Shop Hop Quilting Resumes

It was a hot day yesterday. By day's end, we'd reached 94°F. It may have been even warmer earlier. We didn't really check until close to dinner time. Knowing it was going to be hot, I was out early doing my watering and gardening chores. While there, I was delighted to find the purple poppy had opened. 

Happy, happy! Joy, joy! Well...that just made my whole day. I was itching to get back to my quilting though, and so I didn't tarry long. When my watering was finished and the birds were fed, I headed straight to the sewing machine. Here's where I left off when disaster struck..."disaster" describing the sickening sound of my needle hitting the hard plastic of the template I was attempting to use. I needed to finish up the crescent on the left side before I could move along.

Does it strike anyone else as ironic that I would be on a block with the Beatitudes? Here's one they left off: Blessed are the quilters for they shall spend a lot of money repairing their sewing machines. On a positive note, the machine is working beautifully now. All that money and time in the shop wasn't wasted.

The quilt shop represented was one of the shops I visited on a marvelous day in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with my dear friend Robin. Apparently, they've changed their name, or been bought, or joined up with someone else. In any case, this is their web page. You can read my blog post about my day with Robin right here. We visited some great shops that day. I think I have a few more blocks from our day on this post...or maybe not. I don't know what I'm going to write until I see what I say.

Okay, since I've sworn off hand-holding templates (that was a very expensive fix), I'm using the same template with a Hera marker now. It's working pretty well. If you're not familiar with the Hera marker, it's basically a piece of molded plastic used to put a temporary crease in your fabric. I really don't like using markers, and so this invisible mark is a happier thing for my needs. It's a little hard to photograph, and so I've put a little arrow to give you a clue where to start. I just line up the template, and then draw a creased line where the stitching will go.

 

This next shop is located close to Temecula, California, and southern California's wine country. It was a great shop, and I enjoyed my time there. You can find their web presence right here, and you can read my blog post right here.

Not all the fabrics I'm showing were purchased with this quilt in mind. I'd already traveled and collected fabrics from all over the west before I got the idea to sew them into a quilt. So this next quilt isn't a regional print per se. It's one I purchased just because I liked it. Deer Country Quilts was kind of a surprise along the road. It was a big shop, very nice, and in an out-of-the-way place. As I'm writing, I'm kind of wondering how many of these shops are surviving, and so it's always with a bit of trepidation when I go looking for their web presence. So, let's see...looks like this one is still alive and kicking. You can see their web presence right here. My blog post about this shop is right here.

This next one is another fabric I purchased before getting the idea to make a quilt from it. We often pass through Sisters on our way home from somewhere else, and this is a can't-miss-it shop. Sisters is a fun little town, so do stop in if you're ever in the area. Their web presence is right here. I've written about the Stitchin' Post many times over the years, but this post is from my first visit.

This next shop was another surprise along the way. Lusk, Wyoming, is a tiny little town just over the Nebraska-Wyoming border. It was a fun little shop, with some very friendly women. I read some time after visiting there that the shop had been inundated by flooding. I'm happy to see they're still in business after such a disaster. You can find their web presence right here. My blog post about the shop is right here. And this fabric...it just seemed right for the area.

So about that time, Smitty seized the oppurrtunity to place himself as inconveniently as pawssible in an attempt to score some treats. His evil planned worked purrfectly.

Cat free, I soldiered on. We were staying in Estes Park, Colorado, visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. Driving through the park, up and over the mountains, one comes to the town of Grand Lake, Colorado. We were there specifically to visit this shop. I'm impressed that most of the shops on today's quilting journey are still in business. You can find the web presence for this shop right here. This fabric reminded me of the area, and we'd seen a large herd of elk on our drive over the mountain. You can read my blog post about this shop right here.

This next shop was one we found along the Montana Hi-line, which is a major wheat producing region. This is such a pretty fabric with flecks of metallic gold. The woman working here was delighted when I asked if I could take pictures for my blog. Some folks get weird, nervous, and thirsty at the thought of it, but this woman saw it for what it was: free publicity. They don't seem to have a web presence beyond their Facebook page, but you can read my blog post about it right here.

Okay, and so I was getting worn out on quilting about this time, but I really wanted to finish up the incomplete row, plus one row more, before quitting for the day. So, here we go...it really didn't take that long to finish up, but there are a few more of these. 

We visited this next shop the day after we'd seen the Split Rock Lighthouse in Minnesota, and so it was an easy choice for the regional print. I was surprised to find this shop open on a Sunday. The shopkeeper informed me their season was short because of the weather, and so they were open as much as possible when the weather was good. It seems as if someone told me something about this shop when I posted previously...under new ownership? Owner died and son took over? Something like that. I don't find a web presence, but it appears the shop is still open. You can read my blog post about it right here.

For this next shop, I fudged a little on the fabric. I was looking for some cow fabric to represent Wisconsin, but this shop in Oshkosh was sadly lacking in any sort of regional prints beyond those associated with the University of Wisconsin. I found this fabric at a different shop and used it to represent Quilt Essentials. Looks like this shop is closed now, but you can read my blog post about it right here.

I traveled the longest distance to visit this quilt shop...the one shop not on the North American continent. This trip was to attend the International Quilt Festival in Galway, Ireland, that year. On our tour bus, we were able to stop along the way and visit The Sewing Shed. You can find its web presence right here. This fabric was a part of a fat quarter bundle I purchased there. You can read my blog post about the shop and its owner right here. It was a fun stop along the way in Ireland.

Okay, and so I was really getting tired of quilting by this time, but there were only two blocks to go. 

This next fabric was purchased because we'd had to reroute our trip when our truck had a major transmission problem. We'd gone to Boise for repairs, and rented a car. I purchased this fabric because it represented the age-old maxim: When life gives you lemons, buy some fabric. The web presence for this shop is right here. It was a big beautiful shop. You can find my blog post about it right here.

Incidentally, some of my blog posts may refer to the app that was available from Quilters Club of America. The app is no longer supported, which is kind of a bummer. Toward the end, the updates weren't coming through very well, and many of the shops were either no longer in business, had moved, etc. In any case, now I just Google by speaking to my phone and saying, "Okay, Google, find a quilt shop near me." And you know I loves me The Google. It always comes through.

Okay, so one more block before we finish for the day. I happen to know this shop is closed, but it was a fun visit. You can read my blog post about it right here. And isn't this a great fabric? I still have it. I don't think I've used it for anything other than this quilt. When it comes to fabric, I follow my own "Field of Dreams" rule: If you buy the fabric, the quilt will come. Sometimes you have to wait a long time for the quilt.

Okay, so it was nearing the end of the day by then, and it was a hot one. It seemed like a perfect time to enjoy some of that raspberry-infused vodka in the form of a raspberry lemon drop. Yum. Perfectly tart and refreshing.

I tried out a new recipe for dinner. This is One Pot Creamy French Onion Pasta. This turned out to be really good. It uses a whole pound of pasta (I used penne), which was way too much for us. I still made the whole recipe and froze half. We'll take it along on a camping trip sometime. It's all made in one pot on the stove top (so, aptly named). It bakes in the oven just a short time after it's assembled. You can leave it in the same pot, or else put it in a baking dish, which makes serving it up a little easier. And mmm, mmm, mmm...such cheesy goodness.

I served it with some roasted broccoli, which roasted while the pasta heated in the oven. Maybe there are better accompaniments. I just wanted to add something green.

I wasn't really sure what size dish to use, since the recipe was silent on that. I split it between two 8 x 8 baking dishes, or you could put it in just one 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Next time I make this, I think I'll split it among four 8-inch ramekins, which is my favorite way to prepare camping food ahead.

After dinner, I was outside with the DSLR camera to take some macro shots of the echinacea. It's so pretty right now. The shape and texture of these flowers is fascinating to me. So I took quite a few shots. Enjoy:

And you wanted to see the purple poppy again, didn't you?

Okay, so that's it from me today. I still have three rows of blocks to finish on the Shop Hop quilt. I'll just keep sewing a row a day until they're done. I'll also need to do some straight line quilting in the vertical rows. Still, I'm hoping to have it finished up later this week. I'd like to get the binding sewn on, so I can take it along on our beach trip next week. It's going to be another hot day. Stay cool. Stay home. Stay safe and healthy.