All the Way to Hershey!

I can smell the chocolate from here! 

Can you?

Yesterday’s drive to Hershey was completely uneventful.  No antique mall stops.  Just a drive from here to there.  2 1/2 hours, not bad!

All I really wanted to do was check into my room, set up my sewing machine and spend the day just sewing solo.  Me and the pieces and the machine, and a couple of podcasts to fill my head.

It has been such a cram packed more-than-a-week, and while I felt quite rested after a day at Bedford Springs, I just needed a quiet day to not have to do much of anything but make progress on some projects I brought with me.

PA Turnpike rest area -

With a quilt block!

I love that the Turnpike has a food court, clean rest rooms and a very safe atmosphere.  I’m one of those who doesn’t like to stop at interstate rest areas as they can be kind of sketchy – prefering instead to pull off at an exit where there is a fast food restaurant and more people, not just traveling wanderers.

But that quilt block on the wall?  YEP!  It brought a smile!

And so did this:

Traveling friends and spouses!

Donna contacted me a couple of weeks ago letting me know she had a sewing machine she would love to rehome to Quiltville Inn. Though I seriously feel like we are beginning to push the boundaries of just how many machines this house can hold, this is one that I have had on my bucket list for a long long time, and she was so pretty I just couldn’t say no.

Beautiful little 128!

Not much bigger than a bread box -

And isn’t she just gorgeous?

I will find just the right spot for her for others to enjoy.  Thanks Don & Donna!  It means the world to me!

A whole basket of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!

You know it's going to be a great show weekend when there is already a basket of Reese's peanut butter cups in your classroom upon set up!  There is room for 40 quilters in this classroom space – I think we are going to need more chocolate.  LOL.

All the teacher goodies -

We’ve got a very exciting staff this year at Quilt Odyssey!  The tin of binding clips (LOVE THESE!) was a gift for each instructor from Missy Molino who heads up this whole shebang.  Did you know this is the 20th Anniversary of Quilt Odyssey?  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Karen Kay Buckley herself brought in her brand knew pink handled scissors!  These have knife edged blades, not serrated – and I can’t wait to give them a try.  What I love is that they are perfect for lefties and righties alike, and the cushy handles make cutting so uber comfortable.  Thank you Karen!

And yes, sewing DID happen!

All of these Shoo Fly blocks were sewn as Leaders & Enders in between the lines of chain piecing the other projects I have going.  I’m going to run out of block kits!  I may have to hit up my students for donations.  LOL!

And if that doesn’t work – there is a huge vendors mall at the quilt show just a hop and a skip from my class room.

Are you joining in on this year’s Shoo, Fly, Shoo Leader & Ender Challenge?  It just started this month and it lasts the whole year.  You can find the information under the Free Patterns Tab at the top of the blog – just scroll down to S for Shoo Fly.

We had a fabulous array of Show & Share quilts during our 5 days in Bedford, and I’ve put them all together for you to enjoy.

Click to Play:

All of the quilts were SO beautiful - and there are some special antique ones that need their own post, so I'll share those during my home time after I'm back after Hershey. There just isn't enough space to do them justice.

On the Homefront:

The downstairs 1/2 bath gets a shower!

I am so excited to see this happening!  The downstairs bath was large with loads of wasted space.  This bathroom is right off the back entry, and we really needed a 3rd shower with 12 guests in the house.

We’ve borrowed a bit of wall space from behind the wall – moving the wall a bit closer to the washer and dryer:

There was also LOADS of wasted space in here!

(The shower is on the other side of the purple wall.)

Of course, the wall will NOT be left purple.  LOL!  But it’s these little things that make it so great – there was already a hot water line here because of the washer/dryer – it was so easy to tap into it for the downstairs shower.

And with all of that, I just looked at the clock and I’ve got to get out of here and get my classroom open – quilters will be arriving!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

I've already run into so many familiar faces it's like old home week!

I love that we share this passion for fabric thread and quilting together - it's going to be quite the weekend!

And when you top it off with chocolate, how can it get any better?

Have a wonderful Thursday, everyone!