Day Late and a Dollar Short

Summer is swinging along and I'm loving every minute of it but I have fallen woefully behind on my progress with the Zakka 2.0 Sew Along to Ayumi Takahashi's book Patchwork, Please!   For more information and to join-in: look to Flickr, on the host blogs (A Quilter's Table and LR Stitched) and on Instagram (hashtag #patchworkplease.)

The deadline came and went last night as I put together my envelope blocks for the "You've Got Mail Wall Pocket" project on pages 90-95.  I finished hand-stitching the binding today while I watered the garden at my parents' place.  Coincidentally, I blame my lateness on them as they generously provide a lake cabin for our amusement nearly every weekend in the summer.  Who can sit and sew when there is  water to explore, fish to find, and campfires to build?

I do wish I'd made it into the winner drawing as I really dropped the ball last week for the "Swedish Bloom Time Lap Quilt" on page 83.

I even went down to the copy shop and printed all the templates but I only got one bloom made before the cabin beckoned and, well, I never finished the lonely little guy...Though I do adore him.

My one consolation in this mess is that the mail pocket is done and it's rather beautiful, I think.  The back is made up of the Block Lotto squares I won at this month's Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild meeting.  With only five, I was at a loss as to what to do with them but I think they are quite nice quilted up together.


I also got to cut into some of my brand new stash acquired during the Minnesota Quilt Shop Hop.  The Rowan hanging ribbons and envelope "insides" are from a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton charm pack I found at Gruber's Quilt Shop in Wait Park, Minnesota.  This was my first ever shop hop experience and I made it to fourteen stops between August 2nd and the 18th.


Gruber's was one of my favorites along with Sweetwater Cotton Shoppe in Paynesville (their antique-filled displays are fascinating!) and Country Fabrics and Quilting in Brainerd (lots of Tula Pink, Anna Maria Horner, Echino... the list goes on!)

I was pleasantly surprised with the modern fabrics available at many of the stops and the giveaways, snacks, and prizes were fun too.  The spouse even joined in for a few shops - who doesn't love free refreshments, fabric, and road trips?

Mom and I completed the "Lower Mid" section of the state and as a finisher's prize we got a rainbow of bobbins by Superior Threads (I used one of the aqua shades to finish the binding today -- and it made me feel like a winner.)

Some of my haul from the Minnesota Quilt Shop Hop 2013 - Including Free Thread!

Do you see that gridded flannel peaking out in the last photo?  More about that coming soon.

Hopefully this puts me back on the sewing track and it won't be so long before your hear from me again.  Now it's time to stitch up another Zakka project and also to get ready for my favorite event of the year, the Minnesota State Fair!

Your Pal,

-Kristin