Checking In!

Hello from Georgia!

Can you guys stand a post without pictures? I keep thinking you need pictures to hold your interest on this page while I blather on, but pictures are not cooperating with my laptop. I can't get it to recognise my camera...so...lots of pictures are still stuck on the camera, and no way to upload them until I get home.

Auburn and Opelika AL were a TON of fun! I got there Tuesday for wednesday class, and a Thursday evening trunkshow. One of the best parts was meeting our own Sarah N! She looks just like her pictures and is as sweet as can be. She even gifted me with a grocery sack of scraps. OH BOY!

The star struck class went great. I just LOVE seeing everyone's fabric choices and how different the quilts all turn out to be. Just gorgeous!

Thursday I was treated to a morning coffee with one groups of quilters, then off to a quilting bee at the home of another quilter, out to lunch, a tour of Auburn University and down town historic Opelika and all the gorgeous victorian houses....out to dinner, and then the trunkshow. There was NOT a spare moment in there. Just GO GO GO GO! Oh, and I just thought of something..I can find a pic of Auburn University online and link it to fool you into thinking I took pics :c)

I was really touched by my visit to this guild. If you are on quiltvillechat@yahoogrouups.com you might remember that there was a gal named Cindy Wall who was really looking forward to this workshop. She'd just finished her "Old Tobacco Road" mystery with us, and she passed away suddenly. This was her guild. It had only been three weeks since her passing, and I have thought about her and thought about her since hearing the news on the list.

I stayed at Louise's house...and Louise was in with the group who was in charge of distributing Cindy's stash. Many many many kits for charity quilts were assembled from her stash. A letter from her mother was read to the guild on Thursday night about where all the quilts are destined to go to help those in need. This is the kind of gal that Cindy was, even when she is not here anymore, her kindness towards others is still being felt.

There were some notions being distributed at the little sewing bee I went to, the circle of Cindy's closest friends. I am the recipient of one of Cindy's quilting hoops. (I have a lump in my throat as I write this..) She even put her name on it in sharpie. I'll think of her every time I use it. She will be greatly missed, and even though I didn't know her in person, only through email, etc, I am touched by her life.

Cindy also had a Gammil Long arm machine. If anyone in the AL area is looking for a good machine (basic, no stitch regulator, but it can be added) at a wonderful price, please contact Louise. I have no information on this machine. I just know that Cindy did beautiful work on it, I got to pet her quilts up close and personal. If you are looking for a machine...this would be a good one. They need to find a buyer because Cindy's house needs to go on the market soon.

Friday morning I headed over her to Mansfield GA for the Dear Jane Southeast Sewing Retreat! I've been working on my Salinda Rupp blocks. OH man....I've only done like 5 blocks the whole time, I think these last rows have all the hardest ones! But this has been a wonderful reteat. For instance....I have wifi in my room, but the cell phones get no reception! *hehehe* BLISS! The food has been great, the company even greater.

Charlottte (Jason's Kim's Mother :cD ) is here with me and we have done a lot of catching up and laughing while we have stitched. She is working on her Dear Jane and her work is lovely.

Sadly,retreat ends today..about 2pm I am off to Cartersville GA for a Happy Scrappy Houses class on Monday, and a Tuesday Lecture and Trunkshow. Wednesday is the Virginia Bound workshop, and then THURSDAY I get to go home.....I can't wait. There is no place like home. No matter how much fun I am having, I just miss H O M E !!!

Home Again! But not for long....

I'm living out of a suitcase! Even at home! Heck, it makes life easier you know? 4 outfits..all interchangeable..like kid's GARANIMALS! (Do they still have those?)

I got home, went to bed...this morning I unloaded my suitcase to wash my dirties, and will just repack them, because tomorrow I leave for Alabama and Georgia!

I will have a bit of respit in the middle. I'm attending the South East Dear Jane Retreat after visiting Opelika and Auburn AL, and Carterville GA. 3 days for me to stay in one place and finally SEW! Only problem...I don't know what to bring with me!

The nearly insane stuff is all packed in one container, so that will probably be it. And I have a hand quilting project....and a small binding to finish. Tada. That should do it for 3 days, don't you think? Maybe I can fit a couple naps and some long country autumn walks in there too?

Those 8 cases of books? They didn't go far enough! *LOL* The arrived the afternoon I left for PA, and now.....poof! Gone! I'm getting out what I can before I leave tomorrow. Needless to say, the fact that it is COLUMBUS DAY completely escaped me, and when I tried to mail off a huge shipment this morning...I was greeted with a locked door, reflecting the bewildered look on my face!

Oh well. What's a girl to do?!


I don't even know where to START on the photos from PA!Every day was an adventure! Here are the pics from the Pineapple blossom class held in Holidaysburg, PA. The home of the SLINKY. The home of Mallow Cups....the home of wonderful quilters!


Altoona Pineapple Blossom Class
The classes were Friday and Saturday, so Sunday and Monday were rest days, but we filled them up! Bedford PA has an annual Fall Foliage Festival complete with a little quilt show.
I got pics of the guys pressing cider! You should have smelled it...oh my! The food, the fun, the vendors...it was great. I spent a couple nights with Carol and her mom and their Bedlington Terriers. TOO CUTE! I'd never seen this kind of dog before. They are darling. And upon hearing that I was looking to adopt a Singer 301...Carol took me up to her attic to show me "UGLY BETTY"...a poor dilapidated singer 301 that needed a home. It was found after spending all winter outside in a tent at a flea market. Amazing girl...a bit ugly, but she runs! I'll get pics when I have more time.

From Carol's house I was transferred to the home of the Goulionis Sisters! I hope I spelled that right...I couldn't remember! Libby is the Quilter, her sister is the best cook I've come across...I love Greek food, so I was in for a treat at every meal.

After Altoona, I went NP to stay with Nancy overnight...you read her comments if you visited the links I left last post. If not...do it! It is too funny!


PA Travels
Next was Lancaster County! I met up with Connie who I have emailed back and forth with for years....she and I are cut from the same (scrappy) cloth as the saying goes! We tried as hard as we could to find some Amish type touristy photo opps, but there were not many on a thursday afternoon. And everything we drove past,we were going too fast to get...but here is a little slide show to give you an idea. I love seeing Amish Wash floating on the line..Just LOVE it. We saw girls being pulled by mule teams harvesting fields, young boys running pushbikes up the side of the road, it was just like out of a picture book. Just no great photos, mostly due to the fact that I know they don't like their photos taken.


From there it was to Chambersburg where I was welcomed by Nancy AKA Patchwork Penguin and her family! Time time really did go too fast. Beth came all the way up from MD for the class, showing up in her Quiltville.com Tshirt with the caption "I'm a Bonnie Junkie" *LOL* I'm sure she gets strange looks, but hey....we have fun, don't we Beth? :cD I was even inducted into the "Sundae Quilters" Bee...complete with a pizza party and ice cream sundaes after! TOO FUN! I know I'll be seeing these girls again.

Thanks everyone in Pennsylvania for making this such a memorable trip. There is so much else I want to share and say....like THE MEADOWS frozen custard shops!! OH MY! But time is short and I need to get moving so I'm ready to leave tomorrow.

Take care Ya'll..I won't be too far away!

One More Day Til Home!!

Hey Yall!

I'm peeking in early this morning for a quicky because I don't have to leave for the last lecture/trunkshow until 10am...which means.....I GOT TO SLEEP IN! And I have a few minutes to post.

My time in PA has been WONDERFUL! I have made lots of new friends, strengthened some already-friendships, had a blast..I can't put it all in words, and you'll get more of a travelogue when I can get home and put pictures in with the words :c)

Two of our blogger friends have been posting though, and you can catch up on yesterday's doings at Nancy B's Patchwork Penguin blog. That's where I am now.

Wednesday was a special treat, I got to go stay the night with the OTHER Nancy, NP (Near Philadelphia)and got to be the surprise for a very special guest. I'm still belly laughing at this one!

Thursday was spent galavanting around Lancaster County with Connie....and I even got the priviledge of being the quilt delivery person, delivering Connie back her leader ender quilt that Carol (in Altoona) and quilted for her!

You know, they say there are 6 degrees of separation between people, and I think with quilters, it's only THREE. It is amazing who knows who and how we all know someone who knows someone. It's a small world held together with quilty stitches!

DH informed me that the 8 cases of books arrived at home the day I left. I knew they would! So....I get home tomorrow...will spend Monday and Tuesday filling orders..then guess what? Wednesday I'm off to ALABAMA and GEORGiA! Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Oh, and I have to tell you guys the story of Ugly Betty, the battered and unloved Singer 301A that I adopted while here :c) SOON SOON! I'll post pics soon!

I was welcomed as an honorary long distance member of the "Sundae Quilters" bee here in Chambersburg....with a cool tote bag and everything, And yes, we had ice cream sundaes! YUM! The laughter just never stopped.

Well, I better hit the shower and get this day going....I'll be back with you soon!

More On The Way!

This is where I live my biggest nightmare....well, not the biggest necessarily, its a bad one as well as a good one! I am sold OUT of every book! There are more being shipped...8 cases....but they won't arrive until after I'm already in PA teaching. I leave Thursday. I'll be gone 11 days.

This might put some of your orders 2 weeks behind schedule. I'm sorry it couldn't be helped. Just know that I will do everything I can to get them expedited as soon as I get home on the 13th!

I have currently filled all invoices up through #1559 So if your number is lower than that, your order is on it's way. If your number is HIGHER than #1559, I'm sorry....they just didn't get here before I had to leave!

Anyone who hasn't ordered yet, but was about to...if you need it sooner than that, you might order directly from pickledish.com. But please note that I am not signing those orders, I can't...they don't come to my house...they are shipped from the warehouse :c)

I hope this doesn't put anyone in their own private pickledish!

Mail Call!

This is a pic of the back of my car, full of orders ready to go out! The Post Mistress was NOT a happy camper that I showed up on Monday morning and swamped her! She said...."You need to have THIS post office's zip code on your stamps.com stamps so we get credit for processing all of these." I said, "I didn't know that, I just put in the info that stamps.com asked for, which was MY address." In my mind I was thinking, "Would you rather I didn't pre-stamp these at ALL and stood here while you processed them one by one?"

Okay....I swallowed that comment, and thought maybe this was a time to kill her with kindness because I am NOT going to drive to another post office when this one is only a mile up the road from me.

Today she was MUCH better,and SHE apologized! I was able to ship MOST of the international orders this morning, at least those who had replied to their paypal requests that I sent about the balance due on their shipping after having them weighed, etc.

I have sent out ALL I can. There are more orders to fill. There are more cases of books in transport to me from Kansas, so all is on hold until they get here. I'm hoping today or tomorrow because I'd like to get as much out as I can before Thursday morning.

On today's agenda, besides getting the trunkshow and everything ready for leaving, I get to go get new passport photos taken and submit new paperwork for that. Why? I haven't been able to find my passport anywhere since moving here. For all I know it could have gotten tossed in the packing paper. I'm planning a little trip in December, and I'll NEED it. So.....more standing in long lines to get that done today.

Has there been any progress on the Fungly Quilt? Nope. I have a few rows sewn together, but that's it. All this running around is cramping my quilting time!


But look what I found Friday! This is an EG Benford machine, which is a badged machine,meaning it was made by someone else, but this badge was put on it by the retailer. The badge also says 16 Castle Square, Brighton (UK) which must have been the address of the proprietor.(sorry about the blur on the photo!) I have no idea on the age, but I love the shape of the base. It is missing it's hand crank. Looks like there used to be a lot of gilded decal,but that has all worn off during the years. What amazes me most of all, is this thing STILL has a needle in it! How old is that needle? I have no clue...but there it is!


I also found an old dilapidated ladder that I am going to use for hanging quilts in the house after the painting is done. And I found a pair of beat up old green shutters that I am going to install INSIDE on either side of the dining room windows. I saw this done in a magazine and it really added rustic charm to the room.

Squishie Deliveries!

Yep, I'm up early! Too much to do today to sleep in!

Fist item on the agenda? Tackle the "IN COMING" Mail here at Quiltville! I've been so busy with the OUT GOING mail over the weekend, that I left this job for this morning when I had some peace and quiet here in the house.

I received not one, but THREE suspicious squishies! *LOL* I looked at the names on the return address labels and I swear I never ordered things from these people, so what could they be sending me in the mail?

You guys are SO fun!

Judi sent me strips and squares from the swaps on Quiltvilleswap@yahoogroups.com! THANKS GALS! These are GREAT! And they are just what I need to spice up my own scraps that are starting to look "same 'ole, same 'ole" to me! I love them! And the extra fabric too. I've always got use for that, even if it goes into a charity quilt, it is much appreciated!

And look...Kathi C is a blog lurker and sent me some pieces from her Orange Crush quilt, along with a "SPARE" Rotary cutter for me to keep in my suitcase when I travel so I don't leave one at home! *LOL* She read about me being rotary-cutter-less on my last trip! Thanks Kathi...this will now be the "glove box" rotary cutter! *LOL* I suppose I could use it as a weapon in a pinch, right? :c) You are terrific!

You know how you get attached to certain things you are used to? These blue dritz 45mm cutters with the spring loaded blade guard and rubber handle are my FAVE!

Katheryn also sent a squishie along with extra postage she forgot to include on her book order. WOW! These are great!

I feel like it's my Birthday or something :c), only one that doesn't add any more numbers to my age!

Does this come naturally with pets, or is he just a quick learner? I was working on my Fungly Challenge last night, and Toby had to park himself right in the center! What do you think of this funky bright yellow with purple stripe? Isn't it PERFECT!? Okay, Perfectly Fungly!Actually, it really brought all these weird blocks together. I tried EVERYTHING in my stash, which is extensive, more than extensive. THIS ONE is what the quilt wanted.

I was going to set the blocks together without sashing between, but it was so mucky, and you couldn't really see the funny fabrics if they were all up against each other. So..I switched gears and plain ole sashing it is. I should get the top finished,at least the center part today. Then I'm off to the Post Office with the carload of books.

I packaged up ALL the book orders I could, and am waiting for more books to arrive. I needed two cases to go to Pennsylvania with me Thurs...so I held those back in case the books don't come before I go. Fingers crossed that more will arrive in the next couple days and I can do another round of "going postal in the dining room" before I head to Altoona!

Backtracking to Thursday...

I was so discombobulated by the book arrival that I forgot to post about Thursday's Charity bee! I just so dearly love these Ladies. They have no idea what a life line they've been to me. Mrs Goodneedle, Holly, Martha Claire (Who will tell you in her best Charleston accent that it is NEVER just Martha,but always Martha Claire, as her mama said!) These ladies took me in when I was a stranger in town and gave me a place to call home right away. THANK YOU LADIES! It's nice to have a place to set down some roots and feel grounded.





This week I am happy to show how many hands make light work of tying a Hearstrings top into a finished quilt! Mary Johnson, this one you can add to your totals! I don't think they have it bound yet,and I won't be there next week to see it finished,but consider it done. The ladies are donating quilts to the South West Indian Project. At least I think that's the right name. Everyone LOVED the bright colors in this quilt. They tied it and backed it with red, and it will have red binding.


I pieced a little animals streak of sunshine for my project.

The borders look like Halloween, don't they? It turned out cute. I was also given some other novelty fabric to cut into kits like this. They sew so fast. You'll probably get tired of seeing me show these in every fabric combination I can come up with, but when I can make and donate a top in 2 hours, why switch gears? This way I can talk talk talk and not have to pay too close attention to what I'm doing, I've made so many of these!

From Dining Room to Mail Room!

I'm sorry I haven't even done a heads up for a couple days. You should see what my dining room looks like...there are about 500 books ready to be mailed out on Monday. Or close to it anyway. I think I'm going to run out of stamp sheets from stamps.com and the rest will have to be hauled to the PO and figured out at the counter while the line behind me grumbles....*LOL* I've ordered more stamp sheets,but it could take 10 days to get here, and I leave on Thursday for PA...

SO..you are asking, can you send a check? Of COURSE you can! You just have to wait a few extra days for the check to clear. Money Orders and Cashier's Checks are also welcome.

Same prices as via the online shopping cart.

The books are $25.00

Within the USA, shipping is $3.99 for one, $5.00 for two, and free for three or more.

If you are not in the USA, it makes things a bit difficult to do things by mail because of having the funds converted, etc. I'm not sure how to handle that, I'm not set up to take anyone's visa # personally either...That has to go through the online shopping cart.

I have added international postage for single book orders to the order page. You choose your postage as an ITEM, and then fix the postage in the bottom of the shopping cart to say Zero. It's the only way I could get all the various over seas options on there.

Monday I'll figure out the over seas options for multiple book orders. All I could do today was figure out the gobal priority for one book to various countries. Tada. It's $14.00 You guys were right!

Anyway, feel free to order the "Old Fashioned Way!"

You can mail it to:
Bonnie Hunter
136 Teague Ct
Winston Salem, NC 27107

Thank you!

Borderlands....

I didn't have enough of the SAME blue to do a full border. I didn't have enough of any ONE fabric that looked right. Because I was going for a vintage look, having so much of any "same" border out there made it look coordinated too much. If I chose all blue...it looked TOO blue. If I chose rust (the little inner border is a rusty orange)it too looked like an after-thought and too plain.

I guess I have my own drummers in my head! So I picked a bunch of different blues, some with that rusty red in them,and cleared them out of the FQ bin. That blue bin doesn't want to shut nicely anyway! *LOL* Some of these are OLD OLD....so it's good to have a home for them.

The thing is...as I was looking through all my books on antique quilts for inspiration, RARELY was another border added to a quilt beyond the pieced border. I could find VERY FEW from 1880 on that would have gone past the pieced border.

I think I would have been happy with it left as it is, and now the pieced border seems swallowed up some how. Live and learn again, right? I sure ain't wanting to take the 4 outer borders off now! Oh, I like it just fine, but I think it would have looked more vintage if I had left it as is. I dunno. I'm half-dozen of one and 6 of the other.

I do know that throwing the blue-with-red prints in there helped. It kept the border from being TOO blue, and it used up those weird prints that were half blue/half red and hard to use in any project as a specific color.

So this brings me to the following questions that were raised by everyone's comments.

WHY does a border have to be half the width of the finished block? Who made up that rule?

Why does a pieced border need to be stabilized with a plain outer border?

I just realized that I've got these same assumptions floating around in my head. I think we've been brainwashed by the QP. When I look at quilts from by gone eras, none of this applies. NONE OF IT. And I think I like things looking less planned and formulated.

I love the antique quilts where there were borders on only 2 sides to make it wide enough. Or long enough. Along with that row of half blocks that got chopped off because the width wasn't needed. I love antique quilts that are simply bound to be used with no borders at all, or maybe just end after the sashing.

And maybe the sashing doesn't have that final outside edge to go all the way around the outside of the quilt, just grids the inside. You know what I mean? Like the blocks on the outside edges are left exposed somehow :c)

I'm not disappointed in how this turned out. I just think it minimized the impact of the zig-zag border and swallowed it up.

Still, done is better than perfect! And I think I have enough of that Eddie Bauer red plaid king sized 100% cotton fitted sheet to use as a backing.....and THAT makes me happy!

Needs another border?

I can't decide....one more border? Or quilt it as is and just bind it in the same blue as the zig zag fabric? This is the "Stars Over Shallotte" That I put together a few weeks ago.

HELP!

Learning as I go....

My apologies to the international quilters who found they couldn't place an order in my shopping cart unless they put in a "STATE". It's a form shopping cart, and I spent some time in there this morning wheedling things around trying to make it international! I think I've succeeded. It will take someone ordering from somewhere overseas to tell me how it worked!

So...if you are Across The Pond or Down Unda or anywhere other than here, please let me know if my improvements worked! As I said...this is all new to me, and since I don't LIVE over seas...I can't place an order for myself there and see if it goes through :c)

*****Toby Update*****

He has chewed two of my shoes, but not pooped in the house. This is good! We also thought we'd found where he came from as we were driving about 5 miles out of the way and saw a sign for a lost black lab. We quickly called it. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad! But upon talking to the lady who posted the sign, we discovered that her black lab is over 6 years old, has a collar and tags, is neutered, and was last seen chasing after a deer. Definitely NOT Toby!

We are still looking for his owners, but kind of keeping our fingers crossed that he was a dumped dog as we thought. He stays by my side down here in the studio, rather than hanging out with the other dogs. Just as sweet as can be. Chloe is even tolerant of him.

He barks like crazy and goes nuts if he sees Jeff on Rollerblades. You'd think the world was coming to an end! Bizarre behavior? Yes...but we all have our terror buttons!*LOL*