Jungle Bow Tie Progress

Work is progressing, albeit slowly. I didn't quilt at all while the Olympics were going on! I had to lay this out and see it to feel come gratification. These are some really little pieces!

I really like it, especially on the brown background, which totally changes the way the quilt looks!

Row by Row - Oklahoma

My last stop this trip! Look at the cute row at Cotton Pickin' Quilts in North Miami:

I also found backing to go with the paper-pieced baby quilt I'm still working on! 

Block:

Back:

And I couldn't pass up this hilarious pattern:

I thought maybe my mom and I could work on it together with batik scraps from Jason's quilt!

Row by Row - Missouri

My row from Missouri has come from Sew Simple Quilt Shoppe in Ozark:

I like the bird houses. They had it framed right by their door; it looked really bite. They also had the prettiest quilt on the wall! It was Missouri stars with wonky points and made with really big blocks. Like, layer-cake-sized. It was striking. I didn't take my phone in so silly me didn't  get a picture! Duh.

Row by Row - Springfield area

Today Jason and I bailed on my parents and children in the morning to get rows in Jacksonville, Rochester, and Springfield.  Have I mentioned how great Jason has been, driving me around to these shops?

The Jacksonville store was deceptively large.  I didn't get much, but they seemed to have it all! Cute row:

The Rochester store was peace and Applique - another vertical block.

In Springfield was the row with a profile of Lincoln's face, surrounded by log cabin blocks.  I thought that was just the funniest thing.  Again, I was disappointed that the face wasn't laser cut, but maybe I'll find a cool fabric to use with it.

As I was getting the pattern, Jason noticed this quilt hanging on the wall:

So I got the pattern.  I'd seen this on Facebook in creams and purples and thought it was so pretty, so I'll give it a try.

We're heading home tomorrow.  I'm going to try and hit two shops on the way, one in Missouri and one in Oklahoma.  We'll see how it goes!

Row by Row - Bloomington area

We made it to three stores while in the Bloomington, IL area.

First was A Quilting Bee in Mahomet.  OMG, was this ever a nice store!  Tons of fabric, lots of rulers, gadgets, and gizmos.  :-)  Here is their block:

I also got these fantastic prints to try and make one of those card table tent things that Lyla and I saw in Chicago.

Next we went to Boline's Quilt Fabric Warehouse.  We were in a bit of a hurry because we were supposed to meet my kids and parents for lunch, so I didn't shop around (plus, I had just spent a bundle in Mahomet!).  As I was chatting with the woman who gave me the pattern to their block:

she mentioned that all of their fabric, nice, quilt-shop grade fabric, was sold at $6.99 instead of the $11.99 we're used to!  Darnit.  Ooh, and they did their row two ways, one like above and one just like it but a snowy landscape. I thought that was tres cool.

The last stop was peace and Applique Too.  I love their block:

I didn't find much in the store, but look at their excellent selection of wools!

I bought some of those - a green for the tree from Boline's block and a dark, mottled brown for the eagle (I was rather disappointed that the eagle wasn't laser cut, but now I can use the wool, so that's cool enough).

Row by Row - Lincoln

Today we are spending the day in Lincoln, so of course I had to stop by the local shop, Make it Sew. I had never been there.

I got the kit.

Row by Row - Washington and Pekin, IL

The store in Washington, IL is so nice. They had a completed Row by Row there; it was really cool to see everything put together (and nice to get a peek at some of the area rows!).

Here is their row:

And here's the completed quilt that someone had brought in:

They print free patterns on the backs of their receipts.  Isn't that a cool idea?

They had sale fabric in a room, and I couldn't pass up this pretty Christmas print.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I got it anyway.  I think it might work as the back to one of my snowball snowmen quilts (plus I got some batik fatties for eyeballs).

The other store I made it to in the Peoria area was Nonnie's Attic Fabric Shop in Pekin. I thought their row was simple but really pretty:

I also couldn't pass up this Christmas fabric - not for use together, I just liked them both!

Row by Row - Chicago

Oh, how I wanted to make it to two shops in Chicago! But it just wasn't in the cards. I did make it to Quilter's Quest in Woodridge:

Isn't the Ferris wheel amazing? I love it. My mom says the part on the left looks like the Chicago flag. I didn't know Chicago had a flag!

Lyla went in there with me and they had one of those cool card table forts up. She loved it. I think that's something I could figure out how to do. Maybe with lots of help from Mom.

This was a really nice store.  If I'd had more time, I'm sure I could have founds lots to buy. 

Here is the row from the other store I wanted to hit but couldn't fit in, quiltfabric.com in Westmont: