A Dover Show and Share-a-bration!

This is Michelle! 

She brought her half-pint Allietare to show & share during our workshops with the Helping Hands Quilt Guild of Dover, Delaware on Monday!

I had seen photos before, but seeing this up close and in person just took my breath away.

She took all of the units, and cut them down to half-size.  Half square triangles that once finished at 1 1/2’’ were now finishing at a tiny 3/4’’!

I was so happy to see this beauty in person and I asked her if she planned on doing THIS year’s quilt in half-size as well. 

We will have to wait and see what she comes up with!

Just to give you an idea, there were other beautiful Allietare quilts as well, in full size splendor:

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Let’s Draw - September Quilty Box!

I’m packed.  I’m antsy.  I’m ready to go!

I have a whole bunch of Razzle Dazzlers ready to join me in Fort Lauderdale, Florida tomorrow for our Quiltville Caribbean Cruise that leaves port for beautiful aqua blue seas on Saturday.

We’ll have 3 full class days at sea, and we’ll have extra evening sew time as well as fun days in our ports of call, Nassau, St Thomas and St Maarten.

But before I go, I promised that we would draw for the winner of the September Quilty Box!

Remember what is in here?

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A New Spin on Drunkard's Path Blog Tour (and Giveaway!)

Hello, Everyone!
 
I’m very excited to be taking part in the blog tour [complete with give-away that you won’t want to miss!] for John Kubiniec’s brand new book with C&T publishing -
A New Spin on Drunkard’s Path!
 
I have known John for a number of years.  We became friends on Facebook through the quilting communities and found we have quite a bit in common!
 
When Kansas City Star was acquired by C&T Publishing, John and I discovered that our book release dates were happening within the same time frame, and we were able to discuss all the ins out outs, tests, tribulations and excitement [sometimes terror!] of going from one publisher where you kind of knew the routine, and finding yourself in a new ballgame where you really were the new kid on the block and trying to fit in and do everything right and prove yourself with your new publishing house. 
 
We’ve been each other’s back and bent one another’s ear many times over this process.  I have been a cheerleader for John, and he has been a great listening ear for me as well!
 
If you have loved and been intrigued by the Drunkard’s Path pattern in the traditional realm, and are ready to kick it up to the next generation, you are going to LOVE John’s book!

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A My Blue Heaven Kind of Day!

Sisters that sew together stay together!

I was so happy to meet these lovely ladies yesterday.  It seems they have enough sisters, daughters, cousins, and other women in the family that quilt that they pull together a retreat as often as they can for all of the women to get together and quilt up a storm.

Doesn’t that just sound SO GREAT!? 

I have two younger sisters that are busy with small children and I would love to get them into quilting so that we could do something along the same lines.

When we gather together like this, our hands may be cutting and pinning and stitching and pressing, but what I see with the laughter and the conversations are relationships being formed, strengthened, nurtured and a whole lot of memories being made in the process.

Quilting is the WHOLE package!  Heart, mind, body and soul!

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Talkin’ Turkey in Dover, DE!

We had a marvelous day yesterday!

Fall is definitely in the air in Delaware.  [and I didn’t intend for that to rhyme, but whatever, go with it!]

We gathered together with machines and fabric, rulers and cutters, and all that goes with it for a day of sewing the blocks from Talkin’ Turkey, found in my book String Fling.

What a beautiful fellowship hall at the Wyoming Methodist Church in Wyoming, Delaware! Large, clean, bright and airy, and the lighting was fabulous, just made for quilters!

I was very excited to have so many in attendance.  Several guests joined joined us from neighboring states such as Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and from as far away as California, and even one special guest, Petra, who came all the way from Germany as a special birthday bucket list trip.

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And What Did Delaware?!

And What Did Delaware?

Idaho!

A New Jersey!

I love the childhood rhymes and plays on words from days gone by that fly through my memory when I cross state lines.

However, it is never fun to realize that there are red and blue lights flashing in your rear view mirror as you fly through Maryland.

OOPS!!  The speed limit went from 65 in DC down to 55 in Maryland and as I was in the far left lane, I never saw the change in speed limit signs on the far right.  I am totally guilty.

I was also heavily involved in listening to Charade by Sandra Brown on my audible.

Officer, I’m guilty!  And I’m so sorry.  And I’m not from here, and not familiar with this road, and I’m just going to Delaware and I’ve been driving for hours and hours…..

I sat patiently in my car while she took my license and registration.  My hands were shaking.  I texted home.  “I’m pulled over!”  “Serves you right!  You drive like you sew.  Pedal to the metal!”

And I got off with a warning.  My lucky day.

The cruise control from then on stayed at 55 even though traffic was now flying by me on either sides at a rapid pace.

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St Peter’s Basilica, Italy!

It was hot. You can tell.

This was Rome in August.

And those Swiss Guards with their funny traditional outfits looking as cool as cucumbers, how do they do it? 

That is if cucumbers came with gold and purple striped pantaloons and tights.

Hour after hour, protecting Vatican City.

The green ear bud? So we can hear our guide more clearly. Best invention ever.

We entered St Peter’s after leaving the Sistine Chapel, and we were brought in the back way, through corridors and passageways, and all of a sudden we were INSIDE.

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September Quilty Box Giveaway!

Oh, be still my French General Loving Heart!

I’ve got a fabulous French General filled Quilty Box to give away to one of my lucky faithful readers.

Who wants it?

This box is just full of the yummy fabrics that French General by Kaari Meng is known for.  Deep reds. Glorious golds. Totally Tempting Taupes.  Never-to-be-missed Neutrals, all from the Madame Rose collection and Moda.

What is a Quilty Box?

• Quilty Box is a monthly subscription box of fun quilting supplies. We offer plans from $44-48/mo.
• 5% of the profits of multi-month subscriptions are donated to Quilts for Kids - a non-profit which donates quilts for children in need
• Each month we have 4 or more products (Fabric, patterns, thread, or notions)
• Our retail value of the products in the box is always more than $50
• We will be using the hashtags #QuiltyBox and #GetQuilty

Your support is appreciated. If you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to contact me.
Get Quilty!
Patrick Claytor, CEO
Quilty Box
Subscribe today at Quiltybox.com

I LOVE the fact that 5% of the profits go to Quilts for Kids!  It’s a win win all the way around!

Let’s look closer at this box:

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Digital Daydreaming! And a Sale!

I was going to wait and post this tomorrow morning.

But I’ve been working on it for what seems like forever and I just couldn’t wait.

Especially since so many of you have been asking for these patterns for the past several months and I kept having to put you off due to other irons in the fire.

H is for Happy, P is for Pinwheel aka H’s & Pinwheels is now up in the digital section of the Quiltville Store!

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Antiquing Therapy!

“When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!” said a funny greeting card I came across once.

I’m not a big shopper.  Not when it comes to shoes [hate it.] clothes [hate it more.] or girly things like handbags or cosmetics [hate it worse.]

But all bets are off if you get me with in 1/2 mile of a favorite antique mall haunt that I haven’t visited in the past 6 months.

There might be NEW goodies to discover!

And such was the case when my errands were finished yesterday.  I dropped off my deposit at the drive up ATM, and Moby took control of Auto-Pilot, taking me around the corner to the Lost in Time Antique Mall in Winston Salem.

I can make a quick do of an antique mall.  My eyes are on rapid search, looking over and under everything in every booth just waiting to land on that one thing that catches my interest.

Now cookie jars are NOT my thing, but this elephant made me smile.  SO CUTE!  And, just like everyone else who has likely walked past this very same cookie jar, I lifted up the lid to peek inside.

WHY do we do that?  It’s not likely that there is anything hidden inside, but I just have to lift lids and peek.  And replace the lid just so, making sure that little elephant doesn’t do some sort of “exorcist” thing with its head on backwards.  Move on, Bonnie….you are in search of sewing stuff.  You know.  Quilts.  Blocks.  Linens. Fabrics. Sewing notions.  Sewing machines. and…

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Quilt Through It.

I left the mountains yesterday with fingers crossed.

I had less than 1/4 tank of gas.

There was a gas shortage going on that I really hadn’t paid attention to because of other things going on within my family.

I mean, how bad could it be?  Surely there was gas SOMEWHERE?

And then I got worried.

The cabin is about 20 minutes from town, pretty much on the outskirts of nowhere.  There is not a mini-mart or ANYTHING for a 20 minute drive.

And the first station gave me THIS:

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Things in My Heart.

I write.  

I have always written, journaling my days from the age of about 12, upon receiving my very first diary. It was lovely, with a red faux leather cover complete with little heart shaped padlock.

“This is where you put your thoughts.”  I was told.  “This is where you can keep your secrets safe.”

“This is your life story.”

And mostly, I wrote about cute boys, and teachers I didn’t like, and teachers I did, and how awkward it was to be a 12 year old girl who had reached the height of 5’9”, wore glasses and braces on her teeth and wanted what every other gawky teenage girl wanted at that age. To have a best friend, to be included with groups of other kids, to not be singled out for being odd or weird or different.

And that pair of navy blue leather wedge shoes – I wanted those more than anything.

And I journaled it all.

And here I am 40+ years later, doing the same thing.  This blog is my journal, and to take time off from writing, it doesn’t happen often.  But over the past two days I’ve done a lot of heart searching.

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Time Out.

I awoke this morning to a text message from my son Jason.

I hadn’t heard the news he was asking about.

I had to go searching.

I had just woken up, so things were bleary and my heart was pounding trying to find out what had happened.

Life is like that.  We always THINK we have time to tell those we love that we do love them.

We think there is time to mend fences, to reconnect, to make memories ---

But we don’t.  Things can change in the blink of an eye.

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Musei Vaticani!

Vatican City.

Just thinking of this place sets my mind to reeling.

While in Vatican City, we were NOT in Italy.  Vatican City is it’s own country!

Vatican City, a city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy, is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It's home to the Pope and a trove of iconic art and architecture. Its Vatican Museums house ancient Roman sculptures such as the famed “Laocoön and His Sons” as well as Renaissance frescoes in the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel, famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling.

We are really touching history here.

But in order to touch the history, you find yourself touching shoulders with SO MANY PEOPLE:

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Show & Share, Rhode Island Style!

Some very special quilts were brought to our workshops and to the guild presentations this week in Rhode Island!

Oh, how I have missed this part of my travel life.  I’ve been busy and it isn’t that I haven’t been teaching, but when you are on a cruise, there isn’t a show & share event as everyone has weight limits, and who is going to pack 4 extra quilts for show & share?

I went to Colorado, and that was still quilt related, but it was just me in the studio with the quilts, I didn’t get to see what anyone else had made!

And these ladies brought it ALL to the lectures and to the workshops and it was a wonderful show!

I especially love when quilts come with stories, as does this one.

And before I go further into the story, you need to see a close up:

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A Pineapple Blossom Kind of Day!

Happy Birthday to these two who made a special birthday trip to come spend the day in our Pineapple Blossom workshop hosted by the Ninigret and Narragansett Bay quilters of Rhode Island!

How fun to be a part of their birthday celebration!  They even had time to grab an early birthday lobster dinner in between the workshop and my guild presentation last night.

Thanks for the fun, girls!

A very very happy birthday to the both of you!

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Narragansett Blues in Narragansett!

We had a full to the rafters workshop day yesterday with 48 quilters from both the Narragansett Bay and Ninigret Quilt guilds!

Our project?  Narragansett Blues from MORE Adventures with Leaders & Enders, a project inspired by my last visit to this area about 4 years ago.

It was an absolutely beautiful September morning, and the ladies all filed in, sewing machines, fabric totes, even comfy wheelie chairs – for a great day of friendship, fun and food, and of course a whole lot of power sewing.

Even though this project revolves around simple 4 patches, there is a lot to say for HOW these 4 patches are made and fed through the machine, with emphasis on having strip sets measure correctly, streamlining the cutting process by cutting strip sets into already matched pairs ready to sew, and in being consistent how pairs are fed through the machine so that all seams on the back of the 4 patches spin in the same direction for easily nested seams when units and rows are joined together.

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September in Rhode Island!

Along with this morning's post, I've got an article on the C&T blog today! My article on squaring corners and trimming up sides of a quilt before binding. Come see how I do it!  http://www.ctpub.com/blog/straight-and-square


Fall in the Northeast is glorious.

Even before leaves start turning colors, other changes are evident.

Humidity is down, the sun takes on a lovely glow as one season turns slowly into another. The humidity has dropped to the point that windows can be left open where gentle September breezes lightly waft curtains as it brings fresh air inside.

On our way to set up for the guild meeting, we had a bit of time and spotted a local farmers market.  Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

I love looking at beautiful produce, especially when the early evening is lovely and still gently warm.

And one of the fun things for me?  Listening to the vendors talk to their clients.  Honey, you’re not in North Carolina anymore!  The Northeast dialect of Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts surrounds me and I smile.

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In the Air, With Show & Share!

I’m off to Providence, Rhode Island today for a few days of fun with the Ninigret Quilters of Westerly, and the Narragansett Bay Quilters of East Narragansett!

As luck would have it, there was no time to write this blog post ahead of time – I was taking care of book orders late into the evening and packing for this trip.

I decided as I was falling asleep last night that it has been a while since I have done a show & share post of readers quilts that have been sent in, and my little bit of waiting time at the gate this morning will give me just enough time to shoot this up!

Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful finishes with me.  They keep me inspired, and longing to keep stitching!

This finish is from Liz Mc, on I love the masculine feel it has!

She writes:

Hi Bonnie,
I found your wonderful pattern online and made it for my son who is in college. I used the Alpine Woods fabrics by Benartex plus scraps. I think it looks great and it's just right for us since we live in Colorado.
Thanks!
 
Great job, Liz!  I’m sure he is going to love it!

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Who Wants to EQ7??

It’s drawing time!  It’s drawing time!

I get so excited when it is time to fire up the random number generator and find out just WHO is going to be the lucky winner of whatever it is we are giving away.

This time it just happens we are bundling Nancy Mahoney’s Beginning EQ Webinar AND Designing with EQ7 Course for one lucky winner!

I have Craft University to thank for this awesome giveaway.

I know many of you either HAVE EQ7 or are planning on getting it, and many of you want to learn how to use it more fully and get more out of your quilt designing using this fabulous tool.

And Nancy Mahoney can show you how!

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Cruise Cooking, Behind the Scenes!

On our last “full day at sea”, in between morning and afternoon class sessions, I signed up for a behind the scenes kitchen tour of the Brilliance of the Seas galley and kitchen areas.

I wanted to know just how it is that they do what they do.

Thousands of meals are prepared –for seated dining room breakfast, lunch AND dinner, not to mention the ever busy Windjammer cafe, which has just about every buffet item that you could ever wish for, including decadent desserts.

This galley tour included a luscious lunch afterward so we could enjoy what we had seen being prepared.

The kitchen staff works tirelessly day after day after day, baking bread, making desserts, preparing salads, entrees and appetizers, and the sheer scale of it all left my head spinning.

And I have never seen so much stainless steel in my life.

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Runaway Girl!

This was the sky from my front porch at the cabin this morning.

I do wish I could wake up to this every morning, but being here just when I can makes these mornings all the more noteworthy.

There is something to be said against complacency.  And variety.  And having different things to wake up to.

But still…I love these mornings!

Yesterday Sadie and I made a beeline for the Blue Ridge after dropping off what I could at the post office before the post office closed for the weekend.

And today, as my flag flies, THIS is on my mind:

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A Bit of Rome and Trevi Fountain!

The streets of Rome with the reflection of the bus window.

It’s still magical.

ROME!  I think I’d like to stay for a week at least in Rome, and you’d still never be able to see it all. 

At this point we had left the Coliseum behind and were making our way toward the Trevi fountain.  As I type these words I can still hear the voice of our guide who spoke english very well with a very distinct Italian accent that I found musical and charming.  She was wonderful, and I will always think of her when I think of Rome and how she did everything to make sure we saw the best of Rome possible.

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Sneaking in a Finish!

Poor Sadie Jane.

She looks a bit neglected and dejected – wondering why Mama hasn’t left the dining room table all day.

And WHY has the living room turned into a warehouse of boxes of all things?

It’s a well known fact that Sadie does NOT like boxes of any kind.  We think she was traumatized as a pup by being put in boxes as she shakes when boxes are brought into the room, and even the task of breaking down boxes so they lie flat sends her into the other room to hide.

And bubble wrap?  She hates that too!

We got Sadie as a nearly 1 year old pup from a no-kill shelter when living in South Carolina, so we have no idea what her previous life was like, we just know we are her third family and some experiences from early pup-hood are rooted so deeply that there is no getting over them.

But Sadie!  These boxes are unavoidable!  And they will go down quickly as we do this:

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A Colossal Coliseum, Rome!

Just after sunrise in port at Civitavecchia, Italy.

Who would think you could pull open the draperies, open the cabin door, step out onto the balcony, and be greeted by the most wonderful graffiti message?

It was as if someone had painted this message just for me, just to say good morning, it’s a beautiful day!

Okay, so Civitavecchia is not the most beautiful port in Italy, but it has been here since Roman times.

The word Civitavecchia means “Old Town.”  VERY Old as the harbor was constructed by the Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the 2nd century.  The place became a free port under Pope Innocent XII in 1696 and has been the main port of Rome ever since.

This was our LONG day.  And let me tell you, it is impossible to do Rome in a Day, but we were giving it the best that we had, out on the bus early and ready to take it all in.

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Quilt-Cam 9/7/16 & Giveaway!

Look what’s in the house!

And would you believe with all that’s been going on here that I didn’t even open this first box until after 6pm?

I knew that if I did…I’d have to sit down and read it cover to cover and there were other things I’ve been deeply involved in today, and that cover to cover time can wait until AFTER Quilt-Cam when I am snuggled between the sheets and I can turn the pages in peace and relaxation.

Whew.

What a day!

My invoice sheets have also shown up, right after 5pm – which is why I finally caved and took a peek inside the cases of books.  Invoices are now being PRINTED and sorted.  Those who ordered the book/tool bundle or the tool by itself are in one stack, those who ordered the book without the tool in the second stack.  I’ll start filling those that can go tomorrow.

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Quilting Up a Storm!

We interrupt this travelogue of Italy to bring you what is going on in the studio!

First off: Quilt-Cam tonight at 9pm Eastern here on the blog!  It’s been a while, let’s play catch up!

I’m trying to get some things done before the whirlwind of filling book orders begins in earnest.

Night before last I pieced a backing for this monster.  This recycled shirt version of Scrappy Mountain Majesties measures in roughly at 90’’ x 106 ‘’ and is itching to be finished!

Mona and I started working on our quilts together, hers has been a top for a while, and I’ve been pulling up the rear.  We are hoping to have some time together during the holidays when she can come stay for a few days and we can quilt up her ever growing pile of tops.

The fastest way to clear stagnant stash from the shelves?  Piece up a scrappy back!  This one is big hunks and chunks of random plaids and I’ll show it to you when it comes off of the machine

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A Day of Capri and Sunshine!

We made port in Salerno, Italy and there were so many excursions to choose from!

Many in our group were making the pilgrimage to Pompeii. 

Some were going to Sorrento or over to Naples and exploring the beautiful countryside along the Amalfi coast.

The day before had tons of walking and long bus rides and we were feeling a bit tired, so a leisurely boat ride to the Isle of Capri, about an hour and a half away sounded JUST right.  We could see the coastline and cliffs from the water, and Capri was always a place I wanted to visit.

For the techno-lovers out there, Capri is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy.

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A Blue Ridge Parkway Sunday!

There was just no denying it.

Quilting had to wait.

It was a lovely 80 degrees at the cabin by mid-afternoon with low humidity and the sun was  dropping shadows all around from the gorgeous clouds dotting a September Carolina blue sky.

Helmet on, boots laced up, out we went for some fresh air and to take in the glorious views of this place I call home in North Carolina.

I’ve never been to the Outer Banks.  I know when folks hear of the Carolinas the FIRST thing they think of is the coastline.  But for me, it is all about these mountains.  This is the place I call home.  This is the place I always long to be.

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Sadie and the Midnight Vet…

This was my girl yesterday.

During our morning hike she was as active as a puppy…her sniffer was in high gear and she was propelled by that wagging tail.  In her element.  Mountains!  Fresh air!  Cool temps!

But something happened, and we noticed it as soon as we got back.

She was crying.  whining.  All kinds of upset, and I couldn’t read the thought bubble above her head to tell me what was going wrong.

She didn’t eat.

She barely slept due to the shaking.

She couldn’t manage stairs.

She wouldn’t go out to pee.

She laid here all day and I got more worried and more worried.

Of course, it’s not only a weekend – it’s a LONG HOLIDAY weekend.

But by7pm I started calling around.  a local vet in Wilkesboro had an emergency number listed on their answering machine for a 24 hour emergency clinic in Boone.  We gingerly loaded her into the car and off we went.

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Easing Into Labor Day Weekend 2016!

Our hike this morning.

BLISS!

Temps in the high 50s with nearly ZERO humidity [or what feels like it, after having been in the Mediterranean!] and that blue blue, Carolina blue sky.

Thank you for all of your words and posts of concern during this hurricane episode.  I live in north central North Carolina, about an hour’s drive south of the Virginia state line and though we had rain, we missed the brunt of everything.  I hope that anyone closer to the coast has survived as well!

I loaded up the van late yesterday afternoon and was here by dinner time.

NO SEWING HAPPENED.  But that’s okay.  I finished quilting the Tumbler quilt yesterday and I think some sit and veg time was well deserved.

For those who think I NEVER sit still and do nothing….well, you are wrong!

There was some excitement though, check out what we found on our trail cam:

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Winner, August Quilty Box!

 Hello from Quilt Villa!

I arrived just before dinner time to find that the breaker had tripped, likely due to thunder and rain, and the power was out on one whole side of the cabin.  That included the side that the router/modem is on.  Upon checking the breaker box, everything seemed okay, but still no power to that wall in the basement.

After much searching, it was discovered that some GFI thingy in a remote out of the way outlet was tripped.  Goodness sakes!

Internet is back up and I’m ready to do the drawing for the August Quilty Box winner!

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A Walk through Saint Sauveur Cathedral

When I think of Europe, I immediately think of old churches and cathedrals.

And the lives of the people who worshiped there.

People of all kinds, the rich, the poor, the widowed, the hopeful.

The heart of the people is found in places like these and I am so happy that our visit to Aix-en-Provence included a visit to Saint Sauveur.  It was iffy as whether we would be able to enter or not.  But luckily there wasn’t a mass in progress and so the men removed their hats and we quietly stepped inside, instantly going back in time several hundred years.

The cathedral was built on the site of a temple to Apollo, so the legend goes, between the 5th to the 18th century.

Aix-en-Provence was claimed by the Romans in the year 123 BC.  That’s a long long history with battles and takeovers and plundering and…well.  I’m so happy I didn’t have to live in 123 BC, aren’t you?

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Addicted to Scraps Pre-Order Event!

It’s HERE!

Or at least…they are on a truck making their way to me from the warehouse.  That means it’s time to ramp up this pre-order thing and get it going!

I’m very excited about this book release.  It’s been a long time coming.  At one point I didn’t know it would even become a reality as I thought I might find myself without a publisher when Kansas City Star was not yet an imprint of C&T Publishing.

And here we are a little more than a year later and I am about to hold this book in my hands for the very first time, and pass it on to you!

I have loved each and every block that I have submitted to Quiltmaker Magazine for my Addicted to Scraps Column.  And my dream of taking those little scrappy blocks and making full quilts out of them, and in turn placing THEM in a book is what this book is all about.

Some of the quilts you have seen in the pages of the magazine.  Some of them you have seen me working on over the past couple of years.  These quilts come from my HEART as well as the bottom of my stash, and I can’t wait to see the quilts sparkle with your own scraps as you make them.

I’d love to share the quilts with you so you know just what is inside:

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