First I took a load of fabric, yarn, etc that had been cluttering up my space and for which I had no use. People know that I make the trip from time to time so they give me things to take when I go. My friend who makes draperies gives me bags and bags of scraps. Of course, I go through first to see if there's anything I can use in a zipper bag or something. This time I also had several bags of yarn that were given to me and a box of drapery sample books, and a box of really odd looking fleece. All of this goes to a quilt shop near a state prison which serves as a drop off point. Someone from the prison collects theses donations and it's all used up in a program for prisoners where they make up articles which are donated to the community. One year, they made knitted scarves for every school child in the district, and they've made quilts for nursing homes, and stuffed toys for first responders. All in all, I call it a 4 way win: I get to clear out my scraps, the quilt shop gets a potential sale when I drop off the stuff, the prisoners have meaningful work, and the people in town receive a gift.
Of course, after I finished unloading the car, I had to prowl around the shop to see if there was anything for me to take home, and the answer was, "No, not today." I did have a great chat with the owner, Donna, and I'll definitely be returning to her shop which is called Sew N Sew--check it out if you want. It's really a tiny shop but they have a lot of really nice Thirties fabrics which I love. One thing that I find so amusing and truly Midwest Country is the restroom. By the time I arrive at the shop, my morning coffee has made its way to my bladder and I have to find the bathroom ASAP! This shop is located beside the owner's home in a very rural area--not even a village--it's out in a corn field, I swear! There's no plumbing in the shop, so I was directed to Donna's house--"Go in the door and you'll see the bathroom right there." No where else would this happen except in small town, rural America! I love it!
The next stop in my travels was to meet two of my best friends for lunch in a town where I used to live, about 1.5 hours' drive from here. This town has a really great book store/yarn shop combo and I always find something to bring home with me. This time it was this book from the yarn store side:
I enjoy knitting and I have tons of yarn in tubs waiting for me to make it into something useful, so I didn't want to buy any more yarn,. I've been trying to decide if I want to make any more of the cardigan sweaters for 18" dolls and of course, this book caught my eye. There are 24 patterns in there and I looked it all over when I got home and realized that I'm not familiar with any of the yarns used so I'll have to try to compare them with others that I do know about. But it'll be fun to try some new doll sweaters--in my spare time. 😁
I was pleasantly surprised with some gifts from my friend, Bonnie. She's the one I made this purse for, if you recall,
and these potholders for her husband who does most of the cooking.
And for my other friend, Diane, I gave these potholders, minus the binding clips. Ha!
They both liked them very much--Bonnie even said she would be using the potholders the next time she cooked--probably in 2034 or so! I got gifts as well: This great tea towel, which I just love--I won't allow Don to touch it!
And a little daily message book about the value of friends. This I'll cherish as I do my friends.
So, that was yesterday, but the day before I'd said I was going to make up a set of placemats and napkins to take with me to Maine. Well, that didn't happen! When I got to the sewing room, I saw the unfinished Meals on Wheels placemats and decided to get them finished up first. As I was working on them I realized there was no way I could get anything done in time to take with me. What was I thinking? So I did a lot of binding on the MOW placemats and this morning, I got up early and got them all finished. So I have 9 MOW finished and want to make 3 more for an even dozen and then I'll donate them. When I get home from my trip, I'll make up the ones for the music dept fundraiser and mail them out.
Today I'm doing laundry and running errands, and will then have to pack a bag and get ready to fly out early tomorrow morning. Will return on Tuesday the 15th, so I'll be incommunicado while I'm gone. Have a wonderful weekend, and no matter how good you are at making a quilt, keep that seam ripper handy. 😏
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