Southeast Wisconsin in 8 hours

On Thursday, we did a lecture and trunk show for the Lake Country Quilt Guild that meets in Delafield, Wisconsin.  We love going to different quilt guilds and talking about quilting.  First of all, we get to meet a ton of new quilters in the process, and second of all, we get to take advantage of some face time in the car to talk Blue Underground business.  We got a little lost when we got off the highway...but that only adds to the fun.  Delafield is a super cute town!  The Lake Country Guild has great quilting spirit-- we had a lot of fun with them and their guild meets at 9:00 AM so we had some time to bum around our favorite hang outs after the meeting.  That of course started with lunch at my mom's!  After lunch we went to two of our favorite quilt/fabric shops in the area:  Patched Works, Inc. and Bigsby's Sewing Center.  Both are on Watertown Plank Road in Elm Grove.

Janine and I are hardly ever known to pass up a fabric buying opportunity.  We love the fact that we can find completely different fabrics at each of the quilt shops we frequent even if they are down the street from each other!  Both of these shops rank high on our 'favorites' list.

Bigsby's carries many of Lonni Rossi's fabrics (printed by Andover).  Of course I had to zero in on the green section--I don't think I will ever get over green--it really is my favorite color.  I have a ton of green fabric, I've made a respectable amount of green quilts, and if I didn't wear so much black even all of my clothes would be green!

They also have a great selection of buttons.  I am loving the fact that they organize them in a rainbow palette.

And if you are feeling over burdened by the number of bolts you have chosen to buy from, do not worry!  They will wheel you over a sewing chair to relieve your stress...

I started a collection of Lecien and Lecien-type fabrics on this shopping trip.  They are not my usual bright colors but I have a specific project in mind.  I want to make a wall quilt for the new bathroom in my soon-to-be finished studio.  I chose a tealy-grey paint color called arrowroot from the Martha Stewart collection at Home Depot.  I cannot stop thinking about how great these fabrics would look with that paint...In fact, I thought about it the whole time I was sewing a quilt for market today!

As soon as I can move into my new studio (which could be as soon as Sunday evening!!!!!), this is going to be the first stack of fabrics to go on my cutting table.  I might not be able to sew them right away, but I can at least look at them while I am sewing other things!