as clearance, priced at 1.99 per yard!  is that great or what!  i myself happened to find these little plaids for an upcoming quilt, a lot easier than pulling buttons off a shirt and cheaper too, given thrift store prices in our area.  and of course, the cheddar...i couldn't pass that up.  after i got home, i wished i had bought the rest of the bolt as there wasn't THAT much and one can never have too much cheddar!  i also bought another piece for a swap that i can't show, but for less than $10 i got 3 yards of fabric....sorry LQS, just can't pass that up.  **** still quilting away on the lovers' links now that my quilty callouses are at their peak.  maybe today i'll get the binding ready as i will need it soon.

a california treat

now that we have a local whole foods (4 years) market, we get a larger variety of yummy stuff like these fresh black mission figs from california.  before that i found them only sporadically here in maine.  when i lived in boston, i would go to the haymarket produce vendors on saturdays and would often find them (in season) and get them by the tray.  it's a fruit i never had as a child and never saw in the market.  though i am a great believer in the locavore movement--we eat local as much as possible--i am glad we can get these in abundance and priced reasonably.  if i had to choose between these and chocolate, it would be these for sure, but luckily i don't....LOL!

swap very soon

one more thing to pick up today and then this batch of swap goodies gets mailed to donna!  friday is the deadline and i'm ahead just a bit!  ***** no new quilty goodies to show today as i've been working on the lovers' links all weekend with good progress.  could be a finish this week, at least that's my goal but i've got a few other things to do besides quilting, so might not make it; no matter, i'm closing in on this finish soon.