retirement prep . . .

Mind you ... I'm still farther away than I care to be from that actual date, but still, I'm all about advance preparation.  In this case, it's about stocking up now, so when I retire and my indiscretionary funds are limited, I still have plenty of fabric, notions, and patterns to create to my heart's content. 

I made great strides towards that end this past weekend.  I visited (well, I had an appointment for) a quilter's estate sale.  And this quilter was very prolific, had a wide range of tastes, and was a most excellent piecer! Girl.  I made out. Check out my loot . . .

Yeah.  There was so much, I couldn't unload it into the RV (or the Nook--yet)!!  LOL! I unloaded it at the pavilion so I could spread it out and see exactly what I'd brought home.

This case had the beginnings of a 30's double wedding ring quilt with some gorgeous Dresden plates, too. And tons of 30's prints!

This one just had tons of yardage.  Look at those owls!!

This was two Christmas table runners.  Pieced, with batting and backing.  They just need to be quilted and bound.  WOW!

This one was filled with yardage of blues!!  *Swoon!*

This tote had tons of oriental prints.  Gorgeous stuff.  And a bunch of lantern and T blocks! 

This little tote had a TON of acrylic paper piecing templates!  And books.  And papers!

And this sweet case was filled with Lucy blocks!  Most of them are basted, waiting to be whipped together. Some are cut,  waiting to be basted.  And then there's tons of fabric, waiting to be cut, along with papers and patterns and notions.

And this case was filled with these beautiful blocks (22) and yardage (and some cut and partially pieced pieces) of the fabrics to make more!  I don't know that I'll make more of them, but I can put together a topper or something with what's there and use that fabric for something else.

There was also a tub of assorted DMC flosses, one of pretty beads and embellishments, embroidery hoops, and a stunning—STUNNING—finished quilt top in blue and white that measured 104" square.  I don't have a picture of it yet, because I have no space in which to lay it completely out! In that tote was even more yardage of the prints she'd used in the top.  

All that to say...I'm a good prepper.  Heh.  ;)

Ellie is already asking for a new project to stitch.  I was searching for a cute monkey for her (she loves monkeys), and stumbled across this precious pattern from an Etsy shop called Naive Needle:

Isn't this the most darling raccoon stitchery EVER??!  (Yes, I feel that the extra emphasis is warranted.)  But once I'd downloaded it, I decided that there was too much to transfer.  That's the only part about embroidery I don't particularly care for.  Mind you, I did attempt it.  And quit.  I decided to enlarge the design just a tad and print it on my fabric.  

Oh. Yes. I cut my material about 12.5" square and taped it to a piece of letter sized cardstock and just ran it through my printer.  It handled it just fine! I do love technology (most of the time).

Here's my finish.  SO pleased with this darling little piece ... meet Rascal & Raquel! I will probably finish it out with some simple patchwork above and below, quilt it, and display it in my mini stand.  Stay tuned on that one.

Not sure what this weekend holds . . . but I do hope to spend some time in the Nook!  (Oh yeah, and remind me sometime to tell you about the embroidery kits I've been engaged to create!)

:)