We've been busy.......

On Monday we got the cutest cat fabric in and Friday night I put together this little quilt top.....Mary added the two outside borders and Voila! I think we'll kit this - it's from the Out of the House fabric line from South Seas Imports and we've also made up the "soft book" that goes with it and tells the story.....

We got Bubblegum Basics in about 2 weeks ago and I have been very busy doing up the free quilt patterns. The first one uses the panel which is adorable and makes up into a good size lap quilt.........Mostly from the scraps of the lap quilt I made up the second one 1/4 the actual quilt size as a wallhanging and it is really nice.....just have to finish up the applique and I can quilt it. I am hand appliqueing so it may take a bit of time as I actually have to find the time to work on it but it should be done soon.......and for the first time I am using silk thread and it is an absolute dream to work with. Renske Helmuth swears by it and she certainly got me hooked! Borrowed a spool from Barb who also loves it and I haven't looked back!

We are now at our "countdown" stage and we have 3 days until we leave for Quilt Market in Pittsburgh....3 very busy days of course! Packing, classes, and everything that goes with that. We are taking a couple of freeloaders along with us and we'd like you to meet them as you will be seeing alot of them in our trip pics.....

First - meet George! George belongs to Elaine and he is already a seasoned world traveller with his own blog http://goergestravels.blogspot.com/. He's a little behind in his travel reports but trust me this guy has been all over the world but this is his first trip to Quilt Market. Barb and I plan on making him very comfortable.

Barb and I decided that George should have a travel buddy (not that we won't be his buddies but we thought he would like a friend to sit in the back seat with). Meet Chester Randolph Rooster III. Chester is the Cock A Doodle Quilts store mascot and has grown from a "baby chick" with Laurissa's nurturing to become a full "plumed" rooster......as you can see by those gorgeous tail feathers.....

This is Chester and George meeting for the first time....George seems a little in awe of Chester but after their first meeting they have settled down to become great friends......I think we are ALL going to have a great time! We will keep you posted.

In the meantime I have to go pack (trying to figure out where I can hide the Janome Gem so Barb won't see it - she said I'm not allowed to take my machine - Bah humbug!)....actually I have to do laundry first, like I said busy 3 days ahead.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann