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Shop Hop Day 1

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There was a Shop Hop a few weeks ago that I attended! There were five quilt shops that participated ~ It was officially known as the Shop Hop: Crusin’ the Texas Coast. For day one Shannon, K, myself and my kids went to two of five local quilt shops to participate in their Shop Hop. We went to the Quilter’s Patch of Victoria and Beefore It’s a Quilt & Gifts of Port Lavaca. Victoria is just over an hour away so we stopped there first, then on the way home we stopped in Port Lavaca.

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Outside the Quilters Patch

I took along a short list of quilt patterns I was looking for and some fabric because I was looking for fabric to go along with it. I have several quilts in mind that I want to make and figure why not stock up now! Of course that’s the fabric collector in me.

We were lucky enough to all three win a door prize while we were at the Quilters Patch and they also gave out a goodie bag. Oh and a snack room.

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Alice & Jake in the snack room at the Quilters Patch

(you can see Jake likes to make a scary face when I take his picture!)

The first day was long but very fun. It was just over an hour to Victoria and the town just looked like such a great place. We’ve talked about going back and having dinner or going shopping there.

Next we headed to Port LaVaca – and I have no pictures to share. They had a lot of fabric that I loved (pictures of fabric soon!) and I bought most of an entire line they have. I also bought a book of patterns there! They had homemade chocolate chip cookies too, which made the kids happy. I ended up finding most of the matching fabric I needed at the Port LaVaca shop too.

The first day was very fun. We ended up having to rush home because Jake had soccer practice, then afterward we all came to the house to eat dinner. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about Day 2 and changed plans!

Secret Project Fabrics

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Secret fabric all sewn together ~

Kids with secret fabric

I finished sewing together the secret fabric! There are eight fabrics and I have eight sets of them. I need to cut and sew and cut and sew and I’m sure cut and sew some more, but here they are. They came in a package with all the fabric I need to make a quilt! I’ll get the pattern name and be sure to post that too. This is the second quilt I’ve made with this pattern and I really like it! It’s fairly quick and easy to put together so I can see myself using it many more times.

Short post today because I’m on day two of south beach and a headache is taking me out.

New Sewing Machine

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Remember how thrilled and happy I was when I got my last new sewing machine? I loved that thing! Looking back on it, I didn’t sew all that much really. Sure I made a blanket or two but no machine quilting. And I did sew a lot of Chris’ uniforms, a lot. But considering I had it for about a year and a half (since it was in storage for half of this year) it really did not last that long. It broke a few weeks ago by clunking and making a horrible noise – after the noise it would not sew at all. Sure the needle moved and the material would go through it like it was sewing, but once the material was taken out the pieces would just come apart. I was at a friend’s house and she said it was probably the timing.

When my last sewing machine broke my Mom said it was probably just best to buy a new machine if it was the timing since that can’t always be fixed and since it could end up costing a lot. So into Target we walked and off the shelf into the cart the machine went. I didn’t want that again since it broke so quickly. A sewing machine is an investment and one I want to have for many years.

My friend Shannon (see her new quilting blog at angelic quilts!) just bought a Janome 6600 – it is so nice! It is a great machine that is perfect for her because she is what I call a hard core quilter. She had a lot of quilts she was working on for Christmas gifts and several others in progress or that she just wants to make. She even has more fabric then my Mom – which I wasn’t sure was possible.

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Secret project on the machine!

I got a Brother 450 at a local sewing center. It is so nice! Everything works on it easily, it comes with tons of stitches and it isn’t as heavy as my last machine. It also came with an extended warranty and the shop will clean it for free during the first year (I think just once, but that’s okay with me!).

I started on the secret project tonight and will keep you posted. 🙂

Sewing Military Uniforms

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Ah I thought my days of sewing Chris’ uniforms were long gone. Or at least the vacation from them would be longer then the eight or so months it has lasted. But he called earlier and said the uniforms we casually talked about, and he wouldn’t need for a few more days, he really needs and can I sew them really soon – like after we hung up.

Chris’ OCS Class

So after a bit of searching to make sure I put the patches on right, I realize he bought the wrong patches! I’d laugh if I knew he wasn’t going to be stressed about it. Okay I did laugh, but he wasn’t here to hear me! I sewed on three of the five and can’t use the other two because they aren’t for his uniform. And we don’t have any that will work. And the store to buy them closed about an hour ago and isn’t open until tomorrow morning.

The patches need to be in a specific spot, sewn on in a specific way. Usually everything is centered (usually because maybe there is one out there that isn’t) above a pocket and sewn with the same color thread as the uniform. I’ve never bought patches anywhere other then the Exchange and for the ones with his name on it, they have a very fast turn around time. There are usually places on base that will sew the patches on for you, for a small fee, and depending on how big the base is you are at this can take anywhere from a day to a week or two or longer. Since it doesn’t take too long I’ve usually sewn Chris’ on every time he needs it done – except when he was at school this spring, then he paid to have it done.

I’m not sure what we’ll do now. Maybe I’ll get to the store first thing when it opens tomorrow then ask if they will do a rush service and sew the patches on for me while I wait. I’ve never done that and I know most are so busy they wouldn’t offer that service.

Oh and for those who are searching how to sew on navy uniform patches, click that link. I had a heck of a time finding a site that would tell me about it until I finally went to wikipedia. I don’t usually rely on wiki for stuff like that so it was surprising to find exactly what I was looking for in moments!

Finally a tshirt quilt

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I think I’m reading to make a tshirt quilt. I have no idea how to start, but I have lots of tshirts to use. I’m finally ready to seriously give up wearing only old concert/college shirts and figure I better put them to good use. I have several Kenny Chesney shirts (no laughing, he’s a cutie!), a favorite college shirt and one from a Sugar Ray concert.  I used to love them, and Mark McGrath is a cutie too – plus we went to the concert when I was about seven months pregnant with Alice!

I’m thinking various blocks surrounding the logos/whatever piece of the shirt I use, plus some other blocks. For some reason I’ve really been loving sparrows lately (did you know Mark has sparrows tattoo’d on his shoulders? Very cool!) and was thinking maybe an embroidered or appliquéd sparrow block? I think I’ll have my Mom help cut the shirts so I will stop wearing them, plus she can help me figure other blocks out.

I’m excited! I’ve been wanting to make a shirt quilt or a quilt made out of clothes for ages now! I have a few things of the kids saved and wanted to make them each a quilt from their clothes too but never did. I’m not sure if I’m ready for that yet, one quilt at a time I think.

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