Adding One More to the Binding Queue -

This one!

This one is coming out SO much better than I initially envisioned, at least to my own preferences. The Fancy Baskets block was a previous Addicted to Scraps Column block in Quiltmaker Magazine, and begged to be turned into a full quilt.

Pattern to appear in my next book, so stay tuned.

Can you guess how excited I was to advance the quilt to the point where the blocks i had pieced into the backing became visible on the take up roller as I got closer to the end?

When I am piecing any kind of “racing stripe” into a quilt back as an accent – I purposely try to have it OFF CENTER.  Because if having something centered is that important to me – it will definitely end up NOT being centered.  That’s just the way it goes with any system that has backing on one roller, and top on a separate roller – it’s a crap shoot. 

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August in Virginia -

This was my view yesterday!

The plan was to get a backing pieced for the Fancy Baskets quilt you see over the rail on the long arm – and I wanted to incorporate leftover basket blocks from the quilt in the backing because, well who needs a bunch more of these hanging around??  Frankly I wanted them gone – they’ve been holding on for far too long as it is!

When I came up from Wallburg on Monday I brought with me the art deco cabinet to fit the 301.  Now when Mona (or anyone else) comes to sew, there can be two of us face to face sewing.

As for miss Sadie – she couldn’t be bothered to care either way!

All baskets used! (yes, an odd number!)

I got THIS far by last evening – just a few rows in.

I’m liking it so far!

Tall yellow wild flowers – it’s definitely August!

It’s been fun watching the change of the scenery month by month through the year.  There are cows in there somewhere, but you can’t see them unless you go up onto the porch.  Which we did – for lunch:

Best cafe in town – Quiltville Inn!

Thank you Debby and Sue for the awesome shirt!

The "I don't do negative space!" on the shirt was in regards to my busy scrappy quilts having no negative space for fancy quilting - but I also don't do negative space in my life. Thank you Sue and Debby for the reminder - in the nick of time.  Yesterday was a bit of a rough one with really crazy unhelpful and very unkind snail mail – three of them!  I won’t post it here, but you can check my instagram post if you are curious. 

It was just a rough day, which we all have.  But today – we are starting new.

Last evening’s round of binding!

I’m now on the 3rd side – it’s getting there, but slowly.

If you have tried to reach my website, I have another update happening, and it will be down for maintenance while we get it done.  Thank you for your patience! It will be back up and running soon.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Vintage Lemoyne star quilt top found in Texas.

Today's page is clean and brand-new.

How will you fill it?

What will it say about who you are today?

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Things Lost, Things Found, Things Repurposed!

Well, hello there!

My giraffe!  I found my giraffe!

I’ve been searching for it high and low since moving fully into the Quiltville Post Office.

I thought it must be still in the basement studio in Wallburg when it couldn’t be located in the basement studio at the cabin.  It was neither.

But I hadn’t been able to locate it at the QPO either – and then last night as I was drifting off to sleep after a very busy day of appointments, and a 100 mile drive to Virginia I let my mind wander back.

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A Short Stop Home! And a Gift-Away Drawing!

I am home from Mississippi!

And we are drawing for the winner of the Sept/Oct Quiltmaker bundle!

We walked in the door at home in Wallburg, NC just after 11pm last night, and I have scheduled some appointments around my “home arrival” date so I can take care of those kinds of things – it seems everything is either scheduled the day before I fly out, or the morning after I fly back in – because as soon as that is done it’s back up to Virginia for me!

So right off the top of the bat – we are going to draw for that winner. Will I draw you?

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Old Man River Quiltfest, Day 4!

This was last evening when day was DONE.

Hot hot, Mississippi Hot – humid, and gorgeously green.  That’s the price you pay – and it’s good for your skin, don’t you know?

I was told that I couldn’t leave Vicksburg without a trip to see the iconic bridges – one for the railway, one for cars, crossing the mighty Mississippi to Louisiana.

And we did it.  We drove across the bridge to put my toes on the Louisiana side, took the first exit and came back to Mississippi.

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Emerald City–Vicksburg Style!

Old Man River Quiltfest – Day 3!

Do you see how gorgeous this Emerald City block is in PURPLE?! (Pattern from my book String Frenzy)

That is the one thing that thrills me the most – when folks take my quilt designs and interpret them in their own color and fabric choices, making their project more of a reflection of THEM, than of me.

Besides, there is no way that I could possibly make this quilt in all of the wonderful color plans I’ve seen it in as finishes have started cropping up over the past few months.

It’s a two color quilt – so choose your favorites!  Or, as Connie and I talked about last night – do your “Dark” areas in Scrappy Everything, keeping the neutrals (or grey, or yellow, or whatever you envision) as your background.  It would be FABULOUS!

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Old Man River Quiltfest, Day 2!

Cutting it up with the Quilt Girls in Vicksburg!

Serpentine Web quilt from my book String Frenzy-

The hours fly by so fast and furious – and we are filling them to the brim with fun and laughter -

At the beginning of the class day I love to ask who my newbies are.  Who is a first timer to one of my workshops – and then, who has NEVER made a string quilt before.  And the hands come waving – these brave souls about to throw themselves into a scrappy adventure destined to open their eyes to new experiences when it comes to quilting.

This is the part of their quilting journey that can change the direction of EVERYTHING – as the saying goes – Once you go scrappy, there’s no turning back!

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Old Man River Quiltfest, Day 1!

Illinois Central, Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railway Depot

Built in 1907.

As excited as I am about the quilting going on in Vicksburg (and believe me, there is LOTS of quilting going on!) I am thrilled to also be experiencing a glimpse into the amazing history of this town.

You can’t miss the old railroad depot right along the mighty Mississippi River.  It’s now a museum, and while we won’t have time to visit inside due to our workshop hours, I can just imagine what this was like in the early 20th century – the coming and going of trails connecting the rest of the country to this corner of Mississippi.

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Just Get Me to Vicksburg!

Three girls on a road trip from Jackson to Vicksburg!

(This photo comes later in the story – so hang on!)

It was an easy day of travel – the only moment of panic being waiting for a gate at the farthest corner of the A terminal to open in Atlanta so our Greensboro plane had a place to pull into – all the while my flight to Jackson was getting ready to board clear at the far end of the C terminal.

Run, Bonnie run!  See Bonnie run…It ain’t pretty!  But I got there, no thanks to those meandering folks with their faces clearly not on where they are going, but down into their cell phones instead. Text walkers.  GAH!

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