Summer? We have flannel...

Okay, "they" say it's supposed to be summer here and "they" say it's supposed to get warmer too. So, just for fun, we got some flannel that was supposed to arrive two months ago! It is awfully cute flannel for wee ones. There's a fun group first in browns. blues and a bit of red on one of them, and then there's a pink, green and brown one. (Don't tell my daughter-in-law, Nikki, but I got a couple of them to make a receiving blanket and burp cloths for their first child and our new grandson they're expecting in October!) The flannel is from Hoffman fabrics and feels wonderful. Remember, you can click on the pictures and see them bigger!

Otherwise, today Emily and I moved some stuff around, and I plodded away at my cleaning up of messes - some of which have been around since the Garden Stroll in March. Shame on me! I've started making some 'Take Out Boxes" for our "leftovers". They look pretty cute, and for just a dollar, you can have low calorie leftovers to play with!

Today is Thursday, my husband's day off. So, that means he "cooks". But since he really doesn't cook, that means we usually go out. Tonight, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Cinco de Mayo. It's just around the corner from the shop, and they are so good to us. We are a bit predictable, though. "Menus....no. Beef for you, chicken for you, Pepsi and a Sangria?" Last time we ate there, they saw us coming and the drinks were on the table and the order had already gone to the kitchen!! Nice people.

Think that's probably enough fun for one day. Getting over a bit of a cold, so I may just sit and do absolutely nothing for a while!

Whew and sorry....

Sorry...I know a few of you have said, "You haven't blogged lately!" I got a tad busy and behind getting ready for last week's big Shop Hop. Whew! It was a lot of fun and work and I'm in the throes of clean-up today. And I know lots of you have asked - the gas prices may have been a factor, but we did have almost exactly the same numbers of "hoppers" as last year.

The other thing we were getting ready for is associated with today's picture - our first Block of the Month Program! We wanted to kick it off during Shop Hop, but I guess I kind of underestimated how long it would take me to get the first month up and running. But the good news is that we did it! And this picture does not do the quilt justice. It's called "Ode to 1930's" by Lori Smith. Tracey did a phenomenal job putting it together. (I keep saying we have her son, Matt to thank for that. Unfortunately, Matt got a nasty bug during Spring Break this year. Tracey had taken the week off to do fun stuff with him, but all he wanted to do was sleep. So...what's a girl to do? Make blocks!! Voila...Block of the Month quilt done!) And then we handed it off to Nikki Crisp of The Country Quilter and her quilting is really exquisite. Stop by the store, see the quilt and get the details - it's not too late at all to start!

Other than that, things are still happening at Fab-Etc! Lots of new fabrics have come, including Hoffman Christmas and new batiks. There were a few things I wanted to get done before Shop Hop that I'm excited about finishing now - better late than never! Harriet and all of her family are going on a trip to visit relatives and see the sights in North Carolina and Virginia! Jan's on her way to a retreat with her sewing circle buddies this week. Tracey's "playing with trucks" during one of the busiest times of the year for her. Linda's in Alaska for the summer. Diane's working on lots of projects, including her "Winter Wolf" that's fabulous. And Emily is done with Whatcom CC for the school year and looking forward to some "me" time. We are so lucky to have her!

Right now, I'm taking the towels out of the dryer and getting ready to head to bed...haircut in the morning, first Beginning Quilting class starting and hopefully, Emily and I will get lots more cleaning up done! I promise to try and be a better blogger in the coming weeks!

Class Photo...

Saturday was the No Sweat Sweatshirt class that Martha has taught for us. She came "over the hill" from Eastern Washington and taught it on Friday and then another class of students on Saturday. They were having fun working on their sweatshirts, as you can see from the photo. I think she'll teach another class this summer for us, but there are already a few folks interested, so stay tuned for details. She left a gorgeous sweatshirt for me to display, if you haven't seen how cool and individual these are. And...she's a wonderful teacher and communicator with a great sense of humor! Thanks, Martha!!

Saturday was a pretty busy day with the class in back and the cooler, damp weather being great for sewing projects. In fact, I left quite a bit of a mess to greet me first thing Monday morning. We are in full Shop Hop preparation mode now! Fabric is all cut, testing the directions one more time before printing. And then stuffing the kits into bags.

We did get some fabric last week, as well. Some new batiks arrived and most of the new Susan Branch "Tea Party" line, and a couple of very interesting apparel fabrics. Not sure where they all will live at the moment, but we'll make homes for it all and clear the aisles soon.

Took my Mom out to dinner and now the sun is shining briefly, so think I'll go investigate my pots next to the garage. Some seeds that I planted are trying to come up, I think, but most of my geraniums just are clenching their buds as tight as can be!

Hope your Sunday was lovely!

Tea Party Day....

Here's a picture of the table all set for our first Wednesday of the month Tea Party. We had a wonderful time today! We got to see some great projects that people were working on. And plenty of goodies for all of us, besides the tea. Jan is working on an applique project and I have been playing with a hand stitching project that was something we saw at Quilt Market - the Double Stitch or Promise Stitch. I'm pretty slow at it, but it's fun. Several others had embroidery or hand stitching too. Tracey is almost done with her Wildberry Vines quilt done in our favorite Kansas Troubles fabric. It is beautiful! Harriet brought one of the retro kids' aprons she has finished - lucky gal has four granddaughters to sew for! You'll have to stop in and see it. And she's been working on some laundry bags for us out of the new colors of mesh we've gotten.

Another exciting thing happened today! Nikki brought back our Block of the Month quilt, "Ode to 1930's"....her quilting is exquisite. We'll be kitting the first month's blocks and getting the info out there soon. We'll begin the week of Shop Hop, with an optional class/help/demo on the 4th Saturday morning of every month, beginning in July.

After the Tea Party (and the dishes!), I started working some more on getting the top done from our first Stashbuster last year. I'm hoping to get it done (just the top) and the pattern ready and printed for Shop Hop. You can see it in the background of the Tea Party table.

Well, that's about it from here at Fab-Etc. We did get a bright Christmas group in today, but to be honest with you, it was so busy, I didn't even get a chance to really look at it! Maybe tomorrow? Well, you guessed it - have to run and catch the dryer! Of course the linens from the Tea needed to be laundered! More later this week. Did you notice, it finally stopped raining? Hooray!!!