Why am I frustrated with Blogging?

I think it's because I got a new camera last year, the nikon Coolpix, and I haven't been able to get good blog-worthy photos out of it. My old Kodak easyshare from '03 was getting slow and had a screen the size of a postage stamp, but it took nice, crisp close-ups and was amazingly clear without the flash. Little maroon Coolpix over here likes to blur the photos when I don't use a flash, not fun!
so.. i have tons of photos and lots of good things to blog about (like the second half of my Boston trip), but i'm so disappointed with the low quality of the photos that I don't even really want to share them with you. I guess I should anyway though. I'll console myself with the thought that I'm not really a photographer anyway, I'm a quilter, remember? and oh, yeah, I hit an amazing fabric shop on my trip up north...

Walk up these steps and into this invitingly-open door and inside you will find Portsmouth Fabric Company. Have I blogged about this before? PFC is the first quilt shop I had ever been to and the fabric in the stash that I bought there with my dear friend Lexi while we were in college still gets coveted and used in only the most special and important projects (read: every single scrap quilt i've tried to make). Recently I realized that I was running low on those special fabrics from that special time in my life, and thought since I was driving half way there already....

It's a good shop. All the latest. An entire wall of Kaffe. very very expensive Berninas for sale. So I thought, it's worth it to ask, "Do you have any Denise Schmidt?"

and the two women working there on Sunday afternoon looked at me with identical puzzled looks. Hmph. I guess not all quilt shop employees keep up to date with the latest and most beloved designers of the trendy-young-quilter set. I was a bit more reassured when I asked the owner the same question Monday morning (of course I went two days in a row!) and she said they do carry it, but didn't have any in the shop at the moment. Whew, at least someone knows what I'm talking about.

you may wonder why I was even asking,

as I have posted previously about my bewilderment at the

trend in blogland to buy and quilt from all of one designer's collection.

Heck, I only have (had) 1 fat quarter of DS, purchased unknowingly

and I didn't even sign the FMF petition (though i think

i would buy some if it were reprinted),

but it is precisely because of that petition that I wanted

to HUNT for some FMF, or any of DS's fabrics,

just to see if I could find them. Sadly, I didn't.

But for the record-- I love love Denyse Schmidt's quilts.

It's ok though, really, because they had lots and lots of other beautiful fabric to look at, touch, and eventually choose from. I wasn't planning on buying fabric. Hell, I went to the quilt show with a list of what I wanted to buy so I didn't get carried away with frivolous purchases. At the show I ended up buying tons and tons of scraps (another post, i promise), but as I was looking around PFC, colors spoke to me. fabrics called to me. and... i bought yardage. whoops. :)

you see, I bought this new umbrella a few weeks ago at the GAP.. (gap.com does not seem to sell umbrellas, sorry, no link to a photo) and I love the colors-- deep pink, purple, creamy oatmeal-ish neutral.. I thought I should make a quilt, you know how it goes. I bought some "aged muslin", a brown/purple/red floral, some Australian prints in purple and orange, and a big piece of Valori Well's cinnamon butterflies . Oh, I had fun. I also quickly rifled through their pile of scrap strips, mostly Kaffe Fasset, and for some reason I was in the mood for reds & pinks. Hmm.

When I got home I mulled some patterns over for a few days, sketched out some possibilities, mulled it over some more, and decided I want to do the above pattern (Quilt by Joann Borges) in a King size for our bed. (btw, i don't actually have this pattern. Joann said she'd send it to me but I need to remind her. If you have it and wouldn't mind mailing me a copy, let me know please!). I was thinking about it for a while. It consumed my thoughts for days actually. But I didn't do anything. The fabric is still sitting in the PFC bag, tossed onto a shelf in the sewing room. I backed away in favor of playing with scraps instead. I do still want to make the quilt, so I guess we'll see when/if that'll happen.

Portsmouth Fabric Company is definitely worth the trip, if you happen to be anywhere near southern New Hampshire. I'm hoping I can get back there soon myself.