Second Half of the Polka Dot Fabric Arrived!

Your fabric should either be her or in the precious post!  All polka dot exchange fabric is shown...60 squares!

Your fabric should either be here or in the previous post! All polka dot exchange fabric has arrived…60 squares!

Well, the second half of the fabric has arrived, and I spent the morning pouring over the notes, and fabric and addresses (just to see where everything came from).  This whole event has been a fabulous experience…and I haven’t even started to work with the fabric!

Vilbert, Germany. Wisconsin. California. Illinois. Derry, Ireland. Canberra, Australia.

Then, of course, was the fabric square from Edyta Sitar, from Laundry Basket Quilts, who also participated and did a lot of promoting of the exchange on her blog.

edyta sitarAt this point, I have an idea of what I want to create with all of the polka dot fabric, but I need to work out exactly what I’m going to do…I’ll keep you posted.

Many thanks to everyone who participated and to Prairie Stitches for coordinating.  This has been a terrific experience and I hope we can inspire one another to great things with all of our polka dot creations!

Half Way Mark

We took off today with a goal of only two shops.  This seems to keep us from taking on too much.  For those of you not already playing along, my 10 year old son and I have been making our way through the entire Northern Illinois Shop Hop – 32 shops.

Today we hit the half-way mark.  And I really can’t complain about how long it’s taken, or whether or not it’s been enjoyable.  Some days, I feel like my son…just get me out of here.  Some days, we enjoy spending the time together.  Today, mainly because we have limited ourselves to just two stores, we had an enjoyable trip.

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Gentler Times in Naperville

They are located at a very busy intersection. Your GPS will get you close, but I had to call to find out exactly where they were.  They are a Bernina dealer, who also carries fabric and yarn…something I have not seen anywhere along the way on the shop hop.  Plenty of fabrics to choose, but we were in and out pretty quick.  They did not have a basket made up yet for the shop hop raffle.

What I bought:  Fatquarters.  I’m becoming predictable.

Reluctant Assistant comment:  “Average quilt shop.”

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Our next stop was Wild Birds Unlimited in Lisle.

This is one of our favorite little suburban treasures.  We have backyard feeders and love our birds and critters.  This is the place to stock up on basics, but we have purchased all our feeders from them as well as all our bird food.  They have a great selection of feeders and I highly recommend the Woodpecker blend of food.  On to the next shop!

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The Quilt Basket in Downers Grove

A cute little shop in the very heart of downtown Downers Grove.  Parking is a little crowded on a Friday at noon, but we found a spot around the corner.  Very friendly staff,  they suggested that my son could start quilting and might be interested in a book by Joe Cunningham, “Men and the Art of Quiltmaking”.  Their basket is a cheery pink sand bucket and matching sand shovel.  See below.

What I bought:  Fabric (more for the food quilt)

Reluctant Assistant comment:  “The ladies were VERY enthusiastic about boys being able to quilt.”

The Quilt Basket in Downers Grove

The Quilt Basket in Downers Grove

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Before heading home we found another Egg Harbor Cafe in Downers Grove,  right next to where we parked, so of course, that’s where we ate lunch.  All in all, a good morning!

 

 

Still Hopping

I managed to squeeze in another four stores this weekend…found the ones that were open on Sunday and headed out.  Alas, I did not bring my sidekick with me this time. He was devastated. Not.

Nevertheless, I was able to navigate these few on my own.

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Prairie Shop Quilts in Batavia

Lots of fun novelty fabric, including plenty for children.  I noticed many children’s patterns too. She also had a nice selection of batiks.  Active shop for a Sunday afternoon!

What I bought:  More food fabric for my son’s soon-to-be-quilt featuring all snack fabrics.

Reluctant Assistant comment: Not present, but he would have loved the novelty prints.

Prairie Shop Quilts

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Heading over to Oswego, just thought I’d mention this little tidbit for those of you who like to imbibe:  The Fox Valley Winery is en route from Batavia to Oswego, on Ogden.  I was so tempted to stop but unfortunately, I had to keep moving. But now I know where it is!  I’ll be back!!!

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Prairie Stitches Quilt Shoppe in Oswego

Very traditional.  But I loved the furnishings and the layout, it was all inviting.  While it has some modern fabric, it’s clear they specialize in loads of traditional fabric, lots of browns, maroons, very warm and rich. Large selection of wool in colors I don’t normally see.

My eye was drawn to a quilt on the wall made from their “ugliest fatquarters” contest.  It’s currently a raffle quilt.

What I bought:  Teal colored wool, Mary Janes Farm Magazine

Reluctant Assitant’s comment: Not present.

Prairie Stitches Quilt Shoppe in Oswego

Prairie Stitches Quilt Shoppe in Oswego

Raffle Quilt made from "ugliest fatquarters". Prairie Stitches in Oswego.

Raffle Quilt made from “ugliest fatquarters”. Prairie Stitches in Oswego.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Quilter’s Quest in Woodridge

This is a brand new shop–been opened about a week now.  They have 2000 bolts of fabric, with a goal of getting up to 6000 in the near future.  They sell Bernina machines and they also have just about the largest longarm in the back that I have ever seen.

They do not have a sign outside yet, and Woodridge will not allow them to put anything up outside.  Follow your GPS, then look for the Wood Craft shop.  They are to the left of it, behind the Baker’s Square.

What I bought:  Fabric for my stash

Reluctant Assistant comment:  Not present

Quilters Quest in Woodridge

Quilters Quest in Woodridge

 

 

 

 

 

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Quilt Fabric in Westmont

This is a very big store, with tons of fabric. They sell Janome machines and Innova longarms, I believe.  Be careful here…they don’t have fatquarters but half yard cuts.  it’s easy to buy twice the amount of fabric you intended!! (I did!)

What I bought: Fabric and some quilt stationary.

Reluctant Assistant’s comment: Not present.

Quilt Fabrics in Westmont

Quilt Fabrics in Westmont

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The World According to Bots

For those of you who don’t write your own blog, I want to share something.  First, a little background.  Apparently, when one writes a blog , it is customary to visit other blogs, write comments, and include your own website in the hopes of receiving reciprocal visits.  However, humans, being resourceful yet lazy creatures, have figured out a way to visit other sites without ACTUALLY visiting them.  They create little scripts called “bots”, short for robots.

Now, the web is full of “bots” and “spiders” which crawl over the internet to do real work…many of them help to organize search content.  But the ones I’m particularly fascinated by are the ones that visit websites and blogs…my own, in particular.

After I received the first few comments, I began collecting them–  a weird hobby, I guess.  Many of them are from drug peddlers, spam generators, phishers,  internet creeps, and those are generally not included here.  But others are just plain crazy or silly and just short of being human in their own way. And who knows?  Maybe some of them were actually written by humans.  But I doubt it.

Join in my fascination.  Here’s a little taste.

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