Good-Bye Vacation Week

Farewell, o treasured vacation! Only a skinny week-end left now. I quilted like a demon the entire time. I did not stop to eat or clean the house or exercise or mow the lawn (where is DS when you need him??) but just kept at it.  It has been a strange blur but I could do this 24/7.

Shop Hop was held a few weeks ago in the Atlanta area. The overall theme was Childhood with a sub-theme at each shop; Little Quilts was the Circus. Cute outfits were to be seen there like a clown (wearing the perfect vintage domino outfit from her grandmother who was in musical comedies), ringmaster, and - my favorite idea - a dancing bear. I went as a fortuneteller, outfit courtesy of Value Village and necklace fresh from the 70s:

Also black hose and ivory shoes, don'cha know.  Called DS asking if he wanted to meet up after work for dinner and realized too late as I pulled up to Panera Bread that I still was dressed as a down-on-my-luck (is there any other kind?) fortuneteller.  Well, it cheered up a few busboys.

Some small birds have built a nest in my wooden shoe (also courtesy of Value Village, hey, the whole house is from there).  Something like a wren.  Do wrens have tails that go straight up?  I know nothing about birds; well, I can distinguish among penguins, flamingos and eagles but that's about it.  I hope this works out for them, there is no drainage:

Got this small top done.  It uses Jo Morton's Cinnamon & Spice fabrics for the house sides and roofs.  Yummers that line is gorgeous (hey, click to enlarge the pic if you like, I see that my magic camera has gotten a lot of detail in this one).  There are also some vintage Jo fabrics in it.  This size house uses Jane Stickle size blocks, 4-1/2" finished:

This second version of House Party took quite a while to make but its completion has been overdue for a long time since the first version used Little Quilts' set of Second Saturday Sampler blocks (I didn't know it was going to end up as my first pattern, I just wanted to think up an interesting way to use that set of 6" blocks).  The first version has been in the shop with a pattern hanging with it that was an EQ rendering only of the quilt setting with the same block repeated...well, it's too confusing to explain, except to say it has been selling well, but I needed to get pattern cover and quilt aligned properly and now they are and I am glad!  Clear as mud :-)?

It would be funny if it stopped selling now that it all makes more sense ha.  Well, maybe "funny" isn't exactly the right word after all that work :-).

Let me close with this perfectly wonderful version of the Girl Block that a friend made and emailed to me. This woman is famous for doing the most charming fabric combinations AND for her big stitch technique, which she teaches at Little Quilts. Darling, yes?