Another Quilt Sampler Shop!

I have patronized this shop, Cotton Patch Quilt Shop, since our first visit to Sarasota/Bradenton in 2004.  The shop opened in 2003.  It is one of the Fall 2014 Top Ten shops in Quilt Sampler magazine.  Woot! Woot!  I wasn't as excited as the gal from Virgina who I met in here last week.  Her words to me were, as she gazed around in obvious delight, "I think I'm having an orgasm, I'm so excited to be here!"  LOL  I felt just like it at the Sisters, Oregon outdoor quilt show I got to attend several years ago.

I had hopes of a picture of me sitting on the quilt you see under my arm, Freddie in my lap.  Freddie WHO in your lap??!!  Relax.  Laura and Tim, the owners, have 3 Basset Hounds, all rescues.  Freddie, their newest, is a DARLING.  Last week, I got to meet him.  He is very thin, a result of his having been a stray, and a stray puppy, not long enough with his mama, awww.  He won't be thin for too long, under the loving attention of both Laura and Tim.  Sadly, the hounds weren't working yesterday.  They had the day off.   The quilt is the second one for which I bought all the fabric at Cotton Patch.  Laura helped me choose both the pattern and the fabric.  It is called "Sunny Days" and is perfect to have in our Florida home.

So this day I was back for the second time in a couple of days to pick up the kit for the quilt they have in the magazine.  I love the pattern Storm at Sea, (think that is the name for this setting), love how straight lines and angles can create the illusion of curves.  I love the colourway.  They were busy cutting kits for their quilt, "Sea Swept", when I went in the first time, so I explained that I was only down until mid-week, and hoped to get a kit before I left...ta-da!

Here it is, undone, so you can drool over those gorgeous batiks in blues and greens with a little purple mixed in. 

The only issue is that it is f-f-f-foundation-pieced.  God, these f-words lately in my quilting world, lol!  I do think, however, that I can use the new ruler I bought last winter to make "Peaky and Spike" triangle units...will keep you posted.

This guy was waiting by our SUV.

He posed beautifully between chowing down on the acorns(?) under the live oak.  He is a sandhill crane, gorgeous, no?  Do they ever make bizarre calls!  A few years ago I was woken early one morning by this bizarre honking/grating/cackling sounds outside of our window...no it wasn't my husband grinding his teeth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeRKMAw7Q2Q
They are sooo cool.  His mate was nesting in the grass on the other side of the 6-place parking spot we were in.  Saw her as we drove off.  I was able to get fairly close to this one.

I snapped a couple of shots of the interior of Cotton Patch.

It's so bright and cheery.  I love the "Fabric Hounds" banner!  The classroom is open to the rest of the shop, and is to the left of the pink wall.

This display is in the window.  There's the quilt on the poster-sized sign of the magazine.  They have lots of beach-themed fabric and patterns.  Yeah, I bought some.  Okay!  Several.  Over a couple of visits.

Back to f-f-foundation-piecing, I am jumping in...to a snow drift....well, not literally, although with some of the hot flashes I've had lately, I've been tempted.  Joanne is having a quilt snow-along over at Canuck Quilter.  It starts tomorrow with the most sparkling, crisp snowflake patterns that are, yes, paper-pieced, aka foundation-pieced.  So that explains the new button on the sidebar.

And ya ya ya, I know.  I have NO projects on the go, so I NEED something else to occupy my sewing time, right?!

Off to quilt, er, pack...well packing is pretty much done, so I can quilt for a bit! Movers are coming tomorrow.  In other news, we might have found a house...

Linking up with Marelize at Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Mondays.