I Like Thursday #81

Welcome to my 81st installment of I Like Thursday.  A huge thank you, and virtual hug to LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging a few intrepid bloggers to find something to like/love during the week and share. 

Occasionally I will wander a wee bit away from home.  Last Friday I took a quick trip to Milan, Michigan to visit the quilt shop Textile.  I needed some fabric to finish up my Chi-Chi pillow, and the fabric which I made my pillow from I won at Fat Quarter Bingo there.  It was a lovely drive even though it was overcast. The little town has a "hometown" feel with a downtown full of brick storefront buildings, there are new shops coming in such as a quilt shop, knitting and yarn shop, a cute bakery, home decor and many others.  The public parking is in the back of all the shops and has a neat walkway, maybe a little scary in the dark, but pretty during the day.  They do have very pretty lighting fixtures all along the path.

The welcoming archway to the walkway to Main Street.

I thought this old building looks neat.  I think it may have been a barn looking at the cupola on the top.  Now it is covered with ivy.

I like how someone planted all these gorgeous bright mums in an old cast iron light base.

After finding some fabric I headed back to the car, and passed Life is Sweet Bakery and so of course I had to stop. 

I bought a creme brulee' muffin top.  It had fresh raspberries and blueberries in it and was fabulous.

I got a chuckle out of this junk yard's Halloween decorations.  I wish I could have stopped to take a better picture.

The side of the car says 'Til Death Do Us Part'. 

I like that I seem to be getting a lot of stuff done even though it doesn't feel like it. 

My dining room table where I sew the most, you can actually see some wood!  I only have 3 projects sitting on it instead of 20. 

I need to get into the habit of trimming up my scraps when I am working on my projects, instead of waiting until I have an unmanageable pile.  I do trim up my HST now though as I go.  I have 3 shoe boxes on my table with 1 1/2, 2, and 2 1/2 HST, all trimmed and waiting for a someday project. 

I like this fabric I bought for my Chi-chi throw pillow by Ruby Star Society.

Isn't this an awesome saying?!?

Speaking of using shoe boxes these two are holding my scraps that need to be cut up. 
*sigh*  I like study shoe boxes that can lead a 2nd life holding my scraps and HST. 

The white tote has 2 1/2 inch strips for guild, and the kitty litter bucket holds my strips for string quilts.  Empty kitty litter buckets are awesome. I have one sitting by my cutting table for strings, another sitting for scraps for dog beds, and one under the table for garbage like thread bits, paper, broken pins, and needles. 

I like these white marking pens for doing HST.  I like to do the line, I have tried other ways and they just don't work great for me. 

Funny story the reason why the table got cleaned off was I was looking for the two marking pencils above.  I had the original dark red one.  I lost it, so I bought the same pencil, but they now make it in that funky pink/white.  I couldn't find that one either.  So I ordered 2 more off of Amazon.  Um guess what I found?   I found the pink/white one, in my tool holder by my machine.  I forgot they changed the look--so it wasn't really lost  (insert scrunchy face that is blushing).  The other one?  I found under my recliner, which got moved today because I dropped a fork and it bounced under there.  Now I have 4 white pencils and 3 refill packs!  I can mark dark fabrics f o r e v e r!!!  Or......until I lose all 4. 

I like this pencil it is a Bic with a .9 mm lead which is awesome for marking on fabric.   Yep it even shows up on dark fabrics. 

I like these fork pins.  If you are matching a ton of point and you always end up with a wee bit of movement when using straight pins, these work awesome.

Since it is almost Halloween it was time to drag out an old favorite movie.  Hocus Pocus

Can you believe this was made in 1993?  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Gary Marshall, Penny Marshall....Always makes me laugh out loud. 

My books for the week were The Lost by Claire McGowan which is set in Ireland.   Not all who are missing are lost.  Magdalene Laundries, the tensions which were between the Irish Catholics and Protestants, Travelers.... a captivating read. 

 The 6th in the Dewberry Farm Mysteries called Wicked Harvest by Karen MacInerney.  I love these books, the characters and they are a fun read. 

Thanks for visiting, I hope I gave you a chuckle, now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to visit the other I Like Thursday bloggers. 

Have a Delightfully Scary Halloween!