Grand Lake Shop Hop and Lil Bag

     Saturday morning I joined other enthusiastic Quilters at Grand Lake's One Stop Shop Hop featuring 19 Quilt Shops under one roof in Celina, Ohio.  It was a wonderful location for Quilt Shops from Indiana and Ohio to meet and greet eager Quilter's.  Door Prizes were given away every hour - oh yay!  They had a Grand Prize of $50 Gift Certificate donated by each shop - that meant they gave out 19 Grand Prize Winners - wow!  I hope I get picked for one of them :)  They also held hourly demonstrations for quilting tips and techniques by the various Quilt Shops.  It was almost like a mini-retreat that you wanted to stay alllll day for!! I was so impressed how Rebecca and friends organized and carried out a successful show.   I look forward to the next show in March at University of Northwestern Ohio Event Center in Lima, Ohio.

I was able to meet Caroline face to face after many months of phone conversations (she owns Caroline's Cottage Cottons in Rome, IN).  She has sent me monthly mailings of Patriot's in Petticoats block-of-the-month.  I walked up to her and said, "you won't recognize my face, but hopefully you recognize my voice!"  Her face lit up and she was so excited to place a voice with my face!  We had a lively conversation as I was able to show her my completed 4 blocks.  It was wonderful to hear her encouraging words.

I came home with a few small important treasures like a spool of Aurafil thread and a finger pressing tool.  I'm a big fan of Aurifil thread!  I have almost finished with my first spool.  I've made 3 lap size quilt tops, 2 small tote bags, 2 blocks for Pieceful Nights and 4 Patriot blocks.  I'll let you know when I start my next spool. 

Saturday evening I started working on a small kit I had bought at Lolly's Fabric's.  I fell in love with Lolly's when I visited the Shipshewanna Show in June.  Lolly's had neatly tied bundles of 2 contrasting fat-eighths wrapped around a zipper next to "Cash and Carry" patterns by Atkinson's Designs.  I finished it this afternoon and it came out to 7" x 3 1/2".  It's adorable, directions were easy to follow, and it will certainly be put to good use.  I'm also thinking future Christmas gifts! 

Time to move on to another Patriot Block :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Elaine

Chipper Piecemaker