DWM: September summary and looking ahead

I threw caution to the winds and indulged on souvenirs on our September trip.  There was no worry about luggage weight limits because we drove.

I am gradually covering my backpack with iron-on patches. I intended to buy *one* to exemplify the entire trip but we went to other places....

Salt water taffy (delicious!), a spoon rest, note cards, a redware squirrel ornament.

There is something about buying postcards that is just part of vacation.  I took pictures of some of these very sights.  I forgot to take the list of names and addresses of the people to whom I usually send postcards. These will be added to the box of postcards for use at some future date.


I also bought fabric, but not very much. I've already put it away, so no photos. (You know what fabric looks like, anyway.)  The first purchase was in Bowling Green, Ohio. Fat quarters just $2.50, including batiks. I bought five. Hey, it was the first day of the trip!  En route from Cape May to Lancaster we had lunch in Vineland, New Jersey. The Pin Cushion is a great shop.  I got two half-yards of alphabet prints for a project I am planning.

Lancaster County is a center for quiltmaking and fabric stores.  As I posted in the  travelog our group went to a Mennonite gift/quilt shop (Family Farm Quiltswhere there were many quilts for sale along with a selection of fabric.  We also went to Kitchen Kettle Village .  Zook's Fabric is right next door. I could have spent a couple of hours and many dollars there, but I had only 20 minutes. Two more alphabet prints and a flatfold.

To compensate for the absence of fabric purchases on the trip, I stopped at Quilt Corner in Morton, Illinois. That's next door to Peoria, where I was Thursday night and Friday for a library system board meeting.  I have managed to buy fabric after many of these system meetings and this was no exception. It is a great shop and the sale room had batiks at half price!

So, what did I accomplish in September?
I finished Noteworthy. The pattern is by Hilary Bobker (find it here).  This is a donation to the Full Score Orchestra 10th anniversary gala October 4.
It is 79 x 79. I bought some of the fabric line (block and border backgrounds) but used fabric from my stash for the rest of the quilt.

This past week I wanted to get back to my sewing machine but I didn't want to tackle anything in particular. I made 48 blue-centered HeartStrings blocks and by Saturday evening I had finished that 54x72 quilt.  I even sewed on a label!



At church this morning I was reminded that I agreed to provide a book review for the United Methodist Women on October 9.  I was also asked if I could donate a quilt to raffle at the church chili supper this fall.  Retirement, did you say?

I'm linking up with other quiltmakers for Design Wall Monday at Judy's Patchwork Times .