Shop Hop - The Big Loop

12 hours and 435 miles later....I have arrived home from the 8 most distant shops on the Treasure Shop Hop.   A HUGE Thank You to my BFF Emily, who was totally ready to be done at mile 250.  Unfortunately for her, I was driving her car at that point and convinced her to go the extra 60 miles out of the way to hit 3 more shops and saving me a 5 hour trip tomorrow having to double back to go to them.  She was a rather pleasant kidnap victim. (It probably helps that I drove the 300 miles on the winding mountains roads.)

This was my mission - batiks!  There are 28, 1/3yard cuts plus a fat quarter.  You all need to be impressed that several of them are pastel.  (I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone...) 1/3 yard is my favorite cut because I can cut a 2.5" jelly roll strip, then a 5" strip to be cut into friendship/charm squares, and I still have 1/8 yard left for applique.  As you can see...I was actively seeking purples to round out the stash.

The doorprize/hostess gifts were AMAZING!  In addition to water, cookies, and snacks were several patterns, home made soap, a seam allowance guide, a fat quarter of my choice, pre-cut triangles with a pair of scissors (!!!!), a glasses case kit, a tape measure and some random chunks of fabric.

I was a little distracted by some non-batik goodies...like a fat quarter of red, red & black 5" squares, and pearl cotton in neutral colors.  I picked up some Thread Heaven for a give-away that I'm planning while I was in Oregon and didn't have to pay sales tax.  And the cute dotted scissors were from a brand new shop that just opened in Baker that wasn't a hop shop.  There were lovely fabrics - just not my style...but I couldn't leave without buying SOMETHING to help keep a new quilt shop going!

Each shop put together a block kit, of which $2 will be donated to Project Linus.    In all honesty, the blocks don't coordinate and I only like 3 of the 15 patterns.  I will most likely dump all the fabrics in one pile and make something entirely different.

One of the shops included some "grab bag" type items that neither of us are inclined to use.  These are free to a good home - first come first serve.

The blue is a panel that includes 10 different nursery rhymes - 6" squares to the edge of the gingham.

The tan and green fabrics are fat 1/8ths

The pattern is for a 42"x 42" quilt that includes piecing, applique and embroidery.


Now...I'm off to a hot bubbly and bed!

I just went out for sushi & Ben and Jerry's with my daughter and bought this magnet while I was out and about for my partner in crime for tomorrow's shop hop venture....

Vote & Enjoy!

There are 49 submissions. I have my vote narrowed down to 7 submissions. Don't feel any obligation to vote for mine. (Is it OK to admit that I don't really like the prize...which is usually when I win something.)  One vote per IP address.

Treasure Valley Shop Hop

OK...I'm a little annoyed.

I've been in 2 of my LQS's in the past week and only inadvertently discovered that the Shop Hop in my area starts TODAY.

In shop #1...they were cutting FQ of batik in preparation for the hoards.  Cool.  So I went to shop #2 to find out more details, and only the owner in the back (who was consulted twice) could provide any info before it "officially starts on Thursday".  Seriously?  Have they never heard of SOCIAL NETWORKING?   Shop Hop was not on the blogs of either of my LQS.

Even my most  Internet-savvy shop had nothing.

The reason that I was even made aware of this was that someone "Googled" Treasure Valley Shop Hop and stumbled upon my random entry at #8 saying I was looking for someone to go with Oregon with me and she left me a post.

Sheesh.  So...this is my Public Service Announcement.

Treasure Valley Shop Hop, is listed as Treasure Shop Hop and starts today.
Boise Basin Quilters (BBQ) have the most comprehensive description that I could find.

Most of the links to Treasure Shop Hop don't work, but after tons of searching found this one that does.

Emily and I are doing the Oregon loop on Saturday.  Look for a tall brunette cruizin' with a red-head.  Buy us a round of fat quarters when you see us.

Winners & Voting

The Random Number Generator has spoken.  Emails have been sent to Debbie, Lenka, Lisa Marie, Heidi, Ann Marie, Snoodles, Catswhiskers, Ann Marie and Donna.  Apparently the secret to winning is having the middle name Marie.  I think that requests for purple have outpaced my stash.  Good thing I'm going on a shop hop this weekend!

Julie convinced me to enter  the "Weekly Quilt Contest" at Quilting Gallery since this week's theme is Applique.  You can join the contest until Thursday night, then the voting begins Friday and runs through Sunday.  The direct link for voting isn't available yet, but I bet it will show up on this page.

I'll be teaching the technique I used for the bird quilt at the workshop in West Yellowstone, Montana on May 21st. The workshop will include your choice of kits to make either one of the black & white birds, or or one of the Batik Mayan Critters.

One Big-Ass Cat

Does this quilt make my butt look big? 

Body, head & tail done...legs, ears and 36 leaves yet to go. 

As for size...it's 64" x 64"  (The pattern in the photo is 8.5" x 11)

Centenial Give Away

This week I gained my 100th Google Friend Connect Follower and decided to celebrate by giving away at least 100 batik 5" friendship squares.   To share the love, I'd like to do that as 12 squares to 9 lucky winners, anywhere in the world. All you have to do is leave a comment with the color range that you would like to receive.  Most of my stash is pink, purple, blue & green...but I have some orange & yellow as well as a few pastels and browns.  I'd love to hear what you'd do with the winnings as well.  Non-blogging Lurker Friends (i.e. Emily, Michelle, Diann, JoAnne) can also win by sending the same info in an email.  Be sure that you entry includes a way to contact you, otherwise it will be re-gifted.  Give Away Closes April 7.