Better Than Expected

I expected to spend a relaxing Saturday working on the Halloween 1904 quilt, but then the telephone rang as I was cooking breakfast. It was Gran, calling to ask if I wanted to join her in a little shopping trip. Well, of COURSE I did! In fact, I'd been thinking about shopping for a few more pieces of fabric to use in the piano key border for the quilt I'm working on, so Gran's timing was perfect. After breakfast, I got ready to go and we met at her house.

On our outing, we visited three quilt shops, but I only took photos at one, because although the shop has been in business for a few years now, they've moved to a new location and this was our first visit.

Here are two photos of Shared Stitches, which is located in Shingle Springs.

I meant to take a photo of the outside of the shop, but I guess I forgot by the time we left--we spent quite a bit of time there, looking through their selection of 1800s fabrics.

Here are the fabrics I brought home for the quilt:

Some are the same prints I've used in the center and some are new, but all seem to work well together.

Both of us were taken by the print in this Advent calendar panel. It's from a line of fabric called Julen by Julie Paschkis for In the Beginning. We found these at the High Sierra quilt shop in Cameron Park. It felt non-traditional but at the same time, it didn't seem too modern.

We got back to town in time for me to stop by the grocery store and cook dinner for Hubby before he went out to visit with friends, while I stayed home and finally had that relaxing Saturday I expected. By the end of the evening, I'd finished the last block.

Tomorrow I'll put the blocks together and then "test" the size on my bed so I can decide how wide to make the borders--I think I want mine a little larger than the pattern, but I'm not sure how much larger it needs to be.

With what little time is left of this evening, I think I'll go to bed and enjoy one of my other purchases.

Thanks for stopping in for a visit!