A Change of Place! (And An Announcement!)

I caught the Summer Solstice at 6:07am this morning, rocking on the porch at the cabin.

Hello Summer, 2018!

There are some Quilt-Cam type announcements further down, be sure you read to the end.  No skimming!

I have been working in the basement studio space at the cabin for most of the week – cranking on upcoming things.

So many things – All needing to be ready within the next few months!

While I love my space at the cabin – ANY four walls can start closing in on a person after a while and I needed a change of venue.  Options are good, right?

My post to my Quiltville's Open Studio Group on Facebook simply read:

So funny!

A 10 minute drive through the mountain countryside - a change of venue and view, and I was set up and ready to go.

This is what old heavy laptops were made for!

I can’t believe I ever lugged this heavy laptop around in my backpack while traveling and teaching, but I did.  And there were many things I loved about this laptop.  It has a built in DVD/CD player, perfect for watching old DVDs (or new ones) and I set it up next to where I was sewing – gazing out the front dining room windows over the porch to the world outside.

Anne of Green Gables - such a favorite.

And a delivery happened!  LOOK!

My Magnolia Barn Quilt from the Mississippi Quilters Association!

I love this so much, and can’t wait to hang it near the front door.

What an incredibly thoughtful housewarming gift from these fabulous quilters.  I’ll remember the time I spent with you always!

It’s amazing what a change of venue can do.  I stitched string blocks until dinner time, and since I had packed and planned a bit ahead, enjoyed my salad and cold chicken dinner out on the front porch sitting in the rocker you see above watching the world go by.  

(Which was mostly cattle trucks and horse trailers, some empty logger trucks, pickups and motorcycles!)

I’ve got something in the works with HollyAnne over at String & Story that I want to clue you in on.

HollyAnne and I have been Instagram friends for a while – I discovered her while she was machine quilting her En Provence quilt, and I was fascinated with the easy yet captivating ways she was explaining what she was doing, inspiring others to get inventive with their machine skills, too.

We met in person while I was teaching in Georgia in April, and I was honored to be invited for a home cooked meal and meet her family.  We had such a great time.

And she has become Addicted to Scraps!  She’s spending the summer encouraging other quilters to get their stashes in a more functional state, and showing how she has started on her own Scraps User’s System journey and what she plans on doing with it.

Check out her latest blog post HERE.

This sweet quilter – age 26 – (the same age I was when I joined my first guild, so I’ve been in her shoes!) is teaching THIS OLD GIRL some new tricks!

We are going to try something fun on Saturday evening via Facebook Live on HER PAGE, where she can get me to join her, split screen fashion and we will both be live at the same time.

Join me and HollyAnne on her String & Story Facebook Page on Saturday, June 23rd at 8pm EST for Summer Social Hour, a Facebook Live Q&A time!''

I hope you'll join us while we try to figure out this new thing.  Mistakes and hiccups and all!  It will be good for a laugh.

And if you miss it, I’ll see if I can archive it in the Quilt-Cam tab –and if it works, I’ll post it in Sunday morning’s blog when I head off to Chicago.

I was laughing last night as we were scheming via text message.  "How long have you been blogging?"  THIS BLOG IS NOW 13 YEARS OLD!  I started in 2005.

"HollyAnne, subtract 13 years from your life - how old were you when I started this blog?"  

"13. The worst age of my life!"  "MINE TOO!"

Wow, there has been a whole lot of living in the past 13 years - and I'm looking forward to what will happen with the next 13, only please someone - make it SLOW DOWN.

Today – I’m meeting with some local quilters for a luncheon, and I feel like the new kid on the block going off to school for the first day.

I’m hoping to make some new friends, and become part of this community.

I’m excited!

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Ain’t this the truth!

My buddy Kevin the Quilter sent a wonderful batch of quilt photos from the antiquing trip he made while coming to see me in Lee’s Summit.

Have you checked out his blog?  His most recent post including several “improved nine-patch” variations is so inspiring!

Thanks, Kevin!

Have a Terrific Thursday, friends!