I Was A Bad Girl

I was a bad girl yesterday, a very bad girl. I had an unexpected day off, and instead of staying home and getting some last minute work done for the shop, I decided to play hooky for the (entire) day. First Born and I jumped into the car and headed off here.
It was a beautiful day for a drive into the Catskills, and well worth the trip. From the minute I walked through the front door of the shop, all I could say was OMG!! I think I repeated that phrase at least 5 times in the first 3 seconds!!
The store is bright, large, extremely well stocked, played great music in the background (come on! Simon and Garfunkle right as we walked in- my kind of place!!). Most of all, what can I say about Fran and Murray!? They are so adorable- I think they are going to be my new best friends.
I went armed with a fabric list "just in case". While surfing the net I came across this blog and thought: "I was a child born in 1950. I love stars! I think this could be fun...and it would be really fun to do in fabrics that might remind me of the 50's. That led to the fabric list- you know, "just in case". Well that is when the bad girl in me set in. In case?? Heck, it's a quilt store- and a quilt store that has a collection that is really cute, and it reminds me of the 50's AND it is on sale (the entire collection!) at $5.00 a yard!!
Score! So I bought this:



There were lots of samples that I have patterns for. Just in case no one noticed, I love reproduction fabrics, and the shop had some beautiful samples hanging from patterns I had previously downloaded from the free pattern page at Windham Fabrics. I am definitely going back with some of my print outs in hand. Actually I have to. I signed up for the new historic Block of the Month: Patriots in Pitticoats which starts in January. I'll be driving to Windham once a month as long as the weather cooperates. You can read about the BOM here
The shop also has all the Presidential Fabrics printed in commemoration of the upcoming anniversary of the Civil War. We decided that I'd make placemats and napkins for my nephew who is a bit of a history buff, and lives and works in D.C. We chose this after seeing some made up:



the bottom fabric with the large postage stamp type presidential print was a must after we saw it framed! The portraits were cut out and then feather stitched to an aged muslin with red pearl cotton. The entire thing looked very antique and both The First Born and I wanted to reproduce our own framed piece of fabric art. Simple project with a lot of bang for the buck.

I also couldn't resist these fat quarters and a Renee Plains pattern:




After all the fabric merriment, we drove home through the back roads of the Catskill Mountains, stopping in Woodstock for an early dinner at our favorite bistro.
My French Lentil soup and Chicken Avocado sandwich were beyond yummy!! The stop gave us the fuel to continue our drive. We arrived back home early evening, tired,happy and fabric laden. I was so pleased with my hooky day!! I should take one more often.
Smiles and happy stitching
Karen