Eye Candy

I am supposed to be packing to go to the beach (shhhh), but I just can't leave town without sharing a little eye candy and other quilting bliss.

This is my block for Sherri (Noah & Lilah) in the Nittany Block Party.  I LOVE it!  If you go to the Nittany Block Party Flickr group you can read about Sherri's sources of inspiration and how she modified the design (pure genius!).  There are also links to a tutorial if you want to give it a try yourself.  The only reason I am willing to let this block go is because right after I finished it last night I took strips from my string baskets and made short strings so that I can make a whole quilt like this for myself!

On Tuesday I drove to the small town of Sweet Home to spend the day with a friend and I stopped in Salem on the way home and bought these fabrics at Greenbaum's Quilted Forest.  Almost all of them were on sale, so I couldn't resist a little stash enhancement.

And today was an informal get-together of several of us in the Portland Modern Quilt Guild.  We haven't even had our first meeting yet, but the 35% off sale at Fabric Depot seemed like as good a reason as any.  I so enjoyed meeting Haritha, Lisa, Violet, Christina, and Paula, and it is pure bliss to get to talk about fabrics, design, and various quilty pleasures with others sharing a passion for creating with fabric.  While lunch and chatting for two hours was the highlight, the shopping was pretty nice too.  Here's my fabric haul:

A quilt for my nineteen-year-old son.  I usually like to reinterpret a design with my own choices of fabrics/colors, but this is just too perfect for me to mess with.  The design is by Cherri House, incorporates my love of blues and greens together, and just seems appropriate for a guy.  On the way home I decided that even if my son didn't like it, I would be more than happy to use it myself, but when I showed it to him he grinned from ear to ear.  Sunshine for me on this rainy day.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan