Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Acquisitions

During our annual Labor Day weekend trip to south NJ to hang with my BFF and her family, I got to take in a little quilt store shopping. On one morning, while the boys went to a model train store, the girls hustled over to Needles and Pins in Swedesboro. This is a fantastic little shop crammed with all sorts of great fabrics. The owner Marie is also so sweet. She took the little girls into her office in the back, gave them empty bolts and chalk and they had a blast designing their own "surfboards".

One reason to visit that day is that they were having a $2 fat quarter sale. I picked up just a few to add to my stash along with an Easy Dresden ruler. I've been itching to try that myself and none of the local shops have had this in stock lately.
My eye also caught sight of the fabric on the right and after a bit of debating with myself (who is a tough negotiator btw), I bought a yard of each of these coordinating prints. I have no clue what I'm going to do with them yet but they were calling to me and I listened.
When I was there briefly for the NJ Shop Hop in April I caught a glimpse of a fun little wall hanging made with Love by Cedar West for Clothworks. I don't know why I passed it up then except perhaps because we were in a hurry, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it again and the fabrics available. I just remember how intrigued I was by the medallion on the main print. After I chose a few bolts from the collection to make my own wall hanging and took it to the cutting table, the shop assistant asked me if I had seen the quilt kit instead. Nope I replied so she walked me over to it and pointed them out. Not only could I make an entire quilt with this line, but I would also have enough left over of the L O V E part to make the wall hanging too. Hmmm. Tough decision. But then she told me that all kits were also on sale that day for 20% off and I didn't hesitate. I chose the Blue colorway instead of the Pink and got both projects for a whopping $49.
You'll just have to wait to see this great grouping in a better picture in the future. I don't want to spoil the anticipation. All told I spent just about the same amount as I had leftover from my Philadelphia Quilt Show budget that got repurposed for other purchases. Lots of great new goodies to adore and staying within my budget = Perfection for me.

In the midst of my sinus headache days last week, a sweet package also arrived. I had won in Dawn's Dots on Dots Blog Hop Giveaway and though I had totally forgotten about it, I was blown away by all that was in the box.
She included a few cute FQ, an adorable mini notebook cover and a cute cupcake stiletto. Plus inside was the fun piece that is actually on an acrylic photo frame. To be totally honest, I wasn't sure what it is used for but then I went back to her blog and saw that she makes these cool tool caddies. Mystery solved. It will definitely get loads of use here. Thank you so much Dawn for your huge generosity.

I haven't done much perusing of sites lately to see what else is available/becoming available soon that I just have to have but you know, that once I do there are certainly a bunch of goodies that will get added to my Wish List.