It has rained and rained and rained more than I have ever seeen it rain in the 9 years I’ve lived in North Carolina.
It poured all night before I headed out yesterday morning.
And I was pretty worried about the rain, after all I had driven through last month on my way to Birmingham through tornado warnings and hail and all.
“Enough with the rain already!” I shouted to the sky as I headed out in an ongoing pitter patter, my first stop being the post office to drop off mail order before I could steer Moby onto the highway, and then to the interstate, and finally point myself toward Virginia.
Mona sent this picture yesterday of the New River in Grayson County where the cabin is – the New River has overflown its banks.
ENOUGH RAIN already!
I made it to Richmond in fairly good time, met up with some friends for lunch, much visiting and much laughter, and pulled out back onto the road amidst another raging downpour. And the sun was shining as if to mock me – deluge of a downpour, AND sunshine making the glare nearly impossible to see anything.
“Thanks a lot!” I said to the sky and continued on my way.
Evening clouds just outside of Manassas.
That must have been the last hurrah, because the clouds bid me a pink welcome as I stopped for gas. The wind had died down, the air was cool and crisp, the world was washed clean and I was ready for a bit of dinner and a comfy bed.
My one regret? I took a lot of backroads and there were WONDERFUL old homes, and churches and abandoned estates and barns ---but I wasn’t stopping in the rain to get photos. GAH! In fact, I didn’t take any photos at all yesterday because the rain was just miserable.
But I’m here!
And today I have 40 students in a fun retreat situation here at the Hampton Inn in Manassas! There are still clouds. It could still rain. but I don’t have to move myself until my lecture Monday evening, so here I will remain.
There are 5 machines to rehome.
And I’ll sew on them while I’m here until they are claimed by someone else!
This is why I love driving a mini-van!
Haul the stuff, baby!
Pretty soon this room will be FULL and bustling!
I came down early to check the table situation and figure out where I’m going to do demos and where to hang our workshop quilt. I thought today was Scrap Crystals. It’s hanging there in the back, ready to go.
But it’s a Pfeffernusse Day!
Whew – got that sorted before folks started to arrive!
I’ve also got another issue. I was brushing my teeth, glasses off, still post shower –and I set the toothpaste down, only to watch my earring slide off the counter and into the bowl shaped sink, and…Yup. Down the drain. RATS.
I went and talked to the front desk about having maintenance come retrieve it for me. I have put a sign in the sink “DO NOT USE…EARRING DOWN DRAIN!” And the ‘”Do not disturb!” sign is on the door until they come fix it so that house keeping doesn’t run it any further. I’m hoping the earring is just in the elbow shaped part and they can get it out for me.
It was half of my favorite pair!
I brought these with me to work on!
These little Rolling Stone blocks are far to fun. I spent the rest of my time at the cabin making kits in preparation for this road trip. Kit making is fun! Choosing the fabrics, deciding what is going to go with what, bundling everything up so it is ready to sew on the go.
My life in zip lock bags!
I love the little snack sized bags for block kitting if blocks are small. Each little snack bag holds 2 block kits. (Half the amount of bags required that way!)
If you are wandering over from the Quiltmaker blog, Quilty Pleasures, in search of my 100 blocks vol 15 post, you can find it HERE. Be sure you follow the instructions for how to enter my giveaway! Drawing to happen tomorrow night so get your entries in.
And if you have already entered mine, there is more fun going on with other designers as well, so be sure to check them out. All of their links are on the Quiltmaker blog.
Quiltville Quote of the Day!
Vintage Crazy Anne quilt found in Grapevine, Texas.
Even baby steps can move you forward. Don't measure the distance ahead, focus on the progress in font of you!
Oh how I love red and cheddar together --
Have a wonderful Saturday, everyone!
Have fun! I think I would just love to attend your retreat just to watch everyone else sew. Get ideas. Mayb could be the person who irons for others.......I'm not too good at scrappy. 😂😂😂
ReplyDeleteGlad you got there dispite all that Rain. It rained hard on my way home yesterday. Good thing I slwed way down. I had about 5 deer trying to cross on a corner coming down the Blue Mountains. I love the view coming down. No pictures for me while driving either. Good idea to double up the kits per bag. I have a few Garden Party kits ready, ran out of bags.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you do it. Busy, busy, busy. And to offer five machines to new homes. Wish they were coming with you to Minnesota in August. So looking forward to your visit then.
ReplyDeleteHope the rain stops and everyone arrives ready to work.
You can send some of that rain our way. We can always use a little more now that it is our dry season.
ReplyDeleteNOW, I get it! The corners on your cute blocks are square in a square. They had me puzzled until I enlarged the photo. It sounds like a great weekend for sewing. Glad you made it safely through the rain.
ReplyDeleteWe need some of your rain here in the uk. It's been gorgeous sunny weather but the gardens need watering.
ReplyDeleteWe can identify with your feelings on the rain. We have had 18 inches in the last week or so. Lakes are full and spillways are overflowing causing road damage, so far the dams have held. It's sad when you make the national news because of flooding and devastation. Luckily my community is safe and no losses here. But other schools in our county have been out of school all week and a couple in neighboring counties have ended their school year due to the loss of homes and disruption for the their students. I'm so glad you made it safely to your destination and I am looking forward to your updates on how things go. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteBummer about the earrings. Been there done that! Now I always take my earrings on and off standing away from the sink so that if they do get away from me they fall on the floor and hopefully I can find them. And when they are off, they go in a pouch. I hope you get yours back!
ReplyDeleteOh, bad luck regarding the earring. I can sympathise, as I did exactly the same thing at my brother's apartment several years ago. It was one from a pair which I really treasured - 18 ct gold earrings which my daughter brought back from Egypt a few years earlier. My brother is not at all sentimental and simply shrugged his shoulders and said he was sorry, but it was gone. But he already knew that he was going to have to take that bathroom basin apart and was heading to get the appropriate tools. Thank goodness it was lying there, glistening away in all the gunk. No wonder I love my brother! Good luck Bonnie - I do hope it is waiting there for you.
ReplyDeleteAll the rain here is causing extensive flooding. After 23 years of a dry basement, ours has had water coming in for 5 weeks. My quilt studio is in boxes in the garage as is our family room. They have dug up around the house but the trenches are so wet the walls are collapsing. And still the rain comes..3 inches this weekend and then more days of rain after that. I too am tired of rain.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping for good news about your earring!
ReplyDeleteAccording to the old wives tales raining when the sun shines is because the devil is beating his wife.
Manassas is where my daughter and son-in-law live! She's not a quilter (yet!) but she does love to sleep under quilts. Glad you're in the neighborhood and hope that Shamoo liked his 'bath'.
ReplyDeleteOh, Bonnie, I hear your pain about the rain! It started here in Oregon in October/November and, outside of maybe 5 days, hasn't stopped until that last couple of weeks. Ugh! Certainly not the horrible downpours that the south is having or where you are, but just rain and gray skies, day in and day out, week in and week out. Blah! We are having the first 4 days of no rain since February. Hooray! Hope you find your earring!
ReplyDeleteInquiring minds want to know -- were they able to rescue your earring? Hope it worked out ok.
ReplyDelete