Happy Friday!

Falling leaves applique-- first time ever doing hand applique!!!

 So, Wednesday evening I finished my first applique project! It's a little rough, shall we say, but I'm proud of it. I think I am going to make a border of scrappy browns... maybe work in the word "Fall" or maybe not. I"m undecided. That's the beauty of it-- I can do what I want!

Thursday morning, my MIL and I started out on the shop hop. The map turned out to be VERY DECEPTIVE, so the hopping took all day long! Not to mention that one shop had outdated directions that failed to mention construction, detours, and the fact that there are THREE roads labeled State Road 2. But we found all the places, got a bunch of free patterns (some really neat), some cute projects, a fun tote, and then there's the stuff I bought... see the pile?

Shop hop score!!!

Guess what I spent.....
Not $100....... not even $50....
 $44 for it all!!!! Bravo for using my thrifty gene and finding good deals!!! I was really excited to find a THIMBLE, too!!!! It's leather with a small covered metal tip... it works great for me. Another thing of which I'm proud? I have a plan for every piece of fabric that I bought!!! The Christmas ones will be for a throw that I can pull from my stash to complete, the Halloween ones are for Halloween basket liners so I can have candy out :) and the green/purple/blue Chrysanthemum will be for a project I designed while doing the shop hop-- it will be mostly used for a large middle panel, surrounded by several borders made from my stash!!! There is also a piece of fabric with houses on it that I bought to make an ornament. I also got some perle cotton to hand-quilt my wonky houses, some flat flower pins, and to top it off, for participating I got the reusable green tote!!!

Off to go get milk-- the hop took so long yesterday due to the distance that I didn't get home until 8 pm, and forgot to get milk!!!

Hop, hop, hop!

Today is the shop hop! YAY!!! I've never done one before... in the past, I usually found out about them the day after they occurred! I had tried to plan one for myself last June, too, but then found out that sadly, there are NO QUILT SHOPS along US31 between here and Tim's base, and the one quilt shop I located in Kokomo is closed on Mondays. Go figure. Which is why I am SO EXCITED!!!

I have a list of small things to get-- I'm still trying to be frugal, so I don't want to spend more than about $10 at each place (which is only $5 after you factor in their little gift certificates for each shop). I have a list on my iPhone of things to get that are inexpensive. I'm going in with a plan!!!

Later today, if I report back otherwise, you can call me out on it. Let's see how strong my willpower is today... ;)

A good night's sleep

I slept very well last night. In fact, the only dream I recall involved setting up my sewing room in a new house. :) It's chilly enough this morning that I'm not sneezing, too! Probably one of the reasons I slept so well.

Tomorrow is the shop hop with my MIL. I'm excited. I have been thinking about what to use my $5 store credits that each store is giving for participating. I don't really want to spend much money since we're going to need every penny right now for the whole home-buying process. But I do have a small list of things to get:
more bobbins
a couple fat-quarter treats
THIMBLE!!!

That last one is something I have not been able to find yet. I have tried three different thimbles, none of which fit right, so I never use them But the rough spot on my middle finger scratches my face now! So, maybe I can find a thimble. I would be willing to splurge on a thimble!