A Shopping Day

I headed to the Calico Hutch in Hayward,MN today.  I know it’s hard to believe but I needed some fabric and they were having a sale.  Here’s a backing with a red binding that came home with me.  I like a busy medium print for my backing because I’m not a perfect quilter and it won’t show much on this fabric.

  
And this Robert Kaufman print called Explore America has all the state names.  Don’t know what I’ll do with it but I bought enough for a backing and a bit more.  The color is so nice.

  
And on my way home I stopped at Walmart and bought this beautiful green planter bowl along with all the other mundane stuff.  Then I stopped at the thrift store where I found this little stool which will be waiting for me to finish a circular punch needle piece to cover the top.  More projects on my list. Just as I was wondering  what else I would write about, the UPS truck pulled up and brought me a box from Amazon.  I love Amazon – I don’t go many places but that doesn’t mean I don’t shop – ha!  I order books every week, sometimes more than once.  I will review the quilt book just as soon as I get a chance to read through it.  And there’s “After You” – I had already ordered it and forgotten.  I can hardly wait to start reading but have started another book in the meantime.

  
March Madness is living up to its name – Iowa won this afternoon in overtime at 1.3 seconds with a tip-in shot just like one of the games last night.  Number 2 seeds going home in the first round?  Unbelievable!  But that’s what makes this so much fun and why I love it so much!

And my most exciting news — my baby chicks will arrive in the mail the first part of next week!  As soon as they hatch they are mailed to my post office and when they arrive, I will receive a phone call to come and pick them up.  As they peck their way out of the shell, they are able to live for 72 hours on the nutrition from the yolk of the egg.  I will take pictures every step of the way and post every detail.  I haven’t had baby chicks since 2009 and some of those hens are still alive and still laying eggs.

More games tonight – really, I think this is my favorite 2 weeks of television of the whole year!

Ollie says “hey!”

  

32 thoughts on “A Shopping Day

  1. Betty Klosterman

    Baby chicks for Easter!! Oh, how I envy you. Will you keep them in the house for a few days? Makes me hark back to my younger days when they gave colored chicks away for Easter. To this day, I don’t appreciate soft egg yokes as they smell like a baby chick to me and I’d rather have the chick. The weird things we do?

    1. Mary Etherington

      Betty – they will be in a small heated pen in the barn with a draft guard and a heat bulb and I’m hoping our weather doesn’t get too cold. I have never gotten them this early but I want them to be big in May so they can go outside and not be able to get through the chain link fence.

  2. Connie

    Enjoyed your blog note today. We have some of the same “bad”
    Habits. You will love book “the Nightengale”. Envy you getting to
    Start such a good read.

    1. Mary Etherington

      Clare’s niece – Yes, I always get my chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery – they are the best!

  3. Angie Rowland

    Ollie is adorable. Love the fabric as well. You done well on your shopping trip. Have a GREAT weekend. Enjoy the chicks

  4. Carolyn Boutilier

    I love the way you shop. Sometimes it is easier shopping from my computer. I ordered Sunshine Stars quilt from Craftsy. I plan on making it for my granddaughter’s high school graduation. Can’t wait to see pictures of your baby peeps. We have daffodils blooming and now snow is in the forecast. Yak.
    Carolyn here in Shenandoah Valley Virginia.

  5. Jan (Mozzie's Grandma)

    I love going to the quilt shop in Hayward. It has been a couple of years, so maybe I will have to make it over there, sometime soon. I can only hope!

    1. Mary Etherington

      Jan – it’s a pretty nice shop – very full! They’re going to be in the next Quilt Sampler! Give Mozzie a hug from me the next time you see him!

  6. Cheryl

    You have found a planter bowl for me, it will be perfect for my Fab Art Diy Cactus Garden.
    If you haven’t seen one you can check them out at Fab Art Diy, or on Pinterest. I do not have a Green thumb like you do so I will do the next best thing, make myself a Cactus Garden. Love your blog, I will be watching March Madness as you do.

  7. Jean Fuder

    Hi Mary
    Have you read
    Mud Creek Medicine: The Life of Eula Hall and the Fight for Appalachia
    It is a really good read! Check it out on Amizon.
    I’m from MN, but I lived and worked at a hospital in Martin KY 1974-75. So the book took me back to KY, a beautiful place to work.

  8. Diane

    What a fun day and a package of books as well:) My father in law and his brothers had a large poultry farm. He was in charge of the chicks and managed to raise more than 100% because they always sent 104 in case some died enroute and he’d keep more than 100 alive from each box. Ollie is adorable on his little stool.

  9. Judy Brennan

    LOVE Calico Hutch! Carolyn has so many wonderful fabrics and coordinates. Darlene Zimmerman teaches there and we come up from Overland Park, KS to visit the store and take a class from Darlene. Wonderful trip!

  10. Launa

    Mary, I like to “let my fingers do the walking”, too. I appreciate how CALIFORNIA is shaped on the fabric. Looking forward to the chick news and their progress.

  11. Eileen Mele

    I’m glad for your story about Amazon. I buy whenever, and get behind very often!at least they’ll let you know you ordered that same book two weeks ago! Sometimes I can’t believe the high prices on resale books. Ones I bought 35 years ago! And got tired of sometimes. My library must be worth a small fortune!!

  12. Kathy

    Found After You at the library and find it very good. I cannot put it down. You’ll enjoy it Mary.
    Kathy

  13. Linda

    Looks like all the state names are shaped like the state. Great fabric…and Ollie couldn’t be cuter!

  14. Darla C

    I like the same type of fabric for my backings also. I definitely stay away from stripes. I just finished The Nightingale. I liked it . Enjoy your new baby chicks.

  15. bernadette

    Ah ha! There is the little gray quilt on your table with the colorful snowballed corners. Do you recall if the grays were precuts. And are they charm squares, maybe.

    I was out buying fabric yesterday for Farm Girl Vintage quilt (48 blocks — all depicting different farm scenes (barn, baby chick, hen, sheep, mixing bowls, cherries, furrows. By Laurie Holt of Bee in My Bonnet. Has anyone done it? That will be one of my projects for next 12 months.
    Mary, I saw a book in local quilt shop that uses a fabric created for each of the States which highlights each state flower. I will send you a photo of the Arizona flower. Love that little Westie!

  16. Kathy Niemann

    Ollie is a model! I miss my Westie. I am listening to the Nightengale now on tape. Did not think I would like it. Historical fiction is not my fav, but it is a very well crafted story. Looking forward to your review.

  17. Rose Mikulski

    Wow, it’s like we went shopping together, I ordered Kim Brackett’s Quilt Book and it’s arriving next week and I also got the state fabric but in a different color way. Have to think about ordering chicks if I don’t catch that rascally goat running around with the deers.

  18. Paula

    Love the fabric with all the states, will have to look for it. Loving the games, also, KY tonight.
    Paula in KY

  19. Donna Sproston

    I love the quilt on the table and the straight line quilting. I have two small things to quilt tomorrow and I am going to use that method. Did you see the player named Etherington?

  20. Cathy

    I actually thought about you when I saw Iowa win. My Indiana Hoosiers are now in the Sweet 16, beating our rival Kentucky. I’m with you, I love watching the tournament. I watch & stitch my EP hexagons.

  21. Ann Barlament

    Glad you are enjoying the “games”. Had a laugh the other day when one of the aides asked where my television was? I haven’t had one of those since 1995 and really don’t miss it. Just too much sewing, genealogy and books to read, to miss TV.

    Looks like that stool was made just perfect for Ollie.

    Amazon is my life-line, which reminds me….I need to place a “pantry” order.

  22. Janet Mayer

    My Book Club says “Nightingale” is one of the best books they have read.
    It’s on my “must read soon list”. Enjoy!!

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