A very nice day

This was my last vacation day this week. I had planned to take all week off. Ended up working Monday and Thursday. Had PT that took up a large chunk of the middle of the day Tuesday. And David was home on Wednesday so that did away with any plans to play.

So I decided to make my last day one just for me. And what better way to do that than....... Yep. You guessed it. RETAIL THERAPY! LOL!

Gerline's quilt shop is a LQS about 50 miles from my house that I've been wanting to visit for quite some time. But since it's in the totally opposite direction from anywhere I usually go I've just never managed to get there. Well since today was mine to do with as I pleased it pleased me to go check them out. So I printed out the directions on how to get there and off I went. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find it as it's on a little country road a couple miles outside town. But they make sure you can find them cause they have plenty of signs pointing you in the right direction. And as you drive up you can't miss them with this quilt draped over the fence at the corner of the drive. BTW see what I mean by "little country road"? That's the road in the photo NOT the drive.


When you pull in the drive and park you're greeted by this lovely view. I'm not sure why but the exterior of the shop appealed to me a lot. LOVE that rusty tin roof. It's just perfect in the country setting.
Now in case, like me, you're not much into "country" let me assure you that despite the country setting she has plenty to offer us bright/bold/batik loving people. If you don't believe me just take a look at what I found!
Well to be honest the green didn't come from there. I did buy a green but once I got to the car and was looking thru my purchases (doesn't everyone pull it all out of the bag as soon as they get in the car? LOL!) and realized while I did like the fabric I bought it just wasn't the right color to go with the cats. But more about that later as the adventure continues. :-)

Ain't those kitties PURTY!! It's been a while since I've worked with my beloved brights. So when I saw these kitties I just knew it was time to make a bright fun quilt just for me. I'm not saying I don't like the quilts I've made this last few months as I've explored new colorways/fabric types. But sometimes you just gotta go back to what really makes your heart sing and for me that's always gonna be bright jewel tones. And when those brights are cats well that's even better. I have a vague idea of what these will become. Just need to let the idea simmer a bit and maybe work it up in EQ. It's not like I don't have plenty going already that this one can't simmer until I get my design just right.

Now just in case you're thinking this was an awful restrained purchase for me you would be wrong. Cause these lovelies also followed me home. :-)The lt silver batik on the left is for the background of one of the batik kits I cut earlier in the year. It's so hard to find good light batiks and she had several really nice ones. Well she had a really good selections of all batiks too but the darks/brights aren't as unusual to find as a really nice lite. The green/blue/yellow dots is the one I bought to go with the cats but the green isn't really anywhere near the right shade. But that's okay. Cause remember the spirograph fabric I bought a few months ago? It looks GREAT with it. So something will come of them later in the year I'm sure. The dark red fossil fern is to replace a piece that I've finally used all of. And the lime/purple polka dot is for - well just because it's a lime/purple polka dot! The book is one I'm using as a springboard for the design of my cats. I'm not using one of the patterns from the book but will be doing a variation of my own inspired by the quilts shown in the book. The pattern I bought because I thought it would be a good one to showcase a novely print. (Like more cat fabrics. LOL!) And the brush I bought for cleaning my sewing machine.

And to conclude my report of a wonderful visit to a new-to-me-store here's a picture of the very nice lady who helped me with my purchases. I'm sorry to say I didn't get her name so I don't know if she's Mrs. Gerline or if Gerline is her first name. I do know that she's a very nice lady who I will go visit again.
Notice the big smile. You'd smile too if someone had just dropped the $$$$ in your store that I dropped in hers. :-)

Now on to part 2 of my day. Since I was already in Giddings and it wouldn't be much out of the way to go home thru Brenham I decided to make a mini shop hop of the day and go to Stitch Havenwhich is another store I rarely get a chance to go to when they're open. It's only about 25 miles from my house but again in the opposite direction in which I normally travel. As you can see not only was I able to find the perfect green to go with my cats a few other items managed to follow me home.
The blue bonnet fabric is the same one I used for my siggies for the recent blogger swap. I sent what I had left to Cynthia as a hostess gift. Then decided it would have been perfect to use for the border of my siggy quilt. But when I went back to the store I originally bought it from they were out. So you can imagine my delight to find it here. Then I found the Ladies Art Company Block Tool. I thought it would be useful in helping me select patterns for my sampler quilt. Plus I thought it was cool. LOL!. And my last purchase was a kit for a small 9-patch quilt. I mostly bought it because I liked the fabrics and the red paisley print that was included for the border. I may or may not use the pattern from the kit. This is one that I'll save for when I need something quick and easy that doesn't require much thought to make.

And that concluded my mini shop hop. I did find out that there was another shop in Giddings that I'll have to check out next time. And there will be a next time as I think I'm going to take the Weather Vane quilt I'm currently working on and the Sampler quilt I'm also currently working on to Gerline's to be quilted. Her prices are reasonable and her work is nice. And her turnaround time is usually about a month so that's much better than I thought it would be. So maybe I'll finally have a couple quilts that I can use on my king bed. It's about time!