Sew & Little, Paint a Lot!

I’ve gotten this far.

The Irish Courthouse blocks were finished while Jill was here. 

I finished the row assembly during early-morning-before-blog-writing hours.  It didn’t take long!  That is the beauty of making a small-ish quilt.

But when it came to borders – THAT took some thinking.  I wanted something interesting, not just a hunk of blue or red fabric at the edge to call it “good enough.”

Graph paper and Scrap User’s System to the rescue!

Those neutral squares you see at the top and bottom of the border?  Directly from my scrap squares bins.  It makes the variety so instantaneous!  And while sewing the geese and other bits, I’ve been using the pairs of neutral squares as Leaders & Enders to push me further along.  Such a fun game to play while piecing!

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Come Caturday Morning -

Miss Lola and a bit of Frolic mischief!

Happy Caturday!

Let me just start this morning post by saying just how overwhelmed I am with the response to yesterday’s Frolic Mystery reveal.

I was up extra early yesterday morning – having spent most of my free time the week before getting that release post and the PDF printer version ready.  We had company come a week ago – our nephew Scott arriving on Saturday, my friend Jill driving in on Sunday afternoon.  Scott leaving Monday afternoon, Jill and I playing Monday and Tuesday – running here and there to do the “glamour” shots of the quilt in a rural setting, plus porch photos.

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Frolic Mystery, Part 9: THE REVEAL!

Hooray!!!  It’s TIME!  It’s finally TIME!

This quilt has been on my mind since April 2019, under my needle since June of 2019 -

Assembled, quilted and bound during “The Great Plague” of September 2019. (Oh, I survived – and I’m so glad!)

It’s been a journey.  I wanted photos of the quilt reveal with Sadie, but before I could take them, she passed the first week of November.  (There are some in the construction process and I will gladly share those with you through this post.)

Before I knew it, Thanksgiving was upon us – and no “over the porch rail” photo op could happen because – the retreat was FULL of beta-test retreaters!

No photo with dad and the quilt this year either.  But guess what happened just a few days ago?

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Wednesday with the Ashe County Girls!

It was a day of many surprises – and definitely a day to remember!

Yesterday Quiltville Inn opened her doors wide to receive 11 ladies from the nearby Ashe County Quilters.

A sew day full of friendship building, creativity, and connection!

I am still so high on cloud nine that I don’t think I’ll ever come down.

First one car, then another – the unloading of crock pots bearing soups, platters of delicacies, favorite salads, munchies galore!  All to be enjoyed while sewing.

And this time – THIS TIME – I got to participate!  It was wonderful wonderful wonderful.

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Days of Quilting, Friendship & Laughter!

From strips to four-patches -

Isn’t strip piecing just the best?  This was my morning yesterday.

I’m also happy to report that Operation Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs – Try number TWO was a complete success. 

I’m not sure what happened the first time around, it it was likely operator error, but we are well on our way now and I am excited about learning to make many of the recipes from the many places I’ve been directed to thanks to your comments.

I need something that can speed up the dinner process from time to time.  I get home from the Quiltville Post Office about 5pm, and if I don’t know what the plan is before I leave in the morning – dinner turns out to be “BREAKFAST” or even the “Let’s just go out” which is happening far too frequently in my book.  It’s not healthy for my body, it’s certainly not healthy for my wallet.

I’d love to know what your favorite recipes are – in fact, we could have a recipe share by posting your favorites in the comments section below!  Ready? Set? POST!  I’ll link this post to the recipes tab at the top of the blog so we can always go back and find new ones to try.

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A Bit of Out & About–And Quilting!

Overcast and dreary -

A typical January day.

But we were not letting that stop us!  Yesterday was the day to learn to use the Instant Pot that Kim brought to Quiltville Inn in August – it had still been sitting in its box as I was too afraid to use it!

Jill and I headed out on a round about journey to retreat the Instant Pot, get the outgoing mail to the USPS office, do a bit of barn sighting around the area (I love showing new folks the cool old stuff around here!) and eventually make it back to the cabin where we would do something SIMPLE for my first foray – like hard boiled eggs for egg salad sandwiches for lunch.

But first – photo ops had to happen!

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Jill’s on the Mountain!

She’s here and sewing away!

This vintage Featherweight card table holds Jill’s sweet featherweight.

When she said she wanted to bring this cutie I mentioned that I had a card table so she could sew with her flat to the table surface.  I hadn’t pulled out the table to be used in quite a while -

The only problem?   I moved some things around, set up the card table and -

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The Morning After the Rain -

These two greeted me this morning!

Actually, there were four – 3 at the salt lick and one just in the yard.

I was attempting to get the big camera out so I could zoom in for some photos, and just the click of turning on the camera sent one bounding beyond the bushes and up the mountain, soon followed by the second as the click of my camera raised the alarm.

Mind you – the first photos I took were THROUGH the glass of the window.

Those ears can hear EVERYTHING!

But these faces!

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Cut it Up, Use it Up!

I have another project at hand!

And I am SO excited.  The whole thing makes me giddy with anticipation – I climbed out of bed at 6am, eager to pull fabrics and get cutting.

Yes, it’s a busy weekend ahead.  There is painting to happen at Quiltville Inn today – starting with the Hen Den and moving through the kitchen and the back entry.

And our nephew arrives from Texas this evening for a visit. 

My friend Jill will be on her way down from Pennsylvania tomorrow.

I’ll have a full house – and there are meals to consider among other things.

But this PROJECT!!  I need to make this project!

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