Retail Therapy...

(Note: To enter my current giveaway, go here!)

Every so often, my quilt bee goes on a field trip to visit a quilt store that's a little further away than our usual ones.  Last week, we traveled to the Lonestar Mercantile in Fuquay Varina, NC.  For most of us, including me, it was our first visit to this store.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  It's not a large store, but they put a lot of effort into displaying their wares and offering unique items and patterns.  It was simply charming and their prices were extremely reasonable!  The staff was both friendly and helpful; it was everything you'd want in a quilt store.  Although it's about an hour away from me, I'll definitely go back there again.

Inside Lonestar Mercantile

I wasn't looking for anything in particular on this trip, but I still managed to pick up a few things.  Those closest to me know I have a thing for Charm Packs and I bought a few more of those along with some yardage to use as borders.  I expect I'll use them to make Schnibbles quilts or something similar.

Fabric Purchases from Lonestar Mercantile

After spending so many hours quilting my most recent quilt, I found myself picking out plain fabrics to use as borders for these.  I was envisioning how I might eventually quilt them and I wanted the quilting to show up well.  That's one of the problems I'm running into now.  Some of the fabrics are so busy that the quilting isn't obvious, and why spend a ton of time quilting something if you won't be able to see it?  This is definitely a shift in my thinking.  I've never bought fabrics before because I was thinking about the quilting!  Does anyone else out there do that?  Am I just late in learning this?

I also wanted to share this adorable pincushion I got in the mail the other day from Kathy at Troublesome Creek Quilts.  She won one of my giveaways and sent me this as a thank you.  How incredibly sweet is that!  She also included the package of Patchwork Pins (which I haven't tried yet) and some chocolate (which obviously didn't make it as far as the picture).  I really am grateful for the people I've met through blogging.

Pincushion and Pins from Kathy @ TroublesomeCreekQuilts

And doesn't David look suspicious in this picture?  He was busy stalking me through the house that day.  Sometimes he gets it in his head that he wants attention and he'll follow me around from place to place until I stop and give it to him.  He's never mean about it, just very persistent!

David on the prowl

Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. 

Proverbs 21:21 (NLT)