Shopping, What Fun!

Yesterday was an afternoon of lunch and shopping with my daughter. Always, on the last day of school, we go out to lunch together and then do some fun shopping.

She choose Applebee's for lunch. Yum! Perfect! I was in the mood for fish and chips and Lydia loves their fried shrimp.

Then is was off to JoAnn Fabrics. Yeah!! I love looking through their remnant bins. Look at what I found!

These are all flannels. The three on the left will go into my stash of baby flannels. I like making "lovey" sized blankets for newborns. 4" squares ten rows by ten rows, approx. 36" square quilt. Just the right size for a newborn and then perfect to be dragged around by a toddler.

The four flannels on the right will go into my stash of flannels for full sized donation quilts. I haven't made one yet, but have been collecting flannels for a long time. The first quilt I will make for myself and then I will have on-going donation quilts in the works. Plan on 6" or 8" squares for these. Not sure yet the exact size.

This is a picture of some novelty prints I found. The football fabric is an entire yard. With some co-ordinating fabrics, I will be able to make an entire quilt for a child. I make kid's quilts for the Family Crisis Center. I try to keep the size to approx. 40" by 50" give or take a few either way.

The soccer and baseball prints are smaller remnants. Not enough to design an entire quilt top around, so they will go into my "I Spy" stash.

This picture shows the bottom fabric from the previous picture in better detail. Cowboy and Indian Frogs!!!! How cute is that? This is a yard piece. How much fun this will be designing a quilt with this fabric.

This July, I am going down to Mass. to visit a dear friend. She is going to teach me how to sew clothing. I am a self-taught quilter and have no other sewing knowledge. I have always wanted to make clothes.

As my daughter gets older, the hemlines in the stores get shorter and shorter. Trying to teach modesty can be a challenge in today's society. She loves to wear skirts and dresses. I found a Simplicity 2 hour jumper pattern that she likes. I found two different light-weight denims. Lydia choose the one with the butterflies. I found the one with the embroidered flowers. She doesn't know about that one. Shhh, don't tell. It is a surprise!

After JoAnn's, it was off to CraftMania. Specifically, we were on the lookout for some color-by-number posters. Lydia doesn't care for paint-by-number, but the ones with color pencils are right up her alley. We didn't find any, but.........

Look at what I found! Our local CraftMania has flat folds for $3.99 a yard. They were on sale for 40% off! I bought all they had of this, just under 4 yards and paid less that $9.00 Yeah! It is very colorful with crayons all over it. I could easily spent a LOT more. There were some very pretty brights. I love bright fabrics, but I controlled myself. (grin)

Next, it was off to the bookstore. Lydia has been reading several series by Erin Hunter, entitled "The Warriors". They are about a number of tribes of talking cats. Yes, I said, talking cats. She loves these books. Often saving her own money and buying them in hardbound because she didn't want to wait for paperback.

Well, the author has begun a new series entitled "The Seekers". This series seems to be about talking polar bears. We were able to find the first book. Lydia is quite happy.

I, also, found a few books for summer reading. The first is by Fern Micheals entitled "Fast Track". This is another in a series of books she has written about a group of women who become vigilantes to right the wrongs done to them. Very interesting. I enjoy following characters through different stories and yet each book stands on its own.

I found another book by a favorite author, Beatrice Small. I have been reading her books for over 20 years. She writes romance novels, quite lusty ones, I might add. (blush, blush). Most of her books are historical romances, but this new series is about a fantasy world full of fairies, giants, etc. The book I picked up yesterday is "the Sorceress of Belmair" book four of the World of Hetar series.

So, when the weather become unbearably hot, off to my air conditioned bedroom I will go with some new books. These books are only a sampling of the different kinds of reading I do. What do you like to read?

Darlene