Hello from Cumming, Georgia! Yes, Georgia’s been on my mind for quite a while – there is so much to LOVE about Georgia. This morning’s love about Georgia was listening to the lady working the breakfast area at the Hampton Inn where I spent the night. Oh, that sweet southern drawl gets sweeter the further south you go. It is music to my soul! I’ve lived in the South from Texas to South Carolina to North Carolina and into Virginia since 1999, and the dialect does change from area to area – but I know when I’ve been on a West Coast trip, or far North East that things are different the moment I step off the plane. Here in the South, it’s home. It’s comforting. I know I’ll never sound like this – we tend to speak the way we learned to speak our vowels, wherever we learned them. My Minnesota twang will never leave me, but I know what I hear and how it makes me feel. Georgia is for sweet peach tea and front porch rockers and long talks about nothing, and everything. I’m so happy to be here!
For more information, visit the Quiltville Inn Web Page HERE.
This post was written when the house was first purchased in 2017. In my hand I hold the keys to my next chapter – The soon to be Quiltville Inn Retreat Center. It all started in December of 2016 after spending Thanksgiving on Key Largo in Florida. The North Carolina cabin had just gone on the market. We were looking a bit further afield for a place with more acreage (and no home owner’s association!) and had found a place we wanted to look at just across the NC/VA state line. I remember that first trip up to Mouth of Wilson, Virginia vividly. We loved the area, the whole feel of the place. And after touring the cabin for the first time, we took a drive around the area to see what we could see. It was on that first trip that I spied this wonderful old place with a “for sale by owner” sign in the front yard. Dreams began. I’d even taken a couple of photographs – posting them with a “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if?” or “Wouldn’t this make a great…” Many times I drove by, and still the house was there, for sale sign in the yard. We had been talking for years about the need for me to slow down. To have people come to ME. To LIVE LIFE instead of TRAVEL THROUGH LIFE. I love the travel, don’t get me wrong..but I’m ready for a change.
This was Sadie’s face yesterday as I rushed around the cabin, gathering my things – putting everything “right” before heading down the mountain yesterday afternoon. No, this quilt isn’t completely bound yet – but I’ve just one side and the hanging sleeve and label to go. I’m getting there. Why the early departure? I just felt the need to get home and give myself just a bit more time to be ready for Sunday’s trip to Georgia - I’ll be visiting guilds in Cummings, Oconee and Snellville in a 5-day-Frenzy of quilty activity. I hope I’ll see many of you there!
I’m taking a break from packing the van, washing clothes, re-packing my suitcase for Sunday’s trip to Georgia on a 3-guild tour to draw for this month’s Quilty Box winners! We’ll be drawing for TWO lucky folks – someone is going to win the April full-sized Quilty Box curated by Shayla Wolfe. A second runner-up winner will be receiving the Quilty Box Mini, a smaller version including charm pack of the same Foundation fabric by Shayla Wolf for Windham Fabrics. TWO WINNERS! And either one could be you!
It’s been raining, raining, raining for days on end. I LOVE a good spring rain….but eventually it needs to go away, doesn’t it? Those dreams of long April hikes – either down the road from the cabin, or back up on Mount Rogers amidst the wild ponies along the Appalachian Trail – well, they’ve all been put on hold due to mud and muck. Hopefully by the next time I’m up here the ground will have dried out a bit! The rain does have a couple of side benefits, though – can you see how glowingly green things are turning beyond the sliding glass door of my cabin studio? I may not be able to treadle out on the porch as of yet, but nothing stopped me from wheeling the treadle machine up to the glass so I could look out at the view beyond.
This is large quilt binding job number 3 over the last two cabin visits during April. I’m about utterly BOUND OUT. Seriously. And every time I get this way, with the last finish in sight – I tell myself “The next quilt will be smaller.” And it never is. I can turn a lap quilt to 80” X 80” in nothing flat – it’s just me. The quilt needs THAT MANY block repeats for the pattern to look right, and small quilts and I have never had a long-lasting relationship. I do have some small wall hangings, and I love looking at small quilts that other people make, and I think….I could get a whole lot more done if things were place mat sized! As of yet…it hasn’t happened.
I wanted to take this morning to reflect upon my time with the Napa Valley Quilters – and the WONDERFUL Quiltville Show & Share they brought to our events. You know that is my favorite part of any group gathering – seeing what you have made, the colors and fabrics you’ve selected, the twists and turns and detours you’ve taken to make each project your own. And of course it is even better when your outfit matches your quilt – part of the whole “I am ONE with the QUILT!” experience! It’s been long enough since these photos were taken that many of the names have been forgotten, but the faces and smiles I will never forget! Isn’t this variation of Orca Bay from String Fling just wonderful? I was sitting in the front row after my presentation when quilters brought their own Show & Share up and I was able to enjoy up close and personal.
Before the rain started yesterday, when my body clock was shouting loudly “But it’s only 4:30am!” at 7:30am East Coast time, Sadie and I headed out to check what had happened during the 10 days I was in California. GREEN! So much more green. And green is the color I really miss the most during the long winter days, weeks….MONTHS. To see this verdant green make a reappearance just brings joy to my soul. “Welcome back!” I sing to my favorite neighborhood gnarly tree. We’ve missed you! This tree also boasts my favorite section of fence for quilt photo ops. Add an old tumble down shed or two and you’ve got the makings for a scene that just makes my heart breathe.
Good Monday Morning, everyone! I’ve arrived back home in North Carolina to find a WONDERFUL Quilty Boxpatiently waiting for me – it was the first thing I opened up this morning. While I play catch up after 10 days on the road, I thought we’d jump right in and offer this little goodie up for grabs – sound like a good idea? Upon opening this box I was so excited to see the NEW color for the Olfa Splash rotary cutter – FLAMING HOT PINK! YAY! I love this rotary cutter with its quick-change blade..and now the pink one can join my purple and aqua ones to suit my mood. It goes hand in hand with the Olfa frosted rulers I love so much (available in the Quiltville Store) as there are no yellow lines, no green bubbles, no huge black and white circles to obscure my view, and the non glare surface makes reading the numbers and lines even better on any fabric.
See this handsome fella in the red shirt? This is Jeremy, the owner of Thimble Towne in both Visalia, and Bakersfield California. More than just a quilt store –serving quilters is a way of life at Thimble Towne. For over 20 years, Thimble Towne has been promoting high quality products, and services, and supplying the sewing community with everything they need to create stunning projects. In addition to two wonderful quilt stores, the Thimble Towne Bakersfield location also offers an amazing 5,500 square foot event center! Open for public use and rental, this is the perfect space for events, retreats, and more! And this is where I have been for the past 4 days of events. Yesterday we gathered for the last workshop of this California visit to spend our time making Jamestown Landing from my book String Fling. Of all the quilts in that book, I would have to say Jamestown Landing has been a favorite – and what’s not to love – simple string units and half square triangles all the way!
Palm trees against a blue southern California sky? That IS a Blue Heaven! And I love this My Blue Heaven class so much, I think it’s time to make a new sample…maybe in a different color way? Maybe using a different size of strip? Every time I teach this, new ideas come –if only there was time to stitch them all up! We met yesterday morning at wonderful, wonderful Thimble Towne who has been so gracious to host all of our events this week. It’s been a dynamic duo of 2 workshops and a morning lecture for the Cotton Patch Quilters of Kern County, and an evening lecture and today’s Jamestown Landing workshop as a shop event. What’s been lovely is those who are staying for more than one workshop can leave their stuff in place and not have to move it in or out.
There is still a functioning Woolworth’s Luncheonette counter in the old Woolworth’s building in downtown Bakersfield, California! Yesterday was a double duty lecture day – one for the Cotton Patch Quilters of Kern County during their morning meeting, and one hosted by Thimble Towne quilts in the evening, which gave time for 4 of us to bustle around town in between. These girls KNOW me! An afternoon of lunch out at the Woolworth’s counter, and antiquing before going to the evening event? I’m ALL IN!
Five & Dime Antique Mall is in the building!
Our feet on the historic entrance!
It’s like stepping back in time!
And yes, cherry cokes are on the menu.
Step into the Five & Dime Antique Mall in Bakersfield, California, and that rarity becomes reality. There, in the back corner at the ground-floor level of the four-story building, is a fully functioning former Woolworth luncheonette counter, complete with 22 counter seats, formica tables ringing the room, and an open kitchen for griddling burgers and making milkshakes.
But this well-protected bit of ephemera isn’t cordoned off with Do Not Touch signs — it’s still a real, thriving luncheonette counter called the Woolworth Diner, serving police officers, antiquers, and locals daily.
This is the last Woolworth luncheonette counter in America.[source]
It was just too much fun, pulling up a table, being served our lunches, oldies playing on the overhead sound system. And all around us – a huge antique mall beckoned for us to finish our meals and come take a wander.
Oh yeah, I could be here for days – and there are 3 floors!
There were quilts tucked in and around – keep your eyes peeled!
Treadle lamp, anyone?
Actually, this was so cute I’d probably have bought it if it wouldn’t have cost a fortune to ship it home. it would be great near a sewing chair…
Wooden straight legged treadle and singer 15!
I’ve come across the straight legged machines with metal legs before – but wood? I didn’t know they made such a thing! This may have been on the take home list too, but again, I’m in California so was able to show much restraint. Though missing its bobbin plate – that is easily replaceable- This is an AWESOME machine for anyone near Bakersfield who is looking for one. This machine is 1940-1950 vintage and has reverse. I think the black spoked hand wheel is so classic!
There were beautiful quilts on beds.
And more tucked under tables in baskets.
This one – SO interesting!
Lovely scrappy stars -
And oh, my! Turkey reds so vibrant!
Flour sacks on the back!
We had the best time just poking around and wandering. It’s fun to go with other folks and see just what it is that catches their eye that I might not even have noticed.
No longer Kit-less!!
Times TWO!
My thanks to the lovely ladies who brought me more Diamond Tile block kits from their own stashes to keep me sewing while I am still on the road. I am just blown away by their generosity – you ladies just MADE MY DAY! Thought I was too worn out after last night’s event was over – you can bet I’ll be sewing these up tonight after our Friday class is done. Aren’t quilters just THE BEST!?
And my thanks to A & E Signature!
Signature thread has so graciously gifted Signature 60 wt thread for each of my students here in Bakersfield. I am so in love with this thread for both my handwork and my machine piecing.
Processed in my home state of North Carolina, USA!
There are still two workshop days ahead. Today we’ve got My Blue Heaven up on deck, followed by tomorrow’s Jamestown Landing.
It’s time for me to get a move on!
Quiltville Quote of the Day
Quilt found in Woolworths, Bakersfield!
What are you giving power to that you shouldn't be?
Make up your mind how this day is going to go before your feet even hit the floor and accomplish it!
If you’ve never been to Thimble Towne, YOU MUST GO! This is no ordinary quilt shop, it’s also a wonderful event center right here in Bakersfield, with a second location in near by Visalia. Just awesome beyond words! And I came face to face with the poster that has been announcing my arrival over the past many months as we have had this on the calendar for more than 4 years. 4 years, and I am finally here! And so is the quilt in this photo, as it was a Wonky Workshop Day yesterday, hosted by the Cotton Patch Quilters of Kern County. I learned many things yesterday – this area was also big in cotton growing for many years, though citrus and nut trees and vineyards have slowly taken over.
I left this idyllic location yesterday morning as Linda’s SUV rumbled up the long drive and toward Betty Ann’s guest cottage --- I had been getting some steps in walking up and down the vineyard road, knowing they would HAVE to pass by me to get to the cottage – there was a whole day (or the better part of it anyway) of car sitting ahead of me and I needed that leg stretch while I could get it. Cool morning amongst the vines? Beautiful! And if you peek closely, you’ll spy an old farm house tucked in between those trees. And the mountains in the distance? Lovely!
Our Monday started with a stop at the renowned Butter Cream bakery and diner in Napa to pick up goodies for our burgeoning class of 50 assembling for our Talking Turkey workshop. “What? You’ve never been to Butter Cream?” was the cry. So in we went. It can’t be missed – this pink and white striped building. Parking is ALWAYS a problem, and there can be a wait to be seated for breakfast – I understand their blueberry pancakes are not to be missed – a thing of beauty!
Triangles, triangles, oh – SEW MANY TRIANGLES! We met yesterday with the Napa Valley Quilters and visiting friends at the senior activities center (beautiful location!) for our busy bustling Hawk’s Nest workshop from my book Scraps & Shirttails II! I am so tickled that these books that are 8 to 10 years old still have workshop quilts in high demand. Quilts that have been in cold storage for a while get to come out and play and it just goes to prove that some block designs may be classic in nature, but so variable when it comes to fabrics and layouts and modern up-dos! We were 44 quilters strong, and with the room divided up into two groups, we doubled up on the demos and got everyone working with strips and specialty rulers like the Essential Triangle Tool focusing on building triangle variety from short strip sets. Short strip sets are the best thing when it comes to building variety and variety we needed – each block takes 16 half square triangle units – 4 that match the center “Donut” in the block, and the other 12 randomly scrappy.
When you hear the words “Napa, California” What is the first thing you think of? Probably THIS right here! And April in Napa is a sight to behold. Acre after acre of beautiful vineyards, ready for the growing season ahead. It’s an optical illusion to the eyes as you drive past the rows as rows of grapevines standing at attention – appearing with arms outstretched, nearly touching their neighbor vines, but not quite. Waiting for new growth to happen. And I learned something -- some grapevines stand taller (less bending for pruning and harvesting) and some are quite short to the ground. The ones closer to the ground actually require LESS water and during drought conditions will produce more - because they don't require as much water to be drawn up from the roots to the rest of the plant. (But oh, the back breaking to stoop so low to end them!) We were on our way “over the hill” from Fairfield to Napa to meet with the Napa Valley Quilters and friends for the Saturday morning meeting held at the senior center. I LOVE a Saturday morning meeting! What a relaxing pace! It almost felt like playing hooky. And what a group had gathered.
This is what 4:30am at the airport looks like, for a 5am boarding time – Greensboro to Atlanta to Sacramento, nearly coast to coast. I climbed into bed = hopeful = that I’d be able to squeeze in 6 hours of good sleep before my 3am alarm went off so I could get myself to out the door by 3:45am to make it to the airport by 4:15 to do the luggage struggle and parking solo again. Neighbor dogs barking madly at midnight did NOT help. There are no sky caps at his hour in Greensboro. I grabbed their cart however and loaded all of my stuff and wheeled it into the terminal, giving myself extra points for weight bearing exercise on this day of long travel ahead. Somewhere over Atlanta I dozed off…maybe 20 minutes, but that was enough to get me all the way to California with no extra shut eye. It just wouldn’t come. What does a girl do on a flight where her pop-up TV from between the seats in row 10 has NO AUDIO!?
Last week I received an email from Peggy who lives in Greensboro. She was offering up 4 machines, and would I like to adopt them? “Two are in those round wooden cases, and two look like suitcases.” Well shoot! That could be ANYTHING! My wheels were spinning and I knew that I could not just let this go… So Wednesday afternoon I headed over to Greensboro, about a 30 minute drive from the house to meet up with Peggy and see what was what. And just as she said. Two in round wooden cases, and two suit case looking machines –and I knew right away what they were. The suitcase ones, anyway! These are 99ks! And they are wonderful machines. One of the round wooden machines is a class 15 with a potted motor, circa 1940s. The other, a reproduction 15 made somewhere in the 1970s. Oh this could be fun!
Quilt-Cam happened last night over on Facebook Live! Did you catch it? If not, no worries, because it will be archived here and you can always come back to catch the ones you’ve missed, or the ones you want to watch again by clicking the Quilt-Cam tab at the top of the blog. It’s not just the quilters who get excited about Quilt-Cam, it’s the Quilter’s children!
And the cutting and kitting up continues! I just can’t stop myself. I absolutely LOVE taking batches of random scraps that don’t look like much and cutting them into the parts that will shine next to each other – first in blocks, and then in a completed quilt. It’s as simple as putting on “Midsomer Murders” on Netflix, and cutting – all of the variety I need right at my fingertips in my own Scrap User’s System! One of the questions that came in yesterday was repeated more than once, so I thought I would share since “inquiring minds want to know!”
I succumbed to the task of getting not just MY van inspected, but the Hubster’s truck as well – I needed a double dose of this cuteness to see me through my Monday! I walked into the office at County Line Automotive, a local family owned auto repair shop, to be greeted by a baby goat! A BABY GOAT! Oh, be still my heart! If I hadn’t walked IN with a smile on my face, this sure put one there! The story goes that this little fella (Maverick is his name – so cute!) was rejected by his mama at birth (why, oh why?!) and the family took him in to be bottle fed and cared for until he is old enough to re-enter the barn yard able to care for himself. He is VERY attached to his owners, in fact when the husband left the office to go work on my car you would have thought the world was ending. Poor Maverick just stood there bleating at the door, loud as he could as if saying “Come baaaaaackkk! Come Bbbbaaaaaack!” inconsolable. Oh my heart!
Whoowhooo!! I am SO excited to have a feature article in Britain’s Number 1 guide to fabric and patchwork, QUILT NOW! How cool is this?! I love the vignette they’ve set up with furnishings and flowers, accenting the colors from within the quilt. I think I need a blue dresser and old grey enamel pot with some wild flowers right away. It was a couple months ago that we did this little interview, and I had forgotten that it was coming out this month – just a few months ahead of my visit to England, coming up this August. I will be attending the Birmingham Quilt Festival August 9-10 with my group of Quiltville Travelers. I hope to see many of my European Quiltvillians there! We are arranging some book signings with some of the vendors at the show, and if you already own one of my books, feel free to bring it with you. I’ll be happy to sign it for you.
if you are on Facebook or Instagram you may have seen this photo come through your news feed yesterday. Or maybe not. Because these days I can’t tell what Facebook chooses to send through your news feed, and if you have a business page like mine, Facebook is decreasing the presentation of business pages, showing less and less of our posts – unless we pay to have them seen by you. One thing you can do to make SURE you see my posts is to make sure you have not only LIKED my page, but clicked FOLLOW, and gone even a bit further – click SHOW FIRST so that I am not buried so far down in your news feed that you never make it to where they choose to put me as a business page. Of course, it also helps to click like, and comment on my post, or comment to other people’s comments so that Facebook algorithms can determine that “Oh, she really wants to see this stuff.” And send you more. And IF you have clicked FOLLOW and clicked SHOW FIRST you may have seen my post about these fun Diamond Tile blocks, featured in the May/June 2018 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine – on news stands now!
Do you recognize any of these?
I brought home a good sized bag of wonderful Gerald Roy scraps Cathy gifted to me during last month's 3 guild tour in Illinois. 1998 on the selvage! I was over the moon in love with these fabrics when they first came out, and there are still several yardage pieces in my stash just waiting for the right project. Classic never goes out of style.
Some of the pieces are small, some larger – but I thought it would be a fun way to use them if I combined them with other fabrics in my Diamond Tile blocks.
And then there were 7!
The far left block uses 2 of these pieces – the gold and the fun purple print as the cornerstones. And in keeping with the decade, I threw in a gifted piece of Y2K fabric as background.
The center top block used one of the Gerald Roy fabrics as the large center square. These are going to be fun – the center square is large enough to even fussy cut something if you want.
I’ll be posting my progress on these fun little blocks, and if you would like to join in for yourself, pick up a copy of the issue and dig right in.
I’ll be using the hash tags #addictedtoscraps and #diamondtilequilt. Tag your posts so I'll see what you are sharing. This is an “unofficial” sew along – you can decide how many blocks to make and how you are going to set them. I’ll be kitting a bunch of blocks up to take with me on the road – I leave for Napa, California on Friday. I’m not sure how *I* will set them yet, but it is likely there will be sashing involved – who wants to match all of those corners and points? There is no deadline on these – just a sew at your own pace, and they would make a great Leader & Ender project if you, too are done with this year’s Checkerboard Railschallenge and are just looking for something to fill in the blanks until our new challenge is issued in July.
Hot Tub Acrobatics!
Friends Rick & Mona came up yesterday afternoon for THIS cabin addition – Remember they adopted our old hot tub last October because we needed one a bit bigger that sat deeper?
This is a long saga – it started back while I was in Illinois, the details coming by phone and by text while on the road.
We had ordered a hot tub via Amazon. Simple. Basic. Deep, Not so many jets, all seats – no lounge chairs.
Delivery was delayed and delayed and delayed and upon a phone call, Amazon agreed to give us a shipping refund.
And then during the delay – the hot tub goes on SALE on their website. A call to Amazon went round and round and round to honor the sale price since it hadn’t been delivered yet. What would they rather have? Us refuse delivery and simply re-order it at the new price? So….the sale price was granted.
Then with delivery, one minute it is in New Jersey, and a few hours later – just a few…suddenly it is at the depot in North Carolina ready for pick up. Is it here? Is it there? More calls to find where it really was.
Luckily the Hubster was in town and could go with the trailer to pick it up. Yes, this is the right one, the label on the outside matches our order number. Right serial number –—NO LOUNGE it says right there on the big orange sticker that can't be missed on the side of the tub.
Upon getting it home, and wanting to check under the shrink wrapping for any damage issues, the wrapping was peeled back in the corner to reveal ---Oh NO! A LOUNGE! (And way way many more jets than the one we had purchased.)
Another call to Amazon. Someone at the facility put the wrong outer sticker on this tub after shrink wrapping.
“This is not the tub we ordered. We specifically ordered NO LOUNGE SEAT”
I can just imagine that Amazon was at a loss for what to do next – unhappy customer, wrong item, huge semi truck shipping bill, and more to pick it up and take it back and deliver the right one.
Another discount off of our sale price was offered, and with a sigh – we accepted. We were tired of this runaround as well. At this point any hot tub (at a discount) is better than no hot tub.
The hot tub has sat off to the side of my driveway at home – still on the trailer, waiting for the weather to improve enough that we could pull it up the steep 11% grade of the lane way up to the cabin.
As I am being driven to Ottawa, IL after my Chicago area gigs were done I get a phone call and the Hubster is laughing hysterically. (And I can imagine much fist-pumping going on as well.)
He found the hot tub listing of this model so he could read the specifics – offered by Costco. This thing has Bluetooth speakers, a bazillion stainless steel jets – and was several thousand dollars MORE than the tub we originally ordered (That had been knocked down to free shipping for the delay, and sale price refund given, plus another refund for the hassle of sending the wrong thing so we would keep it and not send it back.)
And that brings us to YESTERDAY! Click to play:
2 winches (Mona manning the one on the RZR) a man-made skid and roller log contraption, and a whole lot of ingenuity and man power! This was an amazing process to watch.
It was a long ordeal getting the hot tub to where it needs to be, and this is a LONG 8 minute video with photos and video clips included, but it is now on the deck – beautiful sight!
The moment of peril!
Rick is on the deck, Dave on the deck behind the hot tub, Mona bravely running the winch on the RZR. I got off lucky with camera duty.
And did you see that it went from drizzle to rain to freezing rain --- and not long after – snow flurries! This is a weird spring.
I am not complaining about that lounge chair!
Yes, the deck is reinforced. There was a hot tub here before, and we are adding more to account for extra size and weight of this monster.
It will be a few weeks before we are up here again and can have Lee of “Handy Dan the Fan Man” fame (Remember, he got rid of the ghosts in our ceiling fans last year?) come and hook us all up.
At some point the plan is to build a gazebo type roof over the tub for all weather use – who knows when.
Evening hand stitching after all was said and done.
Miles of scrappy red binding yet to sew...
It’s a going home day. I think we’ll be able to work in a Quilt-Cam before I leave on Friday. How does Wednesday evening 8pm Eastern sound?
I’ll let you know for sure as the day gets closer.
Quiltville Quote of the Day!
Here’s to good friends and all they add to our lives!
