Goodies and Snowflakes

So, I'm doing this block of the month at Dragonfly Quilt Shop in High Point.  The quilt is Peppermint Place and it's about as cute of a Christmas quilt as I have ever seen.  The group has been working on it for awhile and we're now at the point where we're putting all the blocks together for the center of the quilt and appliqueing the setting blocks.  I've gotten my snowflakes done.

All those little curves and dips with the machine applique are challenging, but I found if I go slowly and use a good stabilizer on the back, it's really pretty easy.  There are four of these and I learned that if I do the first one very slowly so I can get a good feel for it, I can speed things up on the next ones and they zip by much quicker that the first one.

There have been lots of little accomplishments this week that I hope will lead up to some more bigger reveals as weeks go on.  My quilt life is being shelved as the wedding gets closer.  I am so excited for my son and future daughter-in-love.  This is going to be a fun wedding!  I ordered my shoes today -- flip-flops for the beach wedding in a lovely turquoise blue! 

I told you I went to the AQS Show in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago.  Here are the goodies I came home with.

The glare on this is horrible and I do apologize.  This is triangle paper for 2-inch half-square triangles.  The smaller the half-square triangle, the wonkier mine can get at times and I prefer paper piecing the really small ones since it's just so easy to stretch those bias edges.  Primitive Gatherings (my very favorite wool shop) had these.

Wool.  Yes. I have given into the "wave" and am now doing wool applique.  I absolutely love it!  It's different, but it's quick and fun.  Well...sometimes it's quick.  I'm also doing a block of the month called Bertie's Year (also at Dragonfly).  Those blocks are wood on flannel and I am admittedly not a flannel fan.  It could have something to do with being in the throes of menopause and because of this I am perpetually in my own private heat wave.  Flannel does nothing to alleviate my own personal summers. 

But I highly suspect the reason I dislike flannel is that it works up so differently from cotton. 

It ravels.

It's stretchy.

It's just not cotton and by golly I'm used to cotton fabric.

So hopefully as time goes by and I get more accustomed to working with flannel, I will form a friendship with it.

I bought some focus fabric and two patterns, too...

 The snowmen table runner is from Primitive Gatherings.  It can be done in all cottons or cottons and wools.  The three gossiping ladies in  "Stitch a Little Talk a Lot" is by Amy Bradley and that will be my next new project.  I think that pattern is just precious. 

Here's a better shot at the focus fabric....

I had no plans for this fabric when I grabbed the bolt and headed to the check out line.  I just knew that somewhere out there was a quilt that I would make that would need this.  So three yards of this made it into my bag. 

Update on the roof:  We settled the bill with the roofer, whom I think was glad to tell us good-bye.  We have a painter that's going to fix the ceilings and paint my sewing room. 

We still have a leak.

Oy-vey.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri