Quilting stash...

Uh-oh.  I think I made a big mistake this weekend.  My husband and I visited dear friends of ours on Saturday, and while the men were golfing my friend and I visited a quilt shop.  Two little words...quilt shop.  Who knew two words could get me into so much trouble?!  This amazing store was recently named one of the top ten quilt stores in the nation, and from what I experienced on Saturday I think it is an honor justly deserved.  The clerks were knowledgeable, friendly and eager to help us with all our questions.  We arrived with the idea of just "browsing" through the store, but I'm sure you will understand when I tell you we left with our arms full.  Arms full of projects and fabrics that we know darn well we are too busy to tackle any time soon, but how can you walk out of such a store empty handed?  Short answer--you can't!

The fabric collection is rather staggering, and even though I wouldn't call myself a quilter (yet) I was excited that I recognized so many of the fabric collections and designers, mostly thanks to my two favorite quilting blogs (Pretty by Hand and Comfort Stitching).  When I read these blogs I never quite understood when they would talk about their quilt stash, but I'm starting to catch on...
In particular, I love most of the colors found in the Moda line, and couldn't resist this beautiful Posy charm pack.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet, but the designs were just so captivating...maybe a nursery pillow for a sweet little girl?  I love the bunnies and the little girls reading their books.

And then this Honeysweet jelly roll caught my eye:

This is on my bookcase in my sewing area.. the pretty pink card in the background was from my dad years ago.  Aren't these fabric colors beautiful?

Here are all the fabrics in the Honeysweet by Fig Tree jelly roll.  I love the pops of orange, a color I haven't worked with much.  It just seems so cheerful and so I (of course!) then had to find a pattern I could use, so this book went on to the growing pile as well:

At that point I thought I was done, but the new Christmas fabrics just seemed to be calling my name, so I added two yards of this cheerful red and white to the pile.  I'm thinking it would look beautiful as a winter table runner.

The idea of staging all my pictures late on Sunday night was a little too much for me, hence fabric draped on my ironing board with a red sewing  box will have to do...

And just as I was getting ready to checkout, I looked at the clerk's apron.  And fell in love.  She had made her apron just the night before with these two fantastic prints.  How could I possibly resist vintage typewriters?  I see some fun pillow covers for my library....typewriters for the front and typewriter keys for the backs!

And, lest you think I've been too busy buying material and slacking off on my current quilt, here is the latest update:

Progress!  Only two more horizontal rows to sew, then I need to start sewing the horizontal strips together.  I've done the first two rows and found it  pretty intimidating to get the squares perfectly aligned.  This part of the quilt is 9 squares by 9 squares.  I'm pleased with the way the red squares dissect the quilt diagonally for a little pop of color.  This is my first quilt, so I keep telling myself it's just for practice, but of course my perfectionism isn't allowing me to relax and not fret about mistakes!

Here's a quilting poem by Elizabeth Ryan DeCoursey to start our week out on a cheerful note:

Life is like a patchwork quilt
And each little patch is a day,
Some patches are rosy, happy and bright,
And Some are dark and gray.

But each little patch as it's fitted in
And sewn to keep it together
And makes a finished block in this life of ours
Filled with sun, and with rainy weather.

So let me work on Life's patchwork quilt
Through the rainy days and the sun--
Trusting that when I have finished my block
The master may say: "Well done."