ABCs of Quilting Blog

In another lifetime, I lived in Chicago.  Our first home was in this great ‘burb’ called Naperville.  As usual, I was looking for something unique to do as a family and found out that you can have a garden plot in their ‘community’ garden!  I thought this would be just the ticket for our family time!! 

The first year was so successful (yes, that was my point of view….) that I decided to have TWO  plots the second year so we could have even more fun.  WRONG!!!!

Not only was this a really bad idea but Mother Nature pitched in and sent NO water in the form of rain that year.  We had to HAUL  all of the water to the garden.  The moaning and groaning from each of my children was unbelievable and once again I knew I was not going to make Mother of the Year!

The water-hauling exercise paid off, though, and we had produce for the entire neighborhood.  People started running the other way when I brought them zucchini, tomatoes, peppers,  carrots, etc.  At home I had so many batches of pickles going in different stages that one of the boys said I was making him sick!  Hmmmphf!!!

The next summer, we moved to Northfield (a little north of Chicago) and guess what?  NO community plots!  The family was ecstatic and I gave my little seedling tomato plants to my father-in-law for his garden in Iowa.  Sniff, sniff!

Now, however, I have been saved!  I can MAKE my own garden with all of the great fabrics on our website (you can find them at http://www.abcsofquilting.com/FruitsandVegetables.html ).  The project possibilities are endless!  And, there are NO bugs while you decide what to do either!!

 Send me your photos of what you have made and I will get them on the post!

Happy Gardening!!!!!

Just a sample from the panel!

Back in ‘06 (you gotta love that we can say that, right?) when we purchased the shop, the fabrics reps all made the trek to Northern Minnesota to get our order.  One of the fabrics lines that I just loved was and still do is  Loralie !!  (http://www.abcsofquilting.com/SewFabulous.html)

However, I had a very difficult time trying to convince Susan that this would be a good addition to our shop.  And, in some respects she was probably correct – we didn’t know how the golfers would do, or the nurses, etc. 

BUT, Susan is in Arizona for the winter and so the latest line is now in our shop!  Heh, heh, heh!!!  It is just great with a little something for all of us and there is even a KNITTER on the panel!  

Here are some of the highlights from the panel:

• Vibrant Colors
• Humor at it’s finest
• Very creative use of our notions — little pillbox hats made out of tape measures
• Capri pants made with HUGE spools of thread on them
• “Marie Antoinette” hair styles decorated with Scissors and thread spools

Of course, in addition to the panel, I also bought some really cool prints that go with the line.  Now my challenge is to find some patterns to do justice to the line!   I know that I can do it — I am thinking of bags, and aprons, and little pin caddies, and maybe even a whole quilt!  What do you think????

Let me know and just in case there is someone out there who doesn’t know what a ‘pillbox’ hat is all about, it is one that was popular before we were all born!  How’s that?

I don’t know about you, but any changes in my moring routine seem to impact my entire day!

This morning was the day the car needed to be at the shop for an oil change and some other misc. details and I am starting to wonder just what the rest of the day will hold for me! 

Getting the car to the shop involves more than just that.  My hubby was waiting for me, I had to grab some stuff off of my desk for the shop, stuff the dog into her kennel, make my lunch and morning tea (I cannot skip that….) and then I headed out the door.  Of course, I forgot that I had to TAKE the car, so I went BACK into the house and got the keys, etc.

After I tossed all of my stuff into the car, I spilled my tea (you knew that was going to happen, didn’t you?), and managed to get out of the garage without incident.

As I was driving into town, I was totally engrossed with thoughts of what to do with a couple of new lines that arrived yesterday and , yup, I drove right by the dealership, got turned around and finally got there.  Doug stopped to pick me up and dropped me at the shop.  It was 7:30 am and I am hoping that all of the bad karma is OUT of my day!!!

By the way, the last of the WIZ fabric is on it’s way to the shop — we hope to see it later this week or early next week.