and the fun continues

Yesterday we took a field trip so not so much sewing was accomplished. We drove to Perham, a little over an hour away, to Bay Window Quilts. We have been there before, and will go again. A large stock of fabric, notions, books and patterns. Friendly people working, and make sure you get a coupon for a free beverage at the Wild Goose gift and coffee shop, my hazelnut latte was delish!

Then we drove another hour (roughly) to Fergus Falls. We stopped at Crates of Yarn but didn't find any treasures there. Then we found the Quilter's Cottage and shopped a bit there. It's a pretty big store with lots of nooks and crannies so it took awhile to see everything. Better lighting and a little more heat would be the only things I found lacking. Not a huge downfall, and I know from experience that sometimes you just have to work with what the building can offer. The space is shared with an appliance store, so you can browse the stoves and fridges at the same time as the fabric. So convenient! Nancy and Leisl were on the hunt for assorted homespun stripes and plaids, and they found some good ones in the sale area at this place. FYI, any of you MN Shop Hop fans, they have a fair amount of the 2010 and 2011 fabrics on the shelves here.

Back at the ranch, we settled down to an evening of sewing, guacamole and TV movies. I put together another border for the hap quilt. I'm thinking this should become a new pattern for Emmaline Design. I found I really needed a worksheet to keep this organized, and this is how mine looks:

I would have to incorporate this into the instructions. The block is simple to construct--

but the layout is what is key, and that is what the worksheet helps with. Each side of the block has to match up to the same fabric on the next block, so keeping it organized was easy with all my little fabric squares pasted down.

Also put together a little quilt top for a Quilts For Kids donation, this is made from pinwale corduroy that was mostly donated by Kwik Sew and supplemented with some coordinates from Joann's.

More sewing in store for today, it looks like there might be some white precipitation in the air so a good thing we did our driving yesterday and today we can stay cozy inside!