Open House

The afternoon was spent at Bearpaws and Hollyhocks meeting new friends and visiting with old friends (and that's NOT to say any of us are OLD; we've just known each other awhile!). What a lovely way to spend part of a Saturday! The only drawback? The weather outside was over 100 degrees; and so the "weather" inside was considerably warm as well. We all survived, though, and had lots of goodies to eat and drink while we visited. And did I remember to bring my camera? No, I did not, I'm sorry to say. I DID think about packing it to bring a couple times earlier in the day but forgot. You'll just have to take my word for it: There were wonderful quilts and projects displayed all over the shop and all of us looked simply mah-va-lous, my dear! I caught up with Ms. Pam (Orcsmom) who mentioned life has slowed down enough so she thinks she'll get a new blog post up soon--and she's promised it will be a good one! And Gran was there, so we got to catch up too--both of us have been quite busy with things at home lately and haven't had a chance to talk in a week or longer. Then there were all the shop ladies--they were pretty busy most of the afternoon, but we did get to chat a little bit from time to time.

On the way to BP&HH, I stopped at Starbucks to pick up a latte, and the boy working the counter looked at me and said, "Is that pin you're wearing a PUMPKIN?" Sigh. Of course, I had to explain WHY I was wearing a pumpkin pin in August when it was 102 degrees outside, and of course, he probably had absolutely no idea what quilting is and why anyone would be teaching it or attending an open house or--for that matter--be wearing a pumpkin pin in August, but by the time I was done, he didn't seem inclined to ask any more questions and my latte was ready. Good thing he wasn't working there when I came in wearing my bunny slippers on the way to the Spring! class last February or March!

After the Open House, Hubby met me at the shop and we drove the short distance to the Green Jade restaurant for dinner. You may remember that I'm the one who cooks on the weekends, and I knew I wasn't going to want to do that after the Open House. Sitting in a quiet Chinese restaurant, enjoying a good meal, and relaxing was the perfect way to end a busy day for both of us!

At the Open House, as I normally do, I held a raffle for a little Halloween giveaway--a small tabletopper quilt and a goodie bag. And since you couldn't be there and since I told you last night I'd post my last giveaway of things I've cleaned out of the Sweat Shop, that's what I'm going to do now. Same rules apply--there are four giveaways and you'll need to leave a separate comment for each one you want to enter. I'll draw names early this time--since Monday is August 31st, that's when I'll draw. The winners will be posted on my Monday night/Tuesday blog post and you'll have to come back to see if your name was drawn!

Giveaway 1 is a book stuffed full of quilt designs for that special guy in your life. There are something like 13 quilts; some using piecing, some applique. There are quilts for hunters, fishermen, carpenters, golfers--you name the guy-hobby and there's probably a quilt in this book based on it.

Giveaway 2 is a Cover Story panel from Thimbleberries depicting bobbing for apples--perfect for Fall!

Giveaway 3 is a book about foundation piecing--I have no idea where I got it, but I've never used this method and apparently I haven't been curious enough since the book came to me to try it, so I thought I'd pass it on. Any foundation piecers out there? Or anyone who'd like to try? There are some nice looking quilts in the book!

Giveaway 4 is for two patterns--one is an appliqued wreath quilt and one is a pieced heart quilt--both are suitable for wallhangings, although the pieced heart quilt would make an equally good tabletopper or small lap quilt.

Finally, one of last week's giveaways is still unclaimed--the book of machine quilting patterns. If I don't hear from the winner by the time I announce the winners of these giveaways, I'll draw another name--I still have the names of those who entered that giveaway.

Good luck to you and thanks for stopping in to visit!