From the first time I stayed in a Bed & Breakfast sometime around 1992 I thought that I would love to own one one day. I imagined that it would be the perfect place to showcase quilts, to fill walls and beds and tables and chairs and any other horizontal or vertical surface with quilts --- and heck once breakfast was done, the rest of the day would be “mine” and I could quilt the rest of the day away ---- for the rest of my life.
Funny how we get smarter with age, isn’t it? I know that running a B&B has to be much like running a dairy – and there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes.
This is my first time as a guest at Barclay Cottage, just as it is my first time in Virginia Beach, but I have to say that I feel like “one of the family” here. It’s been fun to chat with other guests at breakfast and getting the story of who they are, where they are from ---and everyone is so open and nice with each other. I know some people might not feel comfortable staying in a home with strangers, but this is right up my alley!
My day yesterday began with a morning guild meeting, followed by a lunch out --- a lunch that went late late late because we were having such a good time ---- and the rest of the day was mine to do what I wanted with it. I came home to take pictures!
Barclay Cottage was built as an Inn in 1895. It’s always been an inn, just as it still is one today!
The front hall boasts a beautiful staircase to guest rooms above, and a wonderful second story wrap around porch complete with rocking chairs pointed eastward to the waterfront. The shore is 2 blocks away. You can enjoy everything from that 2nd story balcony without getting sand in your knickers! There was a group doing wedding photos on the balcony yesterday so I didn’t get pics of that --- I’ll try to remember to later.
The upstairs landing is decorated with quilted heirlooms and other collectibles ----I had to look at each and every little thing!
From the dolly in the chair on her own applique quilt – that reminded me of the one my Grannie had ((that I was never allowed to play with!))
To the cute bears and pillows on top of another vintage quilt adorning the lid of a blanket trunk --
A collection of vintage books is on display --- don’t you love the cover of “Kiddie Farmers” ?
I peeked into the unoccupied rooms which are left open for guests to share in the other room’s décor themes…..blue and yellow are lovely for a beachy themed home!
The wall at the top of the stairs is a perfect spot for a family bow-tie quilt, and another applique hanging over the end railing ---
Another view of the cute bow ties. I like this….the ties are all solids, and the backgrounds are prints!
A downstairs bedroom has a nautical theme….I do love blue and white!
How about some rosy pinked softness? This time of day the light was coming through windows so things are a bit backlit, but I think you can get the idea! Each room also has it’s own attached bath.
And the best part of a Bed and Breakfast? BREAKFAST! Melon drizzed with raspberry sauce and artfully sliced strawberries –nut bread--- and the main dish of scrambled eggs, banana pecan pancakes and bacon. YUMMY!
This is my sweet little room on the ground floor. Come in and take a peek!
I’ve made myself right at home and unpacked my suitcase,putting my things in the antique dresser drawers. The door to my bathroom is right there --- and look over here:
A cute little empty secretary desk! But you know me – it doesn’t stay empty for long!
Yep, I’m ready to sew!! Let’s see if I can get some more of those Nearly Insane blocks done!
Today is a Pineapple Blossom workshop. I’ve got tonight to sew --- and I head home on Thursday!
I’m writing this “Yesterday” Morning as stories of road conditions in Virginia force me to make a later start on my road trip to Virginia Beach – It’s snowing and blowing just “that far north” of me – and I need to leave later so it will give the roads a time to settle.
That means I’ll be going straight into a Lecture and a late night settling in, followed by a morning guild meeting with no time in between to upload anything to the blog, so consider this my interim effort to get something in the queue!
I love getting the pictures of quilts you have sent me in my email. They brighten my day and help me know I’m not the only crazy one about using up those beautiful scraps! And they cheered my spirits and put some sunshine into my day, and I hope they will yours too!
There is no way I can post ALL the images of quilts that I get ---and it does take quite a bit of time to edit images down when they come in as huge files, and sometimes there just isn’t time to do that on a regular basis. But don't stop sending them! I keep them on hand for opportunities just like THIS to share them.
This “Happily Scrappily Irish” came from Kallie! I love the mint green border with that purple inner border..NICE!
She writes:
Dear Bonnie
I am sure that you get many emails - but I just wanted to thank you for your fabulous leaders-and-enders book, in particular the Irish Chain pattern.I am only a newcomer to quilting. I took it up two years ago when I found myself as an expat-wife in Singapore with a lot of extra time on my hands. I started making small quilts, designing as I went along, but after a string of less than successful results, I knew it was time for a pattern.
After completing this top, I am more confident to keep creating and now have a long list of projects that I want to try. This quilt is going to be a wedding gift for my sister-in-law.
So, thank you for your inspiration and guidance :)Kind regards, Kallie
Didn’t she do a fabulous job? I love Irish chains, but the whole “make a panel 5 strips wide and sub-cut” thing I found SO boring! So making the Irish Chain from simple 4 patches was a much easier way to go for me, easier to handle and much more fun!
Next up is Terry’s Double Delight!
I love seeing quilts in different color plans, and this one just sings! Double Delight is found in the MYSTERY QUILTS TAB at the top of the blog. Did you know there are several previously released mysteries up there? Check it out! Terry is a woman of few words, her email just said DOUBLE DELIGHT in the subject line, and then in the body of the email was the picture, but no words. But as they say, a picture is worth a 1,000 – right!? :cD Great job, Terry!
And then we have Margaret F who has been a very very busy girl!
This is Margaret’s Happy Scrappy Houses! She writes:
Hi Bonnie,
A friend told me about your site. What fun! I am a lover of scraps, as well.I made a smaller version of the Weed Whacker quilt which was great fun.
Just finished the crookedy houses. Love that pattern. We were snowed in
for a few days, so I started making houses. My 8 year old granddaughter hiked over through the snow and I asked her if she wanted to make a house, too. She did. We were joking around about using 2-inch ANYthing to make these houses, and working out of the scrap pile under my cutting table.
It only took me a week to have my own wonderful fun quilt. I used slightly larger side triangles so that I could trim the blocks to 10 1/2 inches unfinished.
The sashing makes it a lot easier to work with the not-quite-bias edges. Such fun!
She also sent a picture of the back of the quilt --- take a peek!
I love seeing the left over house blocks on the back…terrific, don’t you think?
And that’s not all…check out her Weed Whacker:
Whooowhoooo! Tons of color fun, and you see those border units? Those are the bonus units you get from behind the triangle corners in the quilt center. Great job Margaret!
Amy’s been busy too! She sent in a photo of her Hopscotch Butterscotch that is found in Adventures With Leaders & Enders.
She writes:
Hey Bonnie,
I know that you are traveling today, but I did want to send you this picture of the Hopscotch quilt that I gave to my cousin.I don't know if you remember, but I did tell you the little story when I was making it in October. My cousin is a huge environmentalist, she rides her bike to work and had compostable paper bowls for her outdoor wedding.
Anyway, I gave her a little note telling her how this quilt was made from scraps that other people would probably throw away, and that it was even made in a way that eliminates wasted thread (it was a leader/ender). The green and brown sashing was to remind her of the woods here in MN/WI (she now lives in Utah, lots more sand, not so many trees!).
Have a great trip!
Amy
Amy, I love this quilt! I am really drawn to that olive green sashing! Thanks for sharing this quilt --- I’m sure it is being loved and used!
Carol O. sent in a picture of here Little Monkey! Look at this fun piano key border!
She writes:
Hi Bonnie,
I just finished this cute little monkeys quilt, inspired by your website,
and was looking for a new idea for the NEXT baby quilt -- there is always another baby on the way.(I just stitched this one in the ditch, rather boring, I guess, but the fabrics are quite busy) And I found the new Story-Time Stars pattern.
I'm not sure I have enough novelty prints for the middle of the quilt, but I'm sure I can come up with something! I have some cute appliqué patterns for African animals. Could put them in the middle of
some blocks. Or maybe I'll go back to Boxy Stars. I'll let you know!I like the checkerboard sashing. I have lots of black material to use in
something. Maybe I'll actually do some variation of Orca Bay. Poof! But I'm off to Thailand and Indonesia again the end of Feb, so will have to organize some appliqué to take along.Blessings,
Carol
Carol is another busy traveling quilter who finds time to search for wonderful fabrics in far away place, and I’ve been gifted some of her indonesian plaids….ohh – wonderful! I hope you are having a great time Carol!
And Lastly, but not Leastly --- because I need to set this off and hit the road is Sergeant Robin!
Robin was in one of my Love Shack classes – and this is her finished creation! Would you look at what she did to enlarge this? Mine stops with the zig-zag string border…but wow!! She kept going!
She writes:
Bonnie,
I had to thank you again for a wonderful day of quilting! Both my mom and I had a wonderful time and the trip back home went so quickly with both of us gushing over what we learned and how much fun we had.
I've attached a picture of my "Love Shack" wall hanging on my design board. I was inspired by your comments in class to use orphan blocks for the second border and I used a piece of the "scrap" batik from Fabric Fanatics for the final border.
I was going to build this into a lap-size quilt for a children's charity, but my husband said "I like that. We should hang it on the wall." He's NEVER said that...so I guess the crazier the better for him.
I have the perfect empty wall space in our living room for it to live once it's quilted (I'm learning longarming at my LQS so this is a great size project for that).
And my "Orca Bay" top is done, too! Those pictures are posting in the Yahoo groups folder.
Thank you again for all that you do. Your stash system and patterns have really changed the way I quilt over the past few years....definitely for the better. My mom is definitely a "matchy" quilter, but even she is stretching her boundaries with your ideas!
Robin
Oh Gosh, we had SUCH a great time in that workshop – I hope we get to see these ladies again.
Thanks everyone, for allowing me to share your beautiful work with everyone who stops by. Your work inspires me!
In Pieces,
A Cook Book and a Drama!
I’m setting this to go as I head out the door. My departure was delayed this morning due to bad snowy conditions in Virginia ((What a great time for my first trip to Virginia Beach! LOL!)) and so ---I found myself surfing the net waiting for weather to clear a bit!
First off..because it is a cold cold end of winter day ---Soups from Gooseberry Patch!
You know I love their cook books…..they are full of simple, wholesome, delicious recipes and made of “normally on hand” ingredients!
The book description is simply stated:
Soups shares our very best recipes for all kinds of soups! Get cozy with fireside chili, baked potato soup and farmhouse beef stew.
I can get into that! And just downloaded it.
And while the soup is simmering, get into this one:
The Eighth Sea by Nancy Sprowell Geise is free today from the Amazon Kindle store, and has received a perfect 5 out of 5 stars based on 11 customer reviews.
Category: Drama / Historical Fiction
Book Description:
Have You Found Your Eighth Sea?
In the cold, black hold of a sailing ship, a young woman lies dying, tormented that her death will mean nothing. No one will know. No one will care. Only the will to find a purpose for her life keeps breath in her exhausted body.
Far away, a soft Carolina breeze touches a mother’s face as she peers into the night sky, agonizing over the loss of her infant daughter nineteen years before. A haunting vision that will not leave her—it whispers of a living tie, still unbroken, to that baby long ago. Worlds apart and unaware of one another, the mother and daughter fight their lonely battles for survival.
Between them—a man rising to greatness with the new America will bring them together.
In 1769, on the shores of St. Christopher in the West Indies, Weston and Emily Emerson are devastated by the sight of their infant daughter’s blanket floating among the splintered remains of a lifeboat. The voyage that began with promise of a new beginning in America ends in tragedy when a violent storm separates them from their child. Believing their daughter has perished, the heartbroken Emersons continue their voyage to the Colonies, not knowing Brenna was rescued.
Nineteen years later, Brenna, unaware of her true identity, begins an odyssey that will take her far from her dismal existence on St. Christopher. A chance encounter with a mysterious stranger will forever change the course of her life. In the old Roman city of Bath, Nathan begins an unrelenting search for Brenna that sweeps across England, involving romance, murder, and intrigue.
The themes of this story are universal: a long journey; separation and return; uncertainty; searching and finding; the search for understanding God’s will amidst tragedy; and finally, the realization that people can be bound together forever.
The Eighth Sea is a passionate love story involving two unforgettable
characters—Brenna and Nathan. Their story is our story—finding our place in the world, the meaning of our lives, our way home. Brenna’s solution is to set sail beyond the only world she has ever known and into her eighth sea. The story is inspirational, and its romance is deep and enduring.Struggling to triumph are three major characters: Brenna—determined to find her place in the world yet haunted by the shadows of abandonment and self-doubt; Emily—plagued with grief over the loss of her only child an unable to shake a disturbing sense that something is unresolved; and Nathan—strong and charismatic, discovering that in his search for Brenna, he has found himself. Their story is a tribute to the human experiences of good overcoming evil, the power of persistence, and of love enduring against all odds.
The Eighth Sea is hard to put down, a deep and enduring romance, a plot filled with unexpected twists and the characters hard to get out of one’s mind…an inspiring journey into the unknown. A book club must read!
The Eighth Sea—finding the meaning of our lives, our way home.
And now that those are downloaded, this chickie is out the door! Virginia Beach, here I come --- snow or not!
Remember book prices can change without notice, so double check before clicking that these are still free for you!
I stayed up way too late last night getting things ready to go, and I need to leave the house by 8am, so this is short, quick, and to the point!
When I was in Florida I met some really great ladies who made my time with them very fun and memorable. Upon my return Hilary sent along a hint for those of us who LOVE triangles --- and maybe it’s a help for those who HATE them as well.
It’s all about that thing called BIAS, and trying to avoid the stretch.
Check out this cute diagram she sent me and see if it makes good sense to you! Click to Biggie-Size might actually make it better for you.
How you place your fingers on either side of your triangles as you sew them can either distort, or help stabilize the grain while you sew. EVEN if you are doing the method where you draw the line down the diagonal of a square --- because even though you are not sewing on a CUT bias, you are still sewing on the true bias, and if your fingers are pushing, and pulling – you can waffle the fabric or stretch that square completely out of square.
If you want to print Hilary’s Hint – I’ve uploaded it HERE for you ((It looks better in real pdf than the “made-for-blog” graphic I saved it as above, but hey – I had to have SOMETHING to show!
I’ve got my MP3 player loaded with books to listen to on my drive. The Nearly Insane is in the car – the quilts are in the car – the books are in the car --- my clothes are in my car--- did I forget anything? Well, I’ll figure it out AFTER I get there ---There may be an Iphone-o-gram or two along the way depending what I get my nose into ---Antique Mall fun, anyone?
And I’ll be staying HERE --- I just wish the weather were a bit better, it’s gotten dang COLD here again!
Be Good Everyone!
My long time friend, Linda Franz has SUCH a sense of humor! ((Or that would be HUMOUR because she IS in Canada after all ;c) ))
I love keeping up with what she’s doing --- the way her mind works fascinates me. We go way back to the early days in the late 1990’s to the first origins of the Dear Jane list – and it is so wonderful to see what she has come up with, and what she will come up with NEXT!
I just received this via email and I had to check it out, she writes:
I wanted to let you know that I posted a 70 second video tutorial (just over a minute) this morning on the blog and there will be drawings for finger-pincushions--one for every 25 comments, so great odds.
70 second video!? Drawings?! I had to go check it out myself…..I love to see what kind of mess MONKEY gets into too!
And leave her a comment because she is drawing for winners of her finger-pincushions, 1 winner for every 25 comments. I thought I’d reiterate that, even though she said it above, just in case you were skim-reading. ((You aren’t, are you?!?))
Click the pic above to take you to Linda’s blog page to go see this cute and speedy tutorial. And turn the music up loud. It’s a MUST! You’ll be galloping along at break neck speed, I guarantee it!
*Note* Something is wrong with my linking skills because when I clicked it, it took me to a blank page -- but if you look at the menu you'll see the link for her BLOG right there in the menu bar. Click that. :c)
That’s the kind of music I need to play when I’m cleaning house.
I might just get it done faster!
The more I hear about this the more I am afraid to be a traveling quilter with quilts always in my car, or in my luggage. What do people think they are DOING stealing a quilt? It’s just so wrong--- it’s absurd!
Patsy Thompson is an amazing quilter and fiber artist. She recently had her car broken into and posted about her missing quilts HERE.
Yes. That was QUILTS. As in --- More than one.
The quilts were stolen when someone(s) broke into her car in Corbin, KY. They also took her sewing machine and other items.
Read Patsy’s post. You can hear her despair and the sound of defeat in her voice. The quilts that were stolen were not even complete quilts yet, they were pieces in progress – so what good are they to the person who stole them? It’s insane. Seriously. When not even your needlework in progress is safe in a locked car.
This is another one of Patsy’s works in progress…the last photo she had of it, she’d added more to it since this photo was taken and the incomplete top was stolen out of her car. Can you believe it?
Please help me get the word out on this. Please pass the link to this post on to your email lists, your fb walls, your news groups, message boards & flicker groups –wherever quilters gather.
It’s a long shot, as Patsy fears, to find her treasures, but we can at least spread the word and rally round her and help.
Thanks everyone --- this just makes me so sad.
First – Yesterday. Balm to my soul. Nuff said!
I received several mails asking how I paper piece my blocks, have I drawn them out in EQ or what --- so I figure that showing you here is an easy way to answer.
Remember magic markers?
This is a photocopied page for the block I was doing. There are no templates or cutting directions in the book, so it is up to you to take each drawing and decide how you want to execute it.
With blocks this size, I find it very easy to cut the block into workable sections and just paper piece them, leaving more than 1/4” excess beyond the edges of all the sections. Then I trim each section 1/4” from the edge, remove my papers, and sew the sections back together.
But first --- I have to know which color goes where before I cut the block all apart or I’m likely to get everything in the wrong order, in the wrong spot, or forget what is what. That’s where the markers come in. I use them to just put a slash of color on each piece so I know which color goes where. After the block is color coded, THEN I cut it into sections and I start sewing.
These are the 4 blocks completed yesterday! 10 more to go! And since I had all my stuff already together for Sew Day yesterday, this stuff can just continue on to Norfolk and Virginia Beach with me tomorrow – so the car is already half packed ;c)
Yard Sale Saturday is still in full swing as some folks have added NEW items to their listings! I’ve moved the linky to the top section of my page so you don’t have to wade through my sold items to get to it. I like having it at the top ---hopefully you will too! Click to get to Yesterday’s Post HERE!
In answer to some questions about Yard Sale Saturday ---YES you must have a blog to participate in selling your own quilty items. No, you can not just link to your etsy shop. That’s not what this is about.
Blogs are a way of communicating more than just saying “Here is my shop”. I hope you understand why I want to keep it that way. Blogs are more personal, or can be if you let them be, and an etsy shop is just ---well ---- a store. I only used etsy as my checkout point because I wasn’t going to be here all day to answer emails and deal with inquiries. I’m fine with using etsy as your “Shopping cart”, but you must have a blog that links to the etsy to begin with.
To link up in Yard Sale Saturday, you MUST have a blog. There is no time like the present to start one, to become involved and start recording your life, your thoughts, your quilting accomplishments, and making some new friends along the way.
The downside to using etsy for me was limiting my sales to the USA and Canada, because there were too many variables in shipping that couldn’t be added ahead of time without having everything boxed, weighed and measured for each country before entering it into the system. That, and I really didn’t think a $10.00 shipping charge on a $4.50 book purchase was going to interest anyone.
So what’s up for today? Getting all the packages from yesterday’s Yard Sale sales packaged up and ready to drop at the post office tomorrow on my way out of town! Got some book orders to throw into that mix too. I’ve got to repack the trunk show, exchange out some of the quilts for some others I’d like to include --
And this afternoon we are off to the airport to pick up our friend Michael who has spent the past two weeks in Kenya for his mom’s funeral. He’s been missed!
Happy Sunday, Everyone!
LOL! I love this image!! HOLY COW --- Get it? ;c)I got home from our Bee Sew Day at Leann’s to find that I have new neighbors! The old neighbors moved out over the past couple of months. We never really got to know them, they weren’t very approachable, and no one came to welcome us when we were in the process of moving in --- so upon seeing that a new family was starting the process of what looked like unloading, and seeing the for sale sign gone, I went over there to make friends.
I met a delightful couple with two small boys, ages 3 and 6 --- and the first thing the mom asked me was “Are there younger children in this neighborhood?” I wished I could tell her yes and where to find them, but a funny thing happens when your kids are grown --- and you aren’t involved in school schedules and activities any more.
You lose track of who has small kids and who doesn’t. Especially here, because everyone here has 1.5 to 3 acre lots --- and houses aren’t right on top of each other and it is a fairly quiet neighborhood at our end. They said they won’t officially be “Moved In” until mid March, and I look forward to spending more time with them. On my walk home I thought…..how did my youngest get to be 22? And hers is 3? And I suddenly realized I’ve probably got nearly 20 years on her. I still feel 30! Life is sure funny that way, isn’t it?
But NEW NEIGHBORS! And FRIENDLY ONES! YES!
Now if I can only get her interested in quilting ----hmmmmm!
After getting back in the house, DH arrived with items for dinner. The guy had a hankering to GRILL – and when the man wants to cook food for dinner, I don’t stop him. We had a yummy meal, and here I am sitting to check email for the first time today ----I couldn’t believe it! What a successful day Yard Sale Saturday has been. Great participation, and I sold out of EVERYTHING I had listed! Hopefully our other participants are also doing well. Remember there are some late joiners – I’ve kept it open all week, so new things may be continuously added. Check HERE to see if you missed anything!
Listing my items on Etsy was easy. That meant I didn’t have to wade through everything after coming home. Yes, it cost – 20 cents to list each item, and 3.5% of the purchase price as a surcharge. I also had to pay a fee for accepting pay-pal, but I still feel like I came out well in the long run because I didn’t have to baby sit it, or wait for anyone’s check to come and clear.
I know some were disappointed that I didn’t offer to send to Europe and Australia, But I didn’t have the shipping prices to add to each item for each different country. And I didn’t think that anyone would be happy with a $15 shipping charge on a $5 book.
Thank you to those who purchased my items! I’ll be packaging them up and mailing them out on Monday morning as I leave for Norfolk!
Now I’m off to go wander around the other links and see if there is something that might just catch MY fancy!
Shall we do this again, First Saturday in April? I just checked and it is the day BEFORE EASTER. What do you think? It's the day in between Good Friday and Easter. It might not affect all of us, but I'd like some participation if we do decide to do it, so leave me a comment so I know who wants to. The NO's don't need to reply --- just the Yes's -- okay? Thanks!
Have a great Saturday evening, Everyone!
