Wednesday Work-in-Progress: Flower Garden

Okay, back to quilty subjects. I did get all of last Wednesday's WIP blocks and sashings pieced together. I like the way the greens in the sashings blend the assortment of varied green fabrics used in these exchange blocks from the late eighties or early nineties. The blocks had every shade of green from mint to emerald to khaki.

I also like the crispness added to these old blocks through the use of the black "coping strips" and posts, and the bright new fabrics used in the outer borders of each block. I think I am still going to add another border of the Moda rose fabric, which will make this quilt large enough to be a bed topper or a nice-sized snuggle quilt.

Yesterday I made a fast trip to Fayetteville, NC, to visit the Loving Stitches quilt shop.

This delightful shop is also a Bernina and Gammill dealership. With 10,00 square feet, they have a large selection of fabrics, kits, threads, and other supplies that many local shops do not carry. There is a lot of eye candy on the walls and displays.

And I was able to purchase an entire 40-yard roll of Hobbs 80/20 batting without paying shipping charges. Of course, I found lots of other fun things while I was there.

Since I had to come through Raleigh on the way home, I did a little more shopping. I am happy to know that Jerry's Art-a-Rama has a whole section dedicated to fabric dyes and paints. They carry a good supply of Jacquard fabric paints, Procion dyes, iColor dyes, Shiva Paint Stiks, and best of all, they have Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons available on open stock.

I have a large tin with many pre-selected colors, but for some reason it did not include any yellows, oranges, or browns. I took care of that problem!

Today it is off to lunch with one of my former teaching buddies who now lives at the beach. Her mom was a quilter, and Marcia wants me to use some of her stash to make a quilt for her daughter. They have fabric purchased in several trips to Italy, Holland and other travels. I don't really need another project or fabric from someone else's stash to add to my crowded sewing room, but I would like to do this for her. Problem: she wants a double wedding ring, which I don't really know how to make. Maybe I can talk them into something with squares...