Framing is coming! Framing is coming!

In the past, I've gotten a few things framed at Nick's in Mesa (? I think it's Mesa, I visited my friends in Phoenix and they took me there).  Well!  One of my friends was in town (sorta) for work, and we met and had dinner.   She offered to take some of my stitching to Nick's since we're going to see each other again in a couple of months and I can fly home with my pieces (vs having them shipped like last time).  We didn't go to Nick's the last time a bunch of us were in Phoenix because he was ending his business, but for reasons he hasn't actually closed up yet.  Yay for us!

So we did some framing-by-text, but luckily Nick is pretty damn awesome and the options I got were pretty awesome from the beginning and I was happy.

First up is the Dracula book cover, which I finished earlier this year (and hey, this picture is really a color accurate photo of that Aries by Sparklies that I adore).   He is actually using two frames to make this, one frame acting like a kind of mat, which is WAY awesome.   This was so good that it was an immediate yes.   And to be honest, it's my favorite framing thing from everything that's getting done.

Next up is Ferret Knot by White Willow Stitching.   The other option had a frame that didn't have that gold edge, and I like the way it breaks things up.  I also love that suede mat, which I think should work super well with the overdye chocolate that I used in the design.   Much love for this (man these are going to be heavy ;) )

Next is Tapestry by Ink Circles.
And again, it's the double-frame thing.   Annette (link to her flosstube) showed me her Tapestry (or, rather, a photo of it) while we were hanging out a few weeks ago, and I really did like it.  This is the same thing she had done (and I think we've even stitched on the same fabric?  hah!).  We, and some other friends, all stitched on this together at the same time; starting at approx the same time.   It was kind of fun to be bouncing off of each other's progress pictures, and not only is it a gorgeous design, but I will always think of my wonderful friends when I look at it.   I can't imagine a frame I'd like better, honestly. 

Next up is Immaculate Heart (again, by Ink Circles).
It's a pretty small design, and I love the old world/medieval feel of it and wanted a heavy, thick frame to go around it.  And lo'!  This is the option Nick pulled.  So, yes?   Seriously, this guy is a genius.  And luckily this is fairly small so at least one of these will be easy to transport ;)

And finally, I bring you Celtic Christmas by Lavender and Lace/Told in a Garden
I stitched this back in 1998.  At one time, I "finished" it into a cheap Michaels frame using stitch witchery to hold it to the backing board, so there's still residue of that stuff around the edges.   Way back when I "didn't know any better" and what not.  Luckily the sticky stuff isn't anywhere near the stitching, but around the very edges;  it's not like that stuff comes off easily, either.

I don't have a blog post with her in it, but otherwise I stitched it as directed, same fabric, same materials, even that god awful DMC 284Z (I didn't even have to look it up, I remember that stuff!).  I recently hit this piece with a lint roller to try to get any extra dog hair off of it, and that gold started flaking!  So I thought I should get it framed tout-de-suite.

I didn't want it too look too Christmassy (hence the removal of the "NOEL" from above her head), but I stitched her because I love her red dress, so I knew I wanted red in the framing somewhere, but when it was the top mat, it just overwhelmed the framing.   This is eventually what we settled on - this was definitely the piece that took us the longest to pick a frame option for.  It's the costliest one we framed (I think the red is suede, and the tan is a really pretty silk mat, actually), but 1.  she's worth it and 2. it was still a helluva lot cheaper than if I'd framed her at a regular place here. 

I'm quite happy with this choice and now I have to decide if I want to hang her in a public area of my house or just put her above my dresser so I can look at her every day.

So that's the framing that's coming my way.  I should get everything by January at the latest, and I couldn't be more excited/pleased.   I hate to wish ill on Nick, but I hope the issues regarding his shop continue for just a few more months so I have one more crack at framing with him.   Mostly for those desert pieces.

February WIPocalypse

Wow - Two WIPocalypses in a row, let's see if I can keep on my roll!

I have actually had a fair amount of progress, which makes me super happy.

First I finished Thansgiving Fairy by Mirabilia

Then I finished (Celtic) Ferret Knot

And now I'm working on WWKCD

Previously, I just had the letters done (chopped off above because of a fold in the fabric holding it in the Qsnaps).  

I'm working on one color at a time, I have done 2 and I have 3 left.  Huzzah!

I am working on the "easy" ones.  I have a lot of TWs and larger pieces, but I've learned that I can stitch on my downtime at work, and so I've been keeping that limited to "easier" pieces so I can put things down quickly.

---

The Topic for this month is:
If you have any of your pieces on display in your home, which attracts the most plaudits.

Probably Luna Moth or my Letters from Nora - S, because they're both in the front hallway.   

If people are spending any significant time at our place (meaning that they're spending the night and will therefore be upstairs), then they see Story Teller, who would *probably* get the most love if he were on main-hallway-display ;)

This weekend we will be hosting a game day on Saturday, and on Sunday I'm hosting a tiny get together for some Craftivism - we'll be working on the 5.4 Million and Counting project, so that should be interesting.

I'm hoping to finish WWKCD this week, but of course, it will all depend on work.

Happy Weasel War Dance!

I did it, huzzah!

I finished Ferret Knot Wednesday afternoon.  I had taken it with me to work on Monday, when we had an ice day, so not a whole lot of work going on, since the University was closed and made a ton of progress, and I just needed to finish it off a bit, and give it a good wash.

Fer Serial - this was my desk Monday morning.
It was also my argument for going home early.

I purchased this pattern from White Willow Stitching shortly after I moved to NC 7(!!!) years ago.  I had gone with friends to the Lazy Daizy and the French Knot (both stores sadly now closed) and picked out the fibres there.  It calls for just DMC, but I wanted to change it from DMC for two reasons:  1.  I think this particular pattern just screams for overdyes/variegation and 2.  The DMC colors were hideous.

Dat face!

That swirl was just fun to stitch.

I had ferrets for so many years, I couldn't not pick something with a bit more actual ferrety flavor.   The fabric is just some 28 count antique white linen I had on hand.   I love how this came out and my only issue was with the linen.  I felt it was too loose and I wish I had either used something with a tighter weave or that I had used a smaller count, but I'm still super, super in love with it.

I took this photo on Feb 8, 2009, just a month after I moved here.

Fibres used were:
GAST Oatmeal ("white" area of face)
Simply Shaker (GA) Lambswool (creamy areas)
WDW Whiskey (gold)
GAST Dark Chocolate (dark brown)

The pattern can be found here: Ferret Knot at White Willow Stitching

Fun story: In 2011 a friend flew me to Montreal to attend a mini-con that was being hosted/put on by one of my favorite authors.   I was sitting in the lobby of the hotel where the panels were being presented and I saw someone, who was also attending the con, stitching on Ferret Knot.   I very rarely see any stitching out "in the wild," and for it to be a relatively odd-duck piece that I was also stitching on was so cool!  And yes, of course I rushed on over to talk to the stitcher.   Haha.   She was stitching it on Aida with the recommended DMCs.

Now onto my next project!
I've given myself free reign until March 1 when I want to pick back up on the Zodiac Mystery and finish off my RR (the last piece I need to get isn't going to get back to me for quite a while).  So I'm I'm trying to decide between my Triforce of Badassery or WWKCD...

Late Late-July WIPocalypse

Oooh!  I haven't had one of these for a while... but I have progress!

Last WIPocalypse (March!), this was Celtic Ferret:

I had just started filling in the gold in the neck and had done a bit of the brown in the fore-arm.

And here he is now:

I took him with me to a GTG and pretty much just worked on him because it was mindless and I wouldn't mess anything up while I was talking, laughing, or engaging in any other shenanigans.
I finished all of the arm cream and brown, the rear leg brown, and got a lot done with the fill in.  I'm pretty confident I'll be able to finish him this year.   He's been my go-to easy stitch whenever I don't feel up to a challenge (which seems to be all the time these days ;) )

And here is the before for Thanksgiving Fairy by Mirabilia (technically not part of WIPocalypse, but really should be):

I finished the outlines in the other colors and just need to fill out the lightest purples, get the beading in and I'll start moving up the dress to the head... I always seem to do these fairies the same - below waist then above waist/head then wings.
(and I won't go into how much I hate the change to google photos editing, oh well).

Since that was my first WIPocalypse since March(!), I'll get caught up with the other months' questions, too.

April: Which specialty stitches do you love doing on projects? Which do you dread?

I love specialty stitches in general.  I actually adore french knots, which everyone seems to hate.  The only stitch I really hate is backstitching.  I think I'm not alone in that one.

May: I would like to know if you look for LNS’s when you travel. What is the favorite shop you’ve ever found?

Yes.  Always.   I've even been poking about the DC area (though I don't consider that "travel"), and I'm threatening to go to one in SC next time I need to go down to Charlotte.   So far my favorite is Stitcher's Paradise in Las Vegas.  They're SO well stocked, really nice, and have a fantastic fabric room.  I love those ladies!

June: Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?

Definitely in the winter.   When it's cold I don't seem to have as many activities going on, and I'm not doing as many house projects.  Just sitting on the couch, bingewatching TV or movies and hanging out.  The holidays help, too!

July: Reality or Fantasy. Which do you prefer to stitch? Figures or Abstract?

Fantasy.  Abstract.  I love bugs and fairies and (nevermind the Mirabilias), for the most part, non-human subjects or patterns (samplers, mandalas, etc.)

July 31 – Topic: What makes you pick up a long-abandoned UFO rather than beginning a new piece? 

Honestly, it's looking at pictures, especially online, especially other bloggers.   I think that's why I've made my own blog so image heavy.  I like looking at things that I'd like to get back to - seeing progress by others is a HUGE, HUGE motivator, and just looking at mine, the progress in the past, where I'd like to go, and what made me fall in love with it in the first place.   Although I adore having readers and commenters, I have this blog for me, to keep me going and keep me motivated and see my progress.  

#WIPWednesday and Oh, hai!

It's been a bit since I've blogged, and there are two primary reasons for that:

1. New flooring was put in (the whole downstairs!, and the new closet!), which took quite a bit of time and effort (why yes, we all put it in together, I even have a compound mitre saw in the garage now!).
2. There was a huge shake up at work.   Without going into details (because, public blog, yo), everything went what we like to all "tits up" and some "weapons-grade bullshit" was going on. This all started the week of March 9th, and was just recently resolved.  In any event, I have a new job, but at the same place, doing something different, and I'm super excited, because I'm thinking of going back to grad school (plenty of free time, and the state will pay part of my tuition).   So there's that.  

Not that I was doing nothing, I did go to a week-long professional conference, I took a really nice trip to Asheville (Biltmore estate, pony rides, garnet mining, drinking, eating, hiking, good times!).

But, with all the drama and what not, I did not stitch a single lick.   But now things are settled and I was able to take a trip to visit some girlfriends and have lots and lots of fun.  I even bought a few things, not the least of which was a fabric I was much happier with for my bloomin-9patch quilt (I took a quilt class as my awesome local quilt place, and now I can start sewing again! huzzah!)

I'll be a little slow on the pick up for stitching, because I'm also "renovating" the guest bedroom into a guest bedroom/office/craft/yoga studio, which will be known as my "lady-cave."   I've painted, and this coming long weekend I will be putting in the floors.   Then all I have left to do after that is an Ikea run, some organizing, some free-cycling, and to build a murphy bed.  I'm *so* excited!

In the meantime, here's some actual progress I made on my recent long weekend with friends!
Ferret Knot is coming along!

The section I'm working on...

The whole thing!

I need to finish off a band on my RR and mail it off... I have another RR that shouldn't take long to stitch as well.  I'm hoping after all of the work on my room is done, I'll be able to relax with some stitching while watching a movie or something on Netflix.

So I'm alive again!  And should be back to blogging regularly.  I'm a little stressed out from all of the stuff I didn't do, but I'll teach myself to relax about that.   First up are the RRs I need to mail out, and then onto my zodiac mystery/sampler thing, because I really want to get caught up on that.   What I really can't wait to catch up on is my blog reading.   Yay for normality!

March WIPocalypse

With all of the home work going on, I nearly forgot about this month's WIPocalypse!

The only WIP I've really made progress on is Celtic Ferret.   Last WIPocalypse it still looked like this:

And I've since started filling it in more so now it looks like more like this (huzzah!):

This month's question:

If money – and time – were not limiters, what projects would be on your stitching bucket list?

I think I would have a lot more canvas work projects.  I always forget to look for them, and when I see something I like it's almost always OOP.    I am still killing myself looking for Joan Thomasson's Russian Fairy Tales, but anything interesting is always expensive with the canvas and threads.  Not unreasonably so, but all of those specialty fibres and art work are not cheap.   I saw this St. Basil's piece on Mindy's blog, and zomg!  but also, the price tag.  And with as many WIPS as I have, I have no reason to buy something I know I won't even get to any time soon.   I'm still debating this one with myself.  Sure if I had infinite storage space and moneys, I'd definitely try to get it yesterday.

So that's my magical wish.   Since I've done a massive "de-stuffing" I am a bit pickier than I used to be with regards to cross stitch and other needlework, but that hasn't stopped the wish listing altogether.

#WIPWednesday

No Mira updated this time around, but I got a few lengths in on Ferret Knot.

TUSAL & IHSW - February edition!

 

Two SALs in one weekend!   And I did stitch for almost the entire weekend (except for the part where we did leave the house to pick up the flooring, because it looked like Sunday would be the nicest day for quite a while.   But what a super productive stitchy (if not anything else) weekend :)

As I mentioned, I had finished the frame for the CloudsFactory mystery sampler.

At least I was smart enough to mark the first circle.

My camera phone (because I'm perpetually too lazy to bother with a real camera) is having a heck of a time getting the colors on this right.  It really doesn't want to pick up the pink, and it always makes the fabric look lighter than it really is (usually making it look like denim).   Of course, if I bothered to take a picture in daylight, that might help, but I won't stress it until I am going for a completed pic.

Next, after a few DS9 episodes, I had the January installment, Capricorn, done -

See what I mean about the fabric?  Always different in just about every picture.   The camera also seems to want to autocorrect in favor of making the whites blinding, too, which I can find with the limited editing picasa-web gives me, but whatever, not worth fussing over, I think.  Feh.

I think this is going to be the cutest sampler.  A representation of the zodiac "critter" will be in the outer ring, in all of it's CloudsFactory adorableness, the constellation representing the sign in the  middle, and the symbol will be in the foundation frame.   It looks like planets will take up the center.   Along with the actual goaty-capricorn, pansies, which are the sign's flower is also in there.  So cute.  I am definitely happy I decided to go ahead with this mystery.

I watched OH play Ni No Kuni (while listening to Graham Joyce's Some Kind of Fairy Tale), and finished Aquarius (with his orchids), too (what?  caught up on a mystery!  wonders!)

I love that "nebula" like motif to the right of Aquarius - The outer ring is stitched in "Bethlehem" which might be my new favorite overdye. We have a choice of stitching the large stars as Algerian or Smyrnas and I've chosen Smyrnas.   While I ordinarily love eyelets, I was not feeling them for this piece.

 I did a little counting and design spit-balling for my RR.  I've already got the pattern that's probably going to be my inspiration.   So I did, in fact, hit that goal/plan, too.

And then, instead of worrying about FS or ES (I'm starting to think it'll be ES next), I fell back into Celtic Ferret Knot and filling it in.   I did not use the colors called for (DMC, and not very pretty DMC at that), and one of these days I'll pull the original colors to show off what I changed them from.  I used the picture as a guide when I bought the overdyes for the pattern I decided I wanted to use.   I am very pleased with how this piece is coming out, and I have a feeling I'll just keep this one out and finish it up first.

This is the part where I decided I was super happy.   The brown/tan/cream are more subtle with the overdye, and the gold shows off the variation more, I love the effect.

I'm using GAST Oatmeal (off white), Lambswool (cream/tan) and Dark Chocolate for the browns and WDW Whiskey for the gold.

And this is where I ended last night, with a shot of the cover model for reference.

It's actually kind of fun - just loading up the needles (I do three at a time) and stitching away without having to refer to the pattern.   There are a couple of charting errors I've caught as I fill in, and I'll fix them (the wrong symbol, I think - it doesn't appear in the cover model and it "makes sense" - just spots where a symbol is in place where I think it should be black/outlining).   I'm glad I finished the bit of tail in his mouth - when it was all black and white it kept looking like a tongue hanging out, so I feel a bit better not having to glance twice at the piece.

Here's my juice jar ort container for the month - On one hand, I want to cut some of my bottles and make an awesome TUSAL container, on the other, I'm kind of enamored of the convenient scissor holder the opening to the bottle gives me.

IHSW, Post-holiday&friends weekend

 I know a number of people used the 10th as their YOTA weekend, since the first of the year gets a bit crazy for most people... and since I was working that weekend, I thought I would belated-YOTA-it (I think only one of my SALs is strict, and it's a FB one, so that didn't matter as much for blog posting).    But it was definitely IHSW, and I failed in that hanging out with a bunch of people wasn't necessarily hermiting, it was all about stitching, so I hermited from non-stitching.

I met with a few friends and did a bit of stitching & shopping this past weekend, and I'm happy to say that I'm here with plenty of not-quite-in-focus camera-phone pics to show for it ;)

First, let's get the stitching out of the way:

I wanted to start on Steampunk Angler Fish (technically the Steampunk Sea Serpent, but, well I'm a trained zoologist, I just can't) by SamSarah Designs, but it was late and I wanted something easy, so I started on Mirabilia's Thanksgiving Fairy instead (large blocks of color, yayz).

So that was my first night of stitching (after a day of other stuff).   This is the last of the Holiday "LE" (are they really LE?  I mean, they sold out initially, but I don't see a shortage of them now or anything) kits that I have not stitched, and I have to say that when I started working with it, I got a bit miffed.   I did not change the kit fabric (which I would have enjoyed doing), because I wanted to keep consistency between the pieces (consistency being a bugaboo of mine for series), but this particular kit has different fabric than the rest!
Nicer fabric, for sure, but still, it's still totally different.

This is the "natural" linen by Zweigart, and all of the other fairies came with "natural" linen, but I swear, all of that was the same fabric, and this one is utterly, utterly different.  Annoyances.  Oh well, at least this particular linen is a lot softer and nicer to work with.  Still.  Feh (and now that I've gotten that out, I'm over it).  I do note that this is #6 in the series, and I bought them as they came out - I don't know if all of the fairies are on this linen now, or what.  I do think I'm the only one I know that actually has been using the kit fabrics.   So that's the start on her.

rawr!

The next night, I broke out the Steampunk Angler Fish, and I stitched the scales along the back first, and as an avid Dune fan, of course my brain went to "sandworm" as I finished my second night of stitching.

The color of the linen in this picture is much more true than the next one.   I did a floss toss to pick this fabric, but I'm suddenly not quite sure about it.  I'm hoping I like it when it's all said and done, but right now, I'm feeling nervous.

This piece does crack me up, though, because I am once again running into the disconnect I have sometimes when hand dyed flosses are involved with the model stitch on the front of the chart and the actual threads not matching.  That "Daffodil" is really bright (and not so much on the stitched model on the front of the chart).    I'm fine with the colors working together, I just think it's funny how that happens.

And after another night of stitching (plus stitching on half of my flight, which seemed to fascinate my seatmate, who watched, but didn't ask), this is where I am with this piece.

The fabric in this pic looks way more tan than the purple it is - it's actually Shale, by Picture This Plus.  I originally looked at Ancient, but when I saw it in person, floss tossing, I hated it.

The inner bits will all be stitched in a dark color, so all of those bits and gears will pop more when I get back to it.  So far, it's been a thoroughly enjoyable stitch.

I think changing between all of the gears and little bits are keeping it fun - frequent swapping, but no confetti, so it's not like I'm struggling with each piece.  I just pick a color and go.    I keep thinking, though, that the fabric I picked up is entirely too large (fat quarter), but this is just part of the body (I just hate wasting fabric).  And of course as I'm stitching it, I realize that I didn't need more fabric, I had some fabric in my stash that would have worked quite well.   And I wonder why I end up with so much extra fabric.




And finally, I wanted to stitch all day yesterday, but I was actually quite productive, doing all of my laundry and putting this away (I'm usually a total slacker that takes a week or two to get everything put up, tripping over that luggage for the two weeks before I finally get around to it).  Heck, I even folded all three loads of laundry!

I wanted to stitch on Fantasy Sampler, but I discovered that I didn't want to use the working copies I had made, and figured that since I have the Best of TW books, I would just write on the original, but I couldn't find that either, so I'll have to make new working copies out of the Best of book.   The symbols are the same, but they're typed (vs the handwritten original), so it will at least be easier for me to read.   I actually briefly pondered buying the pattern on PatternsOnline, and then realized that would be foolish as I have no (working) printer at home.   So my January YOTA goal is shot, but that's cool, I'll catch it next month.

So I decided to work on Celtic Ferret Knot instead; this one will probably get finished first, as it seems to be my "go to" for "oh dear, I can't stitch on what I want for _____ reason."

It calls for DMC, and I decided to go with overdyes, and the hand/overdyes go together, but aren't really anything like what the DMC color is, but I'm OK with that, though every once in a while, I feel like I should have gone with a darker tan (there's a "chocolate" somethingerother Crescent Colour that I think I might have liked better, but when I look at the colors I did choose, I'm still content).

But I got a good chunk of those sections done while watching Godzilla, so yay for progress (I like it so much better filled out - the linen annoys me less)

Other than stitching, I went on a bit of a shopping binge or three.

First up, are most of the goodies I bought at the stitching shop.  I am so utterly happy to have 1.  A brick-and-mortar shop to visit and 2.  Friends and people to help me figure out and decide fabric colors.

I picked up Growth Rings by Ink Circles, even though I have the magazine, because I just hate having an entire magazine hanging out when it's not really necessary.  I really want to get to that one sooner rather than later, and of course I'll be changing the colors.

Red Riding Hood is a piece I've been looking at a *lot* on Etsy from Primitive Hare.  I just adore it.   Without any kind of frame of reference, the finished photo makes it look a lot smaller than it is - when I opened the chart I was a bit shocked at how huge it really is, not that I love it any less.

The two Glendon Place Baroque Beauties are Millicent and Elizabeth.   I think there are 4 or 5? of those floral pieces out now, but these are the only two I like I didn't see Isabel which is the other one from the series I quite like, and I not only like them, but I adore them, especially Elizabeth (the bottom flower).  They use a lot of kreinik, so someday when I'm at an LNS again I'll have to work on conversions to Petite Treasure Braids.

And finally, Cherry Wine from Keslyn's.  I actually saw it as I was sauntering my way to the check out counter - I just love all of the specialty stitches.   I really want to do more canvas work or samplers, because I really miss all of the specialty stitches I used to do.  As much as I love my little xes, I need a bit more sometimes.

And of course, when I saw the Margaret Sherry box (well, there was more than one, but I didn't want to hold anyone up), I had to look for some adorable mice, and there they are.   I especially love the dandelion one.

And here's where my trip got expensive ;)

I really, really, really, really, really, really (no really) want Tiramisu by Glendon Place, but I have been resisting.   But I hate buying fabric online, so since they had the threadpack (which I was not going to buy, oops),  I did a bit of floss tossing (I don't like the peachy fabric it calls for), or at least the lady at the shop did a little floss tossing, and I really liked this "Bone" color.   Because of the piece, I didn't really want or need any kind of mottled fabric, and I was quite happy with this.

So now I have the threads and the fabric, and no chart, which I admit, isn't the kind of situation that I usually find myself in (they were sold out of the chart, or I would have it, and probably would have started it).

The other picture shows the two Nora alphabet fairies charts and the fabric I picked out for them, though honestly, that fabric has to be one of my all time favorites, and as I'm stitching the letters for others, I might try to weasel different fabric in there from my stash so I can keep that Queen Anne's Lace for myself.  For heaven only knows what, but it will be mine!  It's just so pretty (and OMG, so soft!), but really, I think that fabric is great for those letters.

The last of the stitching trip acquisitions was this piece of fabric.     Once upon a time, I saw Mirabilia's Red (gods I hate the Mirabilia web re-design) and I thought it was pretty but not for me (red being my favorite color, but Mira's ladies not being my favorite subjects), but when I read the story that Susan wrote for it, I fell in love with the piece.   So now I have to stitch it because of the story.    And because of the story, I want Red to be on a dark fabric, like she's walking at night or in the forest.

I expressed this to the very patient woman who was helping me with my fabric and she immediately pulled this fabric.  Apparently someone who frequents the shop wanted the same kind of feel to the piece and this is the fabric she used, and they said it was absolutely stunning.   I've tried to color correct for the fabric, but it's a deliciously stormy forest color.   I think I'm pretty on board with this color, but I was also thinking of Bayou from Sparklies, though I might chat with Kate about it, because I'm not sure I'm ok with the yellow accents (though the fabric is definitely killer, just not quite perfect for Red, I had purchased a swatch during my great search).

And just when you think it was done, more shopping happened.

I got this from the quilt store - I'm not a heavy quilter, but I have some ideas and picked out some pretty fabrics.   The three fat quarters of pretty horses is so I can make a stitching bag (pattern in the photo), and a couple of the other fabrics are because I have pairs of fat quarters at home and these round it out in case I want to make the case (and if not, there are other cases I'm thinking of making, which I needed a third fabric for anyway).

And finally, I fell into a Vera Bradley sale.  I'm not a Vera fangirl, but I had gotten a wristlet-wallet thing and it has taken a serious beating, and it's holding up like a champ.    And stitching friends taught me the value of the Miller bag and how it's perfect for storing and traveling with stitching, so I bought one of those.   And because those pieces have both proven to be really sturdy, I've been looking for a work bag... and then we went to the outlet store where everything was on super sale.  And then (there are a lot of  'ands' and 'and thens' in this whole story), a friend who quilts convinced me of the practicality of a hanging organizer for quilting stuff, and since I am taking my second quilt class in a month or so, it made perfect sense (I struggled with dragging things back and forth and keeping them organized), so I ended up with a Miller, a hanging thing, and a small-ish tote bag (Villager?) for work.  At least they were all in the same pattern?  I do find most of the patterns hideous, but black and white should work pretty well (and show all of my dirt - hah!).

This is my current magical Vera, in the only pattern that I actually like (well, almost the only pattern I like), and it traveled with me on the plane.  I removed the several projects and books from the bag and put them in my checked bag so I'd have less to carry on the way bag home - I knew what I'd be doing on the plane on the way home so I needed less stuff, on the way out, I had everything in there, because I'm always so excited I can't just focus one one or two things.

But OMG, the POCKETS!  they have so many pockets!

Here are the Veras I managed to purchase.   I'm really torn, because now I want a Miller for "active" projects and a Miller for "on deck" projects... but I am thinking I should save the new one for the quilting class.  I probably will just switch usage, but geez, I love these bags.

So matchy-matchy

So after all of that, the only things I managed to NOT buy that I was hoping for were more qsnaps (mine are getting so old they're cracking or just won't work well, even using the dishwasher trick) and Tiramisu.   I ordered Qs from Amazon, but I'm avoiding the purchase of Tiramisu (even though it kinda hurts ;) ), because I know if I get it I will immediately start it, and I'd like to think I have some semblance of self control.