Shopping with another Blogger.....

Dear Daughter #2 and I had the chance to visit Olde Tyme Marketplace last Friday...not her big store in Marshville but the booth she has in the Waxhaw Antique Mart in Waxhaw, NC. I absolute love her style. And right next door is a cute quilt shop. I can't wait to get over to Waxhaw to see the big store.

This is a metal bowl that I think I will put my prim eggs I bought from Pam.


These are all metal. I think maybe some green grass or dried flowers or pips might be nice in here.

Isn't he adorable?

Blessings, Cathi

How small is too small.....

Mary at Quilt Hollow posted the other day about using leftover triangles, adding another fabric and creating a whole other quilt from it. Now I have to admit that I am not one to save a lot of scraps. I like to clean and purge.....probably because no one else in my family does but that's for another day.... until Mary explained to me that I was throwing dollar bills in the trash! So I am going to rethink my plan as I cut "leftovers" off.

But I think these may be too small to keep. What do you think, Mary?

These are the 480 dog ears I trimmed off my Double Delight squares in Step One. It took me 2-1/2 hours to sew 120 triangles to my 120 squares, press and trim the dog ears on National Quilting Day last Saturday. In my defense, my triangles were made from a plaid brushed cotton. If you have ever sewn with it, you know the biased edge is VERY stretchy. I had to line up the triangle and then flip it over so the biased piece was on the bottom. It doesn't seem to stretch so much that way. Only two more sides to go!!!

Blessings, Cathi

Happy National Quilting Day!.....

I hope all you quilters are doing something "quilty" today. And those of you that aren't quilty are thinking about it.

The National Quilting Association has proclaimed today National Quilting Day. This is the 18th year that they have done so.

Dear Son #1 came home for the weekend to visit. Dear Hubby and both Dear Sons have gone to the church for 3 hours for a work day. So in honor of the day and having the house testosterone-free for several hours, I will be quilting as soon as I get off the computer.

Also there is a pattern that the NQA has published in honor of today. Click here to get this great pattern.

Blessings, Cathi

Choo Choo .....

My father was one of the biggest model railroad enthusiasts that I had ever heard of. He used to love to get "caught" at railroad crossings so he could watch the trains go by. And the more the better. He was a civil/structural engineer by trade. We lived in NW Philadelphia suburbs and he worked in downtown. Mom would drive him to the train station in the morning so he could take the Reading down to work. Me, being the innocent little tike that I was, thought he was a train engineer!


Here is a picture of part of the first train set that he ever received. It's part of a Lionel set that he got from Santa one year. My brothers and sister have just as many! I just put them up on a peg rail in the living room. I think I need to make some stitcheries to hang on the wall behind them.

Blessings, Cathi

My Stimulus Plan.....

Okay, so now I can post about my shopping day yesterday and my personal effort to help stimulate the economy First was my visit to Pam at Antique or Not. What an absolutely wonderful shop! If you are anywhere in the Carolinas, you have GOT to go. It's on Hwy 74 between Charlotte and Monroe so it's a straight shot from Hendersonville or Wilmington. She is closing soon (near the end of April) so everything is at least 30% off. So here is what I got yesterday.


Here is my favorite....well, one of my favorites. One of the reasons that it took me so long to post was that I was so excited that I needed to put everything out first. The picture doesn't do this one justice. It is punched tin so at night when the light is on, it throws the neatest light pattern on the wall.


This is a tart warmer that already has a pomegranate smelling tart in it. Another really cool pattern of light thrown on the wall.


Five little berry rings for my chandelier.


Love, love, love this little plate and wrought iron plate hanger. I also bought a grubby candle for this but it was blocking the words and I really wanted you to see them.


And the rest that I haven't found the perfect spot for yet. A cute white feather tree that I plan on making some small Easter decorations for, a dozen grubby Easter eggs, a punched tin star night light, the grubby candle, a bag of juniper berries, and a surprise gift. In the bottom of the bag was a small votive candle that smells yummy. Thanks, Pam, for a wonderful visit.

Pam's shop is 45 minutes from my house but there happens to be 3 quilt shops on the way back home if I take the back roads! Two of them I had never been to. I just went to those since I had spent so much time at Pam's.

The first shop is the Overall Quilter in Indian Trail, about 2 miles from Pam's. There are no quilt shops in the greater Charlotte area that carries the fabric or patterns or books that I like and they will admit it. But I shopped just the same.


I bought a pattern to make a travel case for my Ott-Lite and the notions to go with it at the Overall Quilter.

The second shop is called The Quilting Nook. A wonderful shop in the quaint town of Waxhaw (named for the Waxhaw Indians). There are so many antique shops in this little town. They have a festival twice a year on the village green, once Memorial Day weekend and once in the fall. They have a great selection of fabrics although no plaids, Jan Patek fabrics or the like. No Jan Patek books or patterns or Cheri Saffiote-Payne, none from Lynda Hall (Primitive Pieces by Lynda). I even asked about the Aurifil thread #1318 that Judy used when quilting her Sweet Land of Liberty quilt. The owner said that color is too dark and noone would buy it. I did get her to order it for me though. In the meantime I did purchase these.


I'm not used to shopping so this was a full day for me. I had a great time. Next field trip has GOT to be to Apex where Mary said there is a shop I would like. It's probably close to 2-1/2 hours away!

Blessings, Cathi

Any minute now.....

.....I'll show you all my goodies that I bought at Pam's store yesterday. I didn't want her to think I forgot. And those of you that have already read hers and wondered.... I bought so much wonderful stuff, I haven't had time to take pictures of it all. In the meantime, here is a picture of some roses that Dear Hubby brought home for me yesterday just because. Isn't he a sweety?


Blessings, Cathi

Bonnie - I like you anyway.....

I'll get to the title in a minute. Despite all the aggravation from this past weekend, I pushed through the pain yesterday and today and did some more yardwork after I got home from work. So not much sewing going on.


Now on to the title....Here are all the pieces cut for step one of Bonnie Hunter's Double Delight mystery quilt. Okay, I know what it looks like finished and I LOVE it so I'll skip the mystery reference. Anyway, 120 center squares, 120 red plaid triangles and 360 green plaid triangles. Whew!


And here are all 120 squares with just one side sewn on! Only 360 more seams to go! At the end of the directions of step one, Bonnie wrote "please, don't hate me". Well, Bonnie, I don't hate you but ...... And for those of you that are past step one, yes, I know I have to do the exact same thing for step two. This is going to be a year long project!

For those of you that live in the South, you know we have had glorious weather the last several days. But on Thursday, the weather will be much cooler and the entire weekend will be cold and rainy. Great sewing weather! Maybe I'll get another side finished.

Blessings, Cathi

Spring Fever and other ailments.....

It happens every year about this time. The weather turns nice for a day or two and Dear Hubby and I think that we can get the entire acre cleaned up from months of winter wear and tear. So out we go in our 50-year old bodies, ready to take on the world. 10 long hours later, we drag our poor pitiful bodies into the house covered in sweat and dirt. Then all day Sunday we lay around wondering why we ever try to do that. This year was no different with the exception that I realized early on that this wasn't as fun as it used to be. At least I realized it early this year. Usually it takes me until mid-May to figure it out.

We had been talking about moving the blueberry bushes to give them more room and make them more accessible for 2 years now. This is the new spot.

Dear Hubby building the new box. We have to have raised beds with all our heavy, red clay.


And this is what it looks like after we dug up 3 massive blueberry plants. We wound up with 11 plants. Here's hoping they all make it. They all had a good root growth.

This is the old blueberry box yesterday.

And this is what it looks like today......very empty. It gets a good bit of shade now since my neighbors tree have grown a lot since we first put the blueberries there. I'm sure I can think of something to put there!

Blessings, Cathi

A Great Giveaway.....

Tidymom is having a 100 post giveaway. Actually more than one, she is having a week of giveaways so check it out!



Blessings, Cathi

A sweet little quilt.....

Thought I would share a picture of a sweet little quilt that I made last year.


The pattern is "Star Trip" by Jane Martin. I have taught this class 3 times, all with spectacular results. I have made this quilt in 5 totally different colorways (I had a lot of class samples). It is so easy to make and I just love picking the fabrics. It is actually made as 9-patches. I only have pictures of this colorway but happen to have all 5 quilts in different stages of finishment (is that I word?...probably not but it should be!)

When the weather is nicer, and I finish two of the other colors, I will take pictures of all of them and post.

Blessings, Cathi