My quilty day

Happy Monday, y'all! The blog re-design is almost complete. I am in full orange and aqua mode with a new header and template! I just need to create some pages for tutorials, finished projects, etc. What do you think of the new look?

I haven't been sewing a whole lot lately. I've been knee-deep in planning mode for my geese and coins quilt. But I did have a very quilty day on Thursday. As many of you know, I have an odd work schedule, so Thursdays are my "Saturdays." I whipped this little wall-hanging up Thursday afternoon using the free template from Denyse Schmidt:

Thursday was also the August meeting of the Austin Modern Quilt Guild. I was so excited to finally be able to attend a meeting. The meeting was in north Austin, about a 20-30 minute drive from my house. Rather than battle rush hour traffic — in Austin on a Thursday afternoon, this is definitely not something you want to do, especially if you want to be in a good mood when you arrive at your destination — I headed up north early to visit the two awesome quilt shops nearby. (I can obviously find any excuse to go shopping!)

I was determined not to break the bank, so I just got a bunch of fat quarters (rather than any larger cuts). One shop neatly folds their fat quarters, while the other rolls them up into fun bundles (which is what's going on in the top picture).

One thing I don't like very much about buying fat quarters is that you don't always get a piece with the printed selvage info. So while I recognized some of these, some are a mystery to me. I know I got some Urban Landscapes by Kathy York, some Alexander Henry (the print on the bottom left is the same design I used on my purse, but in a very bright colorway), and some Amy Butler. I haven't done the research yet to see what the rest of it is. Do you know?

After my shopping spree, I went to the meeting. I got to meet some fabulously fun and talented women who live right here in Austin. I had so much fun chatting and playing show and tell with fellow quilters! With advice from the meeting, I was finally able to conquer the inside corner binding for my hexagon quilt. I took a bunch of photos, and I'm working on putting together a tutorial.

One of the Austin Modern Quilt Guild members used to teach sewing classes, so she led a tutorial on needle-turn appliqué. I'll be honest, until last week I had no idea what needle-turn appliqué was. But by the time I left the meeting, I had sewed a circle onto a square! I didn't actually use the needle to turn the fabric under like you're supposed to (hence the name), but the circle is on the square, so I think I did just fine.

Of course I have no idea what I'm going to do with this little guy:

Ideas?

Shopping trip

First, I get to check another finish off my list! I finished the Garden Tote Mother's Day gift. I'm going to wait until next week to post pictures, though.

I spent the majority of my afternoon at two local quilt shops — the one place in Austin I'm guaranteed to be the youngest person in the room by 10 or 20 years. Both had a fairly limited supply of modern fabrics, but I found some gems:

This stack will become a plethora of little goodies for my best friend Jimmie's birthday. This will probably be the last you see of these before I finish the goodies and they make their way to Taiwan.

These beauties are going to become an Amy Butler Frenchy Bag, because I am in desperate need of a new purse.

And these lovelies are just for me. The bottom two (and the large geometric for the Frenchy Bag) are from the new love of my life, Alexander Henry. Mmmm... fabricy goodness.

My teeny tiny "stash"

So I decided to get my tiny quilting area organized. I had scrap fabric squirreled away in about three different places (in three different rooms!) so I gathered it all and dumped it on the floor...

I like to keep my scraps in plastic sandwich bags, so I can write the contents on the outside:

So now my teeny tiny "stash" is all organized in baggies, and sorted by coordinating colors... on my living room floor.

How big is your stash? And how do you keep it organized?

In other news, I am one of those people for whom online package tracking was invented. I sign up for e-mail updates from the post office and everything. My Happy Campers stuff should be here in a day or two! I can't wait to start putting it together. I mapped out my plan last night, and I should be able to use just about every inch of what I've ordered. I'm excited that I can make a 60" square lap quilt out of one jelly roll and one charm pack (plus backing and binding of course). I am, however, a bit nervous about the cutting. Since I'm planning to use every last inch, so there's no room for cutting error!

Oh, and I almost forgot that today is Tuesday. And what's better than finding a good deal on something? Winning something! Every Tuesday, Julie at jaybird quilts compiles a list of blogs doing giveaways. Check out her list for this week: Giveaways going on in blogland... wk9.