Today's finish

Last night I finished stitching the binding and the label on "Leftovers". I didn't like the green border when I first put it on last summer but it's really grown on me now. These two quilts will be so much snugglier than our ancient sleeping bags when we go camping this summer!

This morning I drove over to the Gateway Max (rapid transit) station in Portland to pick up Pam. I love meeting bloggers in person! Pam is down from Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband who is here for work. We had a very enjoyable day. Since Pam lives in Canada and doesn't always have the best access to quilt shops I figured she'd enjoy visiting a few around here.

Pam made me a lovely little bag that she filled with Canadian chocolate, yummy body lotion and a glasses case that she'd made. What a sweet thing for her to do! Needless to say the chocolate is half gone already. My close-up glasses are snuggled in their new pouch - so much more chic than an old black case from the optical shop!

First we went to Speckled Hen in Wilsonville, which was a featured quilt shop in the last Quilt Sampler magazine. I knew I could get in real trouble at that shop if I let myself. I came home with six fat quarters which were bought with a specific purpose in mind. I've been looking for lighter double pink repro fabrics that are period correct for my mid-century album quilt - I sure hope that's what I found. I'll know for sure when I take them to the next class to be OK'd by our instructor. I also got three stitchery patterns that I couldn't resist.

After a Starbucks stop we headed up I-5 to A Common Thread in Lake Oswego where Pam found a beautiful large print for a bag. Next we headed over into my neck of the woods to go to a funky shop in Battle Ground called Country Manor. Susan's shop is in an outbuilding behind her house. It's the best place I know of for finding a fabric that's been out for awhile. Once again it lived up to it's reputation - Pam found an old Moda print from the Wuthering Heights line that she's been looking for. I kept my hands clasped tightly together at the last two shops and managed to buy nothing - hooray!

We had a lovely lunch at Applebee's and then headed back to Portland where I dropped Pam off at a MAX station so she could head back to downtown Portland to meet her husband. It was so much fun to spend this time together! And thank goodness for retirement - I couldn't have done this otherwise!

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Gratitudes:

1. Sunshine on a cold winter day

2. A new friend

3. My Santa mug filled with hot tea and milk (who cares that Christmas is past!)

4. A sweet, fresh pear

5. Comfy, familiar blue jeans