The Million Dollar Jacket

On our spring trip, we went out to eat one night in Elkins, WV. Across the street was the Elkins Sewing Center. Ray saw a quilted jacket in the window before I did and we both decided that we needed to stop and get a closer look the next morning when the shop was open. I ended up buying the pattern and fabric - a LOT of fabric. Later I bought MORE fabric when I understood what "base fabric" meant in the pattern. Then I spent HOURS cutting and sewing. I have made 6 mini-quilts. Each was pieced and machine quilted. There are about 1175 pieces of fabric in these six mini-quilts! I have MANY hours in this project. One of my friends has dubbed it as the Million Dollar Jacket - my time must be worth a lot!

I'm not done - I still have to make the jacket! Here are the mini-quilts:

One side of the front:

This is quilted in a double x pattern on the four patches. The plain blue squares are 2" squares.

The other side of the front:

The quilting mirrors the drunkard's path. Each square has a side of 4".

One sleeve:

This brick piece is quilted with straight lines about 1/4" from each seam. Each brick is 1 1/2" wide.

The other sleeve:

The rails are quilted with with x's. Each square of 3 fabrics is 3" square.

The hood:

The tiny bricks are 1" wide and quilted about 3/8" from each seam.

And the back - it will be hard to cut this one!

I quilted each windmill in a square spiral. The square outside of the windmill (light blue below) is quilted in lines radiating outward. Each block (the windmill with the blue below) is 11 1/2".

All of the fabrics are batiks. The batting is a nice weight flannel. 

One of these days I might have a jacket!

Things finished!

I just finished this Christmas wallhanging which I started at Christmas in July Quilt Camp at Lucky 2B Quilting. It will hang on the side porch by our back door in a few months.

While we were traveling this past spring, I picked up the fabric for these three tablerunners in Charlottesville, VA at Cottonwood - a nice quilt shop! We both loved the colors. They are already in use!

Road Trip Friday

A while back, Ray suggested that the three of us go on a road trip today. That would be Maize (our GPS), Ray, and me. He suggested that we do our errands in Freeport and then head to the quilt shop that I heard about in Sycamore.

After breakfast on the porch, off we went. Errands done. On to Tammy Tadd Designs in Sycamore.

This store has more bright fabric than any shop I have ever been in! I think this is a shop you need to see to take it all in.

It is great! I was rather overwhelmed and decided to make a bag with these fabrics -

I just couldn't decide what quilt to make!!! I also picked up a few fat quarters.

The ladies there suggested that we go to Sweet Dream Desserts for lunch. Wow! A salad bar, a soup bar, a sandwich bar, a blue plate special, and desserts that looked incredible! Amazingly, we did not indulge after out salads! With pop, our lunch was under $11!

Next stop was Judy's Quilt N Sew in Hampshire. We were only a few miles away and decided to go for it. A nice shop in an old house. The people were very nice too.

I picked up a few pieces of fabric, a small pattern, and a kit. This fabric may become a patriotic quilt.

The  ladies at Judy's sent us to a shop in Huntley but we decided it was time to head home.

On our way, we stopped in Shannon at the Farmer's Market. We bought tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and mini peppers -

They were 8 for a buck so we took 8. It has been a colorful day!

Dinner was at Coach's in Lena. We are now home and ready to relax after our great day! Maize did a good job but got a little testy when we drove the backroads; it added minutes to our trip in retaliation!