Home Home Home ;c)

I arrived home Friday evening...what a beautiful day to drive from Ohio to West Virginia, all the way through the mountains to Virginia, and down into North Carolina! it was overcast, but not raining most of the way, which makes it easy on the eyes for seeing. Blaring sun doesn't make me so happy when driving...but overcast? nice!

It did rain a bit once I went through that last tunnel from WV to VA..enough to clear the bugs off my windshield and then go away! Perfect.

Needless to say that yesterday was spent unloading the car, going to the gym and the bank, and taking care of household things....groceries had to be bought in there somewhere too, the house was empty after 2 weeks away!

I just brought my purchases from my trip down...well...except for the ones that were edible, and got eaten on my journey! I found a Trader Joes not far from the hotel where I stayed in Indianapolis, and I had fun doing some shopping there. We don't have one here in Winston Salem. My weird purchase? Candied Ginger chews. they are hotter than you think they would be, but good! I also bought a bar of dark chocolate with chrystalized ginger in it. Yummy.

I'm sure you are going to be rolling your eyes at me....I was shown the way to the Goodwill Clearance Center in Indianapolis, not far from my hotel either! (Do you think they booked me near by on purpose? *LOL*) And I did find some shirts that I needed for a project that was with me. Not just for stock piling, but ones I could cut up and use right away while on the road. I'm sewing for the sequel to Scraps & Shirttails so it is fun to pick up shirts on my travels and incorporate them in the projects!

What was I in most need of? NEUTRALS! LIGHTS! I am always drawn to the blues, reds, greens, oranges, etc...but a white shirt with a pale stripe or plaid to it just doesn't ring the bells, you know? but that was my mission this time. LIGHTS. And I found them. And some others too, and since they were something like $1.39 a pound. They came home too.

And what else was at the clearance center? How about a 1930's feedsack doll quilt...hand quilted? in the $1.39 a pound bin?? I snatched THAT right up! It's pretty primitive, maybe made by a girl for her dolly, but it will be a cute display piece.

In the pic above you see my goodies :c) The dolly quilt is the one with the light blue border....bags of shirts on the floor...

On the way to Ohio back from Indy, I stopped at a HUGE antique mall..and that's where the other damage was done..*LOL*

I found the 9 patch crib quilt, all indigos and shirtings...for $40. It's in GREAT shape, and I love seeing all the shirtings in it!

I really love pink depression glass, and the pink biscuit jar was in a booth that was 20% off..it just had to come too.

The ironing board cover...well...it was in the most offensive booth in the place! *LOL* Granted, it was a cutter quilt, and you can tell. The ironing board covers aren't TOO bad, and I have this one here on my antique wooden board for display, but I would much rather see cutter quilts being used for things like table runners and teddy bears, than made into *GASP* toilet seat covers?!? and toilet TANK covers?! Is this just because of my knowledge of what it is like to raise boys? Still. Ruffled lace around a quilted seat cover is just not my thing...

I was taken to the Goodwill store in Pataskala, OH, also on the lookout for more shirts. Hit the jackpot! Pink tags were 99 cents. Yellow tags were 50% off...so I paid 99 cents for most of the shirts, and 1.50 for the ones that were yellow tags. Not bad. Hard time restraining myself, but a quick thought of what awaits me at home with all I've accumulated kind of did put on the brakes.

So what's up now? I'm home for a week, and I'm book writing hot and heavy. Everything has to be to the editor by mid Sept so we can get this book put to bed and ready for release in February! It's all so exciting. And I know I've kept a lot of things under wraps, but I just feel the need to. I hope you understand and will like what you see when it comes out!

I'm off to Indiana again on the 27th. I'm going to know this road very well by the time I'm done with the fall! I'm teaching at a retreat at Camp Mack,in Milford, IN, and then the Home of the Classics Quilt Show in Auburn, IN....

Need to pack up more projects for the next shirttails book so I can sew on the road!