a little Houston haul

While we were in Houston, perusing the beautiful quilts there, I did a tiny little bit of shopping.  Really, a tiny bit, not much at all.  Compared to the machine I bought three years ago, this was nothing!  But this time I could afford the shopping.

I picked up a few cones of thread.  Last year I bought several cones of neutrals from Superior Threads and loved Libby Lehman's "The Bottom Line" in the bobbins of my long arm.  

The problem became, though, that I didn't have any affordable cones for the top stitches.  After I picked up a few cones of this Omni brand, I spoke to the thread guy, and he confirmed my theory that this is the better-than-cheap but not "the Cadillac" of threads.  

I already have a bit of "the Cadillac" and prefer to buy that as needed.  I also have some of the cheap thread that manages to break every 12 inches or so.  What I needed is the in-between stuff.  

While walking through the vendor section, I happened to spot this package of buttons.  
I have no idea how I pulled that off, but I am very glad I did: I want to make a blouse and embellish it using the sewing motif buttons in the pack.  The tiny scissors, thimbles, a sewing machine, cards of thread, tape measure, and a needle will make for fun embellishments.  

I also picked up this laser cut fabric applique to make a quilt for the next Altar Society fundraiser.  It has fusible web already attached, so I just have to iron it onto a background and then add borders to enlarge the quilt.  The applique is 22 inches from top to bottom, so it will easily make a nice wall hanging.

And finally, this cute little pattern that I picked up was very affordable.  I bought it as a sample or experiment.  I want to make one small quilt with this pattern and, if it is something I really like, I'll invest in the barn quilt patterns by the same author, Prairie's Edge Patchworks.  

The pattern is a line drawing that I'll "embroider" on the Bernina using one of the specialty stitches.  It seems rather easy, but I didn't want to invest in the three more expensive patterns required for the twelve barns in the series.  

See the pens in the upper left corner?  Those are fabric pens that wash out.  I'm to use them to trace the pattern onto the background fabric.  Of course, I'll keep you posted on how both the pens and the pattern work for me.  

What do you think of my Houston haul?  Didn't I do a pretty good job of keeping the expenses down while getting some interesting items?  If you were lucky enough to get to Houston, what goodies did you pick up?  If you weren't quite so lucky as to visit Houston but did get some shopping in, what did you snag?