And..... I'm Back!

Okay so my sewing machine is finally fixed. The stupidest thing was the problem: apparently I was using the wrong kind of bobbin; I needed to get some Janome bobbins...... I was happy to have a non-existent repair bill, but a little peeved that such a simple thing stopped me sewing for so long. So it's only been about a week since I've had it back in action. Last night I got crackin' on that baby quilt I started several weeks ago. I gave up in frustration when the quilting foot wigged out on me (first time I've tried it). I didn't have the heart to try it again tonight- maybe I will try to learn hand quilting.... hmmm. I get really frustrated easily when the sewing maching malfunctions- I don't know what I am going to do one day when I achieve my dream of getting a long-arm quilter. Those babies are much more complicated than my little Quilter's Companion.....

So, bear with me as I show off some recent craft store/yard sale finds. To celebrate my birthday I went with my former young women's leader, and very good friend, to a discount store in Maine: Marden's. It is the best place in the world because it sells quilt shop quality fabric for no more than $3 a yard! I had to go in there with a budget to limit myself from going crazy. Here's a few of the cute things I found:

I found that I was often driven to Michael Miller fabrics:

I think this piece could make a really cool purse:

Here's a really cool beginning of an awesome knitted blanket. I have the pattern and am thinking of trying to learn how to finish it because it's gorgeous and it's rainbow!

Look at this vintage unfinished quilt top I got for only $2! I also got a whole bunch of vintage fabric pieces at the same sale that will help me to finish it. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the big rectangle in the middle is all pieced with little pink rectangles.

And finally, I almost died when I saw the following bolt at Joann's in the red-tag section. I had some of this ages ago when it was $9 a yard and they only had a little left. I looked at several local Joann's for the same stuff, but no one had it in stock! This time, when I saw it in the Nashua store, there was almost 3 yards left and it was on sale for $2 a yard!

I think it will go great with a fabric I want from Reprodepot.com (that went out of stock the day after I found it, but hopefully it will be re-stocked).