Pokémon Pullover

So I had this idea, I thought how cute would it be to make a little pullover jacket out of that Pokémon fabric for the youngest of Bean's kids, Jaymie.

SO I had some cozy yellow checkered flannel---oh so cozy!

So I gathered all my scrap batting chunks and spray basted it to the flannel and then BOOM! On with the Pokémon fabric. SO much goodness going on here-scraps being used up, cold weather coming, cute little emoji Pikachu!

I drew diagonal lines on the fabric with washable markers then I quilted the fabric all in one big piece. Just like a quilt!

Looks cozy!

And then I cut it out like any other fabric. I guess it's the same a pre quilted fabric you could buy...but much cozier!

Look! Pockets in the side seams

It came out pretty darn cute!

It might be a size or three too big for her though. Oh well, lots of room for layers, and as cold as it is this week, she'll need those layers!

Shop Hopping and Water Heater Maintenance

So the All Iowa Shop Hop is going on for the months of June and July. Here are a few of the fabrics that I have acquired after visiting all the shops in my region. The idea is you stop at each participating shop and get your passport stamped, and they also give you a cute little printed quilt block. Then when you are done collecting all the stamps from around the state-or as many as you can-you mail in your passport and hopefully win great prizes.

Hubs  rode along with me yesterday to get the last four shops-Cascade, Clinton, Dewitt & LeClaire. It took us about 6 hours round trip and shopping included. I'm pretty quick at most shops. 

See! All done with this region! This year there are something like 86 shops participating-I don't think I'd ever get the whole state-you'd need a lot of driving time available in your life to do it! But a lot of folks do the whole thing!

And we had our Plumber friends from Ackerman Plumbing out to do maintenance on the water heater. 

I had to move A LOT of bins of Christmas stuff to get this path cleared out for him.

We had this water heater installed 5 years ago and Hubs thought it was probably time for them to check the anode rod. Yeah, that's the rod inside the water heater that attracts metals and crud in your water. 

Here's what ours looked like when he took it out. He said he's seen MUCH worse.

Here's the new one along side our old one.

And here's one he took out from a water heater in Tiffin-right up the road. He said the water is so hard and bad in Tiffin, folks need to get their anode rods changed EVERY YEAR! The crud just eats away the rod material, I don't get how it doesn't eat the whole water heater, but what ever. Anyway, $220 and we're good for another five years or so.  So good to move on to the next projects. 

Catching Up

SO, I took some time to travel with my sister to her beloved James funeral service. He wanted to be buried at the Veterans Cemetery near his home town of Louisville KY. With the Virus, there were a lot of accommodations made. Only 10 people could go to the cemetery, and there was no Color Guard or Honor Guard. Only 20 people were allowed at the service at the funeral home. We had a little time to spare between appointments, so I took her mind off of things by dragging her to a couple of quilt shops in Louisville! 

Look at these cute fabrics! Now we worked hard to get these. The shop is Among Friends Quilt Shop in Louisville. You had to call ahead for an appointment...we called from the front door and the ladies there were so kind to allow us in to shop a little.

I hadn't seen this P Buckley Moss panel before, so, you know what they say, get it when you see it, because it'll be gone next time. Since I will not likely ever be in Louisville again, I got it!

 They had an extensive clearance section, I got this Moda Grunge Wine for only $8.99 on clearance. We also stopped at the Cozy Quilter, and I picked up two Harry Potter prints that I had not seen before. I know a person who is obsessed with all thing HP, so it was a fun find.

We had time  to visit a really nice Antique Mall near downtown. The Louisville Antique Market was fun to browse. I loved this boat shaped book case-it had wonderful painted pictures on the sides that reminded me a lot of our family relative Charlie Brown's work.  It's a very nice antique mall. I saw this jadeite piece, but didn't buy it.

We also drove around downtown to see the tourist sights-before the protests began.....Louisville is a pretty nice town and looks like it has made great strides to attract tourists and revitalize their urban areas.

These two stopped by the house before we left for Louisville. Little Jaymie seems to love riding with Ben!

The flowers are finally getting going! I so love these iris that DD my wonderful gardener planted. They are coming on strong!

Ok, all caught up now, not much else going here, just work, work, work!

I-80 Quilt Mart

So on Sunday I popped over to the local Clarion Inn where they were hosting the I-80 Quilt Mart.

 There were about 15-20 vendors from the area all set up with really beautiful quilts, pre cuts and tools to inspire!

 Lots of pretty quilts!

 Look at this applique wall hanging, the words just bloom are sewn completely over with giant zig zag-I love that idea!!

 There was quite a good crowd there, I'm not very up to date with the quilting trends, but I think these folks are!

 I loved this lightening bug quilt! So clever!

Next stop the library! I can't be out of books!

Fabric Galore!

So I went on a mission while we were visiting Minneapolis. I wanted to look for some fabric at the SR Harris Fabric warehouse in Brooklyn Park Minnesota.

My partners in crime were willing to tolerate my visit. But even I was not prepared for the sheer volume of fabric in this warehouse!

Bins of buttons, and zippers, and all kinds o f trims. Some of it is not what you'd call first quality, but the quantity is amazing! And it's all 50% off the marked prices. They have leather chunks by the pound and so many different things it's overwhelming!!

Look at all the faux furs! SO many unusual kinds!

And all kinds of home decor fabrics-too many rolls to really see well. And knits, my goodness! And some are marked with designer and brand names too! Nike, Donna Karan, and lots of designer quilt fabrics.

 There is so  much fabric that you really need to focus on what you really need or you'd be lost for hours!

 Look at these vinyls-there were a zillion different textures and colors.

Anyways, I did find what I came for-gray lace and gray taffeta for Uber son & Lovely Jean's wedding.

Poor DD, she just wandered along side me aimlessly hoping it would soon end. I think if I want to see a ton of fabric again, I'll go to the SR Harris in Burnsville, it has a little less volume and the prices are still 50% off too.  On we go with the Minneapolis Adventure!!!

Fabric Makes It All Better

So the main street in Oxford Iowa is still a mess.

 Driving around the mess is a hassle......

 I feel bad for the few businesses in town. They must be really struggling with this.

 SO on a happier note, I went shopping with my Mom. Fabric makes things all better doesn't it!

 Shes' getting this fleece to make a robe for my baby sister and her fiance.

And look at this lovely BURLAP! Who would have ever thought burlap would be fashionable! Now I'm off to practice using this fancy embroidery machine