Quilt Show - Inspriation or Intimidation?

The National Quilt Association (NQA) holds their annual quilt show here in Columbus, Ohio each year.  I don't know how long it's been here - I can remember going at least 7 or 8 years ago for the first time. 

I love seeing the quilts - it's amazing to me the variety of both skill level and types, sizes of quilts all in one place.

I'm not really a quilter although I have made some quilts.  I made a quilt for my niece when she graduated from high school - that might have been the first one.  I can't remember now if it was a queen or king size - but it was big and I machine pieced and quilted it myself. 

One year for Christmas, I made all the little boys in the family at that time, a small quilt.  There were four of them at that time, and no girls.  I've made several other quilts since,  but it's not something that I do a lot of.

So, going to the quilt show - is it inspiration or intimidation?  I guess it must be a little bit more inspiration since today I've been cutting out and piecing - well - something....I'm not sure yet what it's going to be.

I picked a pretty pink, green and white fat quarter bundle from my stash - I'm not sure how long I've had this fabric - the selvage says it's a Michael Miller collection. 

So far I've made 6 blocks - they are 10" finished size blocks.  I think they would look great with some white sashing - so how many blocks will I make and what will it become?

 Happy Sewing!

Susan

New Chair

I may have told that several months back, my dear husband committed me to making several (10) sets of bags for the cornhole game for a friend of his.  In payment for making the bags, the friend made my husband a set of boards and we kept one set of bags.  You see how I didn't actually get anything in this deal?

We've played the game a couple of times - and the last time, I apparently got a little too enthusiastic and pulled a muscle (or two) in my back.  After a few days of whining around, I scheduled a massage to work the rest of the stiffness out, and decided that maybe I needed a new chair for sewing.

I've been using an old straightback kitchen chair for years, and with this 'injury' I decided it was maybe a little to harsh for as much sewing as I do.

So a trip to the office store and I came home with an economical chair, cushioned seat, and somewhat more supportive back.  The only drawback is that, of course, the wheels don't work very well on the carpet, so switching between the sewing machine and serger, isn't much different than before.

So my next inventment will either be a floor mat, or replace the carpet - which do you think will happen?

Happy Sewing!

Susan

PS - Mimi had to check the chair out also.  She didn't stay too long, so I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

Consignment Continues

I've been writing the last couple of weeks about the new shop where I've consigned some of my items.  I wanted to share the cute ad that was in the local paper.

Now, if you saw this ad, wouldn't you go and check the shop out?

I'll be busy adding new items on a regular basis, along with the inventory that I need for my shows in July.

Happy Sewing (and shopping)!

Susan

Consignment

A couple of weeks ago I posted that I am now consigning some items to a new local shop - Sweet Salvage Shoppe.  In the first couple of weeks I had a few sales - and I took more items over on Saturday to create a larger display of my items. 

One idea that I had, is Father's Day is coming up soon - so I took a selection of my 'manly' box pouches over and she was going to do a sign and gather a few other items to put with them. 

She is also working on a more cohesive display of my items - I meant to stop by this afternoon to see what she's changed, but I forgot.  So this is a picture from last week - several of my purses are on top of the stack of luggage.

I'm pretty excited about this venture - when I first started my business I rented space in a craft mall - it didn't work out very well, and that particular shop ended up closing not too long after I got out of it. 

I was a little leary of going down this path again, but this is a local shop (about 3 miles from my house) and the owner is a person that I've known for a while, and consider a friend.   So for her, and myself, here's hoping that business booms!

Along with my purses and accessories, I also have some pillows and window treatments that will be there. 

And I'm thinking about Halloween and Christmas - maybe this year will be the one where I use up the stash of holiday fabric I've been accumulating!

Happy Sewing!

Susan