My Madison Quilt Expo Loot

While not totally thrilled with what the vendors had at the expo, I did find some absolutely darling gems!  My loot:

That's four quilting stencils, one new seam ripper, and four yards of fabric.

But you really have to see the fabrics a little closer.

Look at that!  Aren't those little elephants absolutely adorable?  I love that I even found a really cool coordinating print in the most perfect shade of fuschia.


Those seahorses just have me giggling!  And that orange print?  Isn't that just great?  I thought it was the perfect coordinating print.  It matches the seahorses, and keeps the flowing movement going.

Now, I know...  Two of those prints are a big departure for me!  They border on novelty prints, and my dislike distrust of my ability to use them has kept me from adding them to the stash.  Luckily, these are small enough prints that my brain isn't having a freak-out over the idea of actually using them.  I already have plans for those little, white elephants!

Madison Quilt Expo

Okay, you all know how I felt coming out of the vendor hall of the Nancy Zieman Madison Quilt Expo...  Disappointed and underwhelmed.

Such was not the case with the quilts on display.  I took a stupid number of photos...  Something like 225.  Admittedly, there were 300 or so quilts on display.  Let me say right away, I only took photos of the quilts that amazed me with the skill that went into that, or those that just made me go, 'Oooo, pretty..."  That still worked out to be 175 quilts.

Let me tell you, uploading all of those to my Photobucket account was not fun.

Anyway, I have to do this in two parts.  Photobucket only allows 100 images in a slide show.

Yes, I know...  I have hugely eclectic tastes.  And I apologize for the utter crap that some of these photos are. My good camera met Zeb, and came out much the worse for that short, short acquaintance.

It was kind of thrilling for me to see some of these quilts, which I had seen profiled in Quilter's Newsletter, up close and personal.  Getting to see that kind of workmanship...  I am awed.

And now that I've just made your screens all prettified, I'll leave you to drool.  I'll be back with another post to detail my very small haul from this particular show.

I Must Be Insane...

...because it's 11:41 as I start this post, and I'm still not in bed.  I need to be up by 0600 in order to get myself and Zeb ready for the day.  Me?  I'm still going to the Madison Quilt Expo.  Zeb will be spending the day with Grandma again, as hubby has to work.

So, why am I still up?

I volunteered to bring chips and cookies for our tailgate lunch tomorrow at the Expo.  I went the easy route with the chips, and bought one of those assortment deals.  Done.  Easy.

The cookies?

I decided to bake them.  That's the part where I'm officially nuts.  I made peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies.  I even decided to experiment a bit, and used whole wheat flour to replace half of the white flour.  I tried the peanut butter.  Not bad.  It's been a long time since I had peanut butter cookies, though, so who knows if they're actually any good?  Same goes for the chocolate chip.  New recipe, with the whole wheat substitution.

Everyone gets to be my guinea pigs tomorrow.  If the cookies are a success, I'll share my recipes.  If not, I'll bury the cookies and hope no one finds them.

Oh, and just to balance out the fact that I'm falling off the diet wagon with the cookies and chips, I'm packing carrots and celery sticks.  Maybe I can balance out the guilt with some healthy snacks.