"Birthday Bash"

What a fun spree!!!  Allowed to just shop my heart's content within needs and reason at the local quilt shop after a full year of new-fabric dieting. . .  Wow.  :D  Happiness!

And I hit the jackpot. Our shop gives a nice discount on your entire purchase (barring machines and previously-discounted fabrics) - including notions. So I shopped for my August NewFO Birthday Bash quilt and important quilts coming up that I can't supply from my stash.

Tools I've been waiting for - 60 degree triangle for a kit in storage I want to pull up. Jenny's ruler that I've been drooling over for a YEAR. Pattern for a quilt later referenced. Refills for my sewline marking pencil.

And Fabric - oh, fabric!!

Birthday Bash: 

I wanted something from my Pinterest yearnings, something bold and fun, and a circles concept won out. Some fun prints and mixers to go on a very pale blue background, along with some prints already in my stash. 

Found a nice gray mini-print for the backing, and I'll use the stripe for the binding as well as some circle work.  This is this month's NewFO, though I doubt I'll have time to get much more done than the fabrics washed/pressed and some templates created before month's end. Sofa size.

Backing for my Dear Jane:

 I wanted something perky and modern-ish, so I got this yardage. One of the women at the shop seemed mighty incredulous that I would buy good fabric for the backing, asking if I was going to do anything other than hang it on the wall. Even if it never gets used on my bed, SO MUCH work and heart went into this quilt top that I couldn't bear to put a cheap-o backing on it. Jane deserves the print. I probably won't use that smaller piece for the binding, but it's an option for the auditions. Generous queen size.

Important Gift for next year: 

Surprisingly, I did not have enough Christmas greens and reds for this design, and I've been hunting long and hard for a large-scale print for the border. This is not *perfectly* what I wanted, but it's super close and I'm out of time for more hunting. Plaid is for the backing. Queen size. September's NewFO. 

25th Wedding Anniversary!! 

Coming up next summer - gotta get cracking to make us a nice double wedding ring for an option on our bed. Clearly this is going to be incredibly feminine. I'll foundation-paper-piece the arcs. King size. 

And a nod to my man: 25th Anniversary Groom's Quilt. ;D  

He liked the idea. Asked about having a moose or elk somewhere on it. I have enough cream in stash and can pull cool plaids and such for the arcs. Using Jenny Pedido's Metro Rings pattern for this one. Just needed a gray and the red - lol'ing at camera changes - this is the same gray as in the sample above. Sofa size.

And *that* was more than enough shopping, for sure! I'm back on the stash-only diet until we have been able to buy a book case, window treatments, a breakfast table set and a deck table set. It will be a while!

oh! But I loved this modern sample hanging in the shop -  Hexagon Shuffle, it was called. 

Free pattern available online - 

Here's one as quilted by Natalia Bonner:

Fun way to dress up a plain back for display, too! 

Leaves cut from Bella solids and sewn into strands, tied onto a dowel.