Shopping at the Albuquerque FAF!!

What's almost as good as seeing quilts at a quilt show? The shopping!! :D It is amazing how many things can just jump right into a girl's shopping bag! 

The first thing we did was try out the Innova long arm quilting machines. . . I tried the sit down machine while Wendy tried out the long arm. Impressive. Very impressive. I might have fallen in love with it! So much so that I would want to use it over my Janome? No. Then, I tried out the long arm. Again, stitches are absolutely beautiful and Innova has a pretty awesome machine. After playing on it for awhile, I came away with the same thought that I had when I tried the Gammil in Phoenix back in February. I don't know that I would ever have the control I have with my domestic. The dreams of owning a long arm are slowly fading. I will still do the three days on the long arm with Gina Perkins in July. I'll keep an open mind ;) For now however, I do not think there is a long arm in my future.

Well, with that decision made, I just saved a LOT of money right?? So there were a few things (besides the paintsticks and the rubbing plates and the stamps I showed on Monday) that happened to jump into my shopping bag. . . one thing didn't fit in the bag. . . First up, I bought a new sewing chair!! LOVE this chair!

We all know I am not a flowery girl, but this fabric makes me happy for now and if their comes a time that it doesn't - I'll recover it :D

And there is storage!!

They only had one white one left. And it had a hexagon print with a white background. . . I was not loving it. When I said I wanted it, one of the guys noticed that the hinge was broken. He said no big deal, we'll just swap out the seat. . . Wait, whu whut??? Ummm, can you change out the back too? ;) There were a couple of black based chairs that had this print on them, and they happily changed both pieces for me! SCORE! :D I initially thought the wheels made the chair too high. But now that I have been using the chair for a couple of weeks, it is perfect! And I love the wheels! It's the little things people! 

I bought three 3.5 yard pieces of silk/cotton blend fabric. This is as yummy as fabric gets AND it is washable! :) Not sure what it will become. . . I'm thinking whole cloth quilts will be made from this for sure but I also think it will be cool to throw some pieces into a quilt to add interest. . . Ideas are still forming for this.

The warp and weft are different colors so it has the same depth as a shot cotton. These have black in the other color - makes them glisten!! :D

I bought these pieces at the same place I bought the paints and stamps. I might have gone on her web site when I got home and bought more stuff. . . for my new painting addiction. LOL 

Last but not least, I spent the time to actually listen to the entire pitch of the Martelli Mat guy. . . We all know I do not need a cutting table and he really wanted to sell both Wendy and I one - but neither of us were interested. But those mats! And the rotary cutters. . . now those proved to be a little too tempting! We both bought the extra large mats (60" x 36"!!!!!!). They are on back order so I won't have it for about another month but that's OK, I have a mat that is doing just fine until then :) Part of the deal was the rotary cutter and the strip cutter. . . if you have not seen these mats in action, take a minute and watch this video. The first 4 minutes is on the strip ruler that I have. . . only mine is white. OMG! I used the mat and cutter to cut the binding for the maples quilt (I really need a name for that!!) and not only was every strip exactly the same, it was FAST! I was cutting 5 and six layers at a time!! How did I live without this strip cutting mat and the rotary cutter??!! And seconds before the show closed, I bought the square templates. Wendy made me do it. ;) And after using the strip cutting mat, I am SO glad I did!! Here's a short video on the cutting templates. I am not affiliated in any way with Martelli. I am a happy customer and you know I'm going to share anything that makes my life easier! 

OK, that's it. That is everything I bought. (Oops, I bought a left handed rotary cutter too. . . I am left handed, but I can and do cut with both.) Doesn't sound like much does it? And it really doesn't sound like much when one considers I saved my self thousands of dollars by not buying a long arm!!! LOL I will say that the Marelli products are expensive. But I will also say that I have no buyers remorse :) 

I'll be linking up with Kelly for NTT.

Until next time, keep on quilting!!