I won a basket!

I can't believe it, but there is a postcard in my hand to prove a dream come true!

Such a pretty star!

One of the drawings from the SHOP HOP pulled out my name!
I'm now planning another trip to a Quilt Shop nearby to carry home a wonderful basket of quilting goodies! Of course, my three girlfriends will share in my bounty...so, I am excited to get together again and allow this basket of goodies to bring back our memories of two special days on the road! We had such fun!

Pop back over to this blog so you can see the gift I carry home!
I'll post again with the basket in hand...

Thank you, Shop Owners, for this encouragement to sew and quilt more! I loved the SHOP HOP and especially meeting all of you personally.
Debi

Welcome!

Just saw this image on another site and loved it!
I thought I'd use it to welcome you to my blog!

I  just love Autumn, don't you?!

Hugs-n-Stitches!   Debi

Finally, Thursday's SHOP HOP...

Dawn came early, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't be ready when the girls came to pick me up and begin our journey to the southern shops of KC area! They patiently waited for me to finish making my elderly Dad's plans for the day comfortable, and kissed my little grand daughters goodbye. Then, we were racing down the highway with great expectations to finish the SHOP HOP started on Monday!

Get your stamp here!

Not only were these shops I didn't know existed, but I'd never even been to these towns! Belton, Pleasant Hill, Kingsville, Warrensburg and Higginsville all quaintly welcomed us and the shops were adorable! Each displayed their version of the designated Quilt squares, stamped our passports, offered us great deals on fabric and wished us well on our Safari hop.

Look at Quilt on ceiling!

A day of shopping was so fun in these little shops, and we diligently received our stamps, purchased the kits, and browsed all the other awesome fabrics offered.

We absolutely fell in love with Kingsville's gorgeous shop of hand dyed fabrics and homey atmosphere!

One room in Liberty Homestead

Miniature version of the quilt

I love it!

Look, girls!

LIBERTY HOMESTEAD caught our attention for hours! The miniature version of the quilt was awesome and the whole arrangement of the shop gave us all kinds of ideas for future excursions! Looking like a home from the street, the owners have arranged their shop to accommodate the love quilters have for space, fabric, and retreats! Their hand dyed fabric is exquisite and her many books of instructions and patterns are worth checking out! We know we'll return to this spot often! We gathered all her information, several packages of her special fabrics, and ideas for future projects and sadly left her shop to continue our hopping.

Finalizing our stamped passports

At our last shop, we finalized our passports for the Shop Hop, cast our vote for the best liked quilt, and finished shopping for the odds and ends still left on our list.

Loved this center! 

This shop's personal quilt caught my eye for their originality and the added Autumn center. I've included this photo of it, so you can enjoy the beauty!

Have a splendid Fall and happy quilting!
Debi
Hop to a previous blog entry to read about MONDAY 5 shops and especially our MSQC visit!

Donna Days Video

On Friday, our little group had our Sew-n-Share and enjoyed a whole day of cutting out fabric, quilting, and spending more time together. I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and spacious room for laying out my plans for my first quilt. I am excited to see little blocks coming together to make such a beautiful array of color. As I placed the blocks down, I could envision this quilt finished someday and hanging on my LR wall. These are my favorite colors and accent almost every room of my home. So, my very first handsewn quilt is finally taking some shape

My favorite colors coming together

Once in awhile, we become silly and put on a demo for the others. I had a new tool for cutting circles that Jenny suggested when I visited MSQC. What a difference it makes to have the right tools! I absolutely love this little "cutter" - especially made for the circle ruler. My friends wanted to see it in action, so I gave a "Jenny Tutorial". I didn't know I was being recorded and chuckle even now as I see the final little snippet of my demo! You can see me being goofy on my girlfriend's blog:  http://www.dixieandthechicks.blogspot.com/

Donna & Jan steadily working on projects

but don't laugh too loudly! It was only my second circle cut! The procedure was much easier as I learned to be at ease with this cutting tool!

Ron joins us bringing his own project!

We have great fellowship as our quilts and projects are slowly pieced together! Each has a table and spread our work out over the room! We have an excellent island counter top in the kitchen for cutting, and another for ironing. It is an awesome setting and allows us to work non-stop on projects, with accomplishments getting cheers from our friends.
Often the guys join us at a table, pretending not to hear our constant chatter, but loving the day spent with us all. Thanks, Ron!

Adventurous Safari Shop Hop

Donna & Jan mapping our route

Like any other Monday, I raced around doing the household chores and morning routine; yet, it was different, for everything needed to be done by 8:00, so I could race off to join my friends on our planned SAFARI SHOP HOP.  

While refreshing ourselves with coffee and “monkey bread”, we mapped out our route of the five northern shops, then we excitedly climbed in the car headed to the farthest point and our favorite shop: “Missouri Star Quilt Company”.

"the girls of the shop"

At this shop, it is like meeting old friends! The girls welcomed us, giving us our Safari passports, showing the kits, charms, an awesome "winner's basket", the “Daily Deal” charm packs, and answering our many questions. I wandered over to the cutting table and was not surprised to find Jenny giving a tutorial on short cuts for the Dresden pattern. Wow! I love her demonstrations! She is so awesome, making any task sound so easy!

Jenny pointed to the MSQC square

As we admired the Kansas Star Quilt, Jenny pointed to the square made my MSQC. Loving the colors of the assembled quilt, it was easy to pick up their packaged kits and pattern and dream of our own personal quilt! Our minutes in the shop clicked away to hours making us sadly realize we needed to leave our favorite place to continue the tour of shops. So, we headed for Kearney’s “Sew Bee It”, and realizing it was close to the lunch hour, we discussed lunch plans with a Mexican flavor close by the shop. 

Celebrities visit Kearney!

Each shop surprised us with the beauty of their star, and their personal arrangement of the designated squares.  We spent quality time in each shop, admiring the array of fabrics and supplies each carried. I enjoyed meeting the shop owners and observing the personalities of the individual shops with the many displayed quilts hanging on the walls.

Quilts and kits were easy to find!

When the day ended, we carried away our little totes of supplies, kits, patterns, and visions of our imagined creations. But, the SAFARI SHOP HOP wasn’t finished…

There were 5 more shops waiting for our next free day (Thursday) when we could head south of Kansas City and discover shops never visited before!