This happened yesterday -
Quiltville Inn got a bath by power washer!
It wasn’t until after I uploaded the photos to edit them that I saw we had also created a double rainbow with the water and the sunlight.
How cool!
This week Yadkin Valley Quilts is hosting their shop retreat at Quiltville Inn, so we are scrubba-dubbing to get everything ready for the quilters to arrive on Thursday.
I’m glad that I’m on the ground and not up there!
4th of July photo – flag waving!
Zoey, watching from the comfort of the warm and sunny lawn.
I love seeing how much joy she gets from the simplest of pleasures. Rolling around on sunny grass is such a feel good for her, and she gets into it whole hog.
it reminds me to take the time and enjoy the grass and sunshine as well. Summer is quickly flying by. Take a deep breath. Enjoy the aroma of freshly mown lawn.
It wasn’t long after the power washing was done, and the weed-eating completed, and the driveway debris from lawn mowing blown off that the clouds gathered, the winds gusted, and we were treated to a fast and furious round of torrential rain and hail.
Isn’t that always the way it goes?
We ended up leaving my van behind and going home to wait it out, intending to go back and get the van later.
When we got there – the beautiful and inviting lawn was now littered with sticks and twigs and leaves and more downed debris from the freaky storm.
There will be more yard clean up in the next couple of days to get things ready all over again.
That was a MIGHTY storm!
The best pork tenderloin ever!
Cooked in the instant pot in nothing flat.
Our 4th of July was quiet. We did hear some fireworks going off down the road – those farmers who live in the flat spots off the mountain have pastures and room to shoot things off. We couldn’t see anything – but luckily Zoey isn’t bothered by any sound.
Not the thunder that pounded in yesterday’s storm, not the gun shoots from folks doing target practice, or the fireworks going boom.
We’d hear it – look at her to see if there was a reaction at all – NOTHING! (Oh, YAY!)
Kitted up and ready to Leader & Ender!
Did you see that our next Leader & Ender Challenge, Easy Breezy is up and ready for you? While waiting for the storm to subside I dug into my 1 1/2’’ strip bin and played match game between the strips making it easy to cut stacks of pieces ready to sew as needed.
My load so far!
And they don’t take long to stock pile.
Close ups.
And my “hand work in the evening” project continues!
And then there were 11!
It seems like with a weekend “off line” that I could accomplish more than I did really – but maybe that was the point. Not to fill every waking moment with accomplishments – but just to BE.
There were naps, both Saturday and Sunday – long and leisurely. There was TV watching with popcorn and a minimum of slow stitching. There were good meals and time on the porch surrounded night sounds and the smell of citronella candles.
There was a bit of sleeping in -
And the internet was still there this morning when I turned it back on.
And I feel recharged.
How was your weekend?
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
It takes so little effort, and the effects are long lasting!
Have a great week, everyone!
I'm glad Zoey isn't noise sensitive - that is so hard to deal with in pets. Last night someone up the street from my house was setting off the last of the fireworks (hint - illegal in the city). My cat was asleep on the couch when it started. First his ears swiveled forward, then his head popped up, and then in one fluid slither he was off the couch and underneath it. And there he stayed until the fireworks ran out. I was trying to watch "Grantchester" on PBS and the noise wasn't exactly my favorite thing either.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad for you that you took a weekend off. You work so hard and you deserve it. I've been following you for about 6 years or so and this is the first leader ender challenge in which this Canadian has participated. I cut my kits 1/2 inch larger than you specified because that's my stash scraps. I'm excited to be a part of it. Thanks for ALL you do for us, we feel bonded with other quilters via you.
ReplyDeleteWe had a very relaxed week end here too, steaks on the grill and just our two sons over for dinner. Those crazy guys climbed on the roof to watch the fireworks across the hills, I guess that was a great view but not something I was interested in doing. I also kitted up some leader enders and have a nice stack ready to use.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to read that you had a restful weekend. Sunday afternoons are made for napping! It is always good to be reminded that it is the simple things in life that should bring us joy. Still working on the Unity quilt & loving it.
ReplyDeleteMorning, Bonnie! I had a question for you about choosing fabrics for this Leaders quilt. Do you use anything and everything that you have on hand in your scrap bins or do you get a bit choosey in your tones that you pick? Your scrap quilts seem to have a certain "life" to them that I can't seem to fully achieve! In my scraps, I have both brights and then darker, deeper tones. My question is do I lose the look you have by mixing these?? And same question for your backgrounds...any and all or do you leave some out? Thanks, Bonnie!!
ReplyDeleteIf you look at my close up photo you'll see that I'm using any two colors for the block, plus a neutral background - my neutrals are all lighter than medium. Hope that helps.
DeleteThis definitely helps me. I plan to do some kitting up later this week. It's going to be so much easier since I've cleaned up my scraps into useable parts. Thanks
DeleteLove your blog and read it everyday. I would like to do the Leader and Enders but don’t know how to line up the piles. I see above that you have piles to do it but I need to know what order you put into the piles.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your help.
Please share your recipe for InstantPot pork tenderloin. It looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteSpent a quiet (but sew-y) weekend too. Forty-eight Easy Breezy blocks kitted up from my 2.5" scrap container, two of which are already complete. I just love your neutrals--so playful, some of them!
ReplyDeleteYour weekend sounds great. I love seeing Zoey’s unlimited joy. She always brings a smile.
ReplyDeleteSpent my weekend, actually started during the week, going through ALL my scraps and instituting the Scrap Users System. Lots of work but now it should be easy to keep up. And super easy to find what I need for projects. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteGosh, that Zoey cracks me up.
ReplyDeleteStill loving those star-on-strings blocks. They're very busy - in the best possible way. What a fun and vibrant way to set them!
The night of July 4th was full of loud booms. My house sits with lots of trees in front so I could only see the fireworks through the trees. However while sitting on the porch there was another light show. Lightning bugs or fireflies were everywhere. It was beautiful and reminded me of my childhood.
ReplyDeleteWhile you were staying safe in the storm we were on our front porch watching and listening to the storm. We could see the rain but it never got close to our house. Later on Ken went down from the mountain and he could not believe how much rain fell...and we never got a drop. So different living in the mountains.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great week as well, Bonnie.
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear Zoey doesn't mind noises. I have two that hate the pops of fireworks. So sad to see them nervous. Love the new leader/ender and your handwork...just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI love your pictures of Zoey? She makes me smile every time you post a picture of her. I noticed on your leaders and enders projects that they appear to be neutrals plus two other colors. I have a ton of 4 patches from using leftover 2 !/2 squares but don't have more of the same colors, your thoughts on using a 4th color for corner stones. Angie
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed your weekend! Perhaps a regular "no internet Sunday" would maintain your special feeling.
ReplyDeleteYour appliqued stars block looks like looking through a kaleidoscope. Cool effect.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you were able to enjoy a relaxing weekend. Everyone needs to recharge their batteries once in awhile. I love seeing photos you include of the Inn and Zoey. Thank you for all you do .
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear Zoey doesn't mind loud booms. My dog Gracie was the same way as she sat beside me on the deck watching the neighbors shoot off fireworks. Any chance you could share the recipe for the IP pork tenderloin? It looks delicious. I tried your IP BBQ Chicken Thighs and my house LOVED it. Thank you for that one!
ReplyDeleteBonnie, you work so hard! But you gave us all a very good reminder that sometimes we just need to BE and enjoy the moments. Life is short and we need to savor it. Have a most wonderful day!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed your weekend off. I truly missed you though. You are always my go-to when I first check e-mail in the morning. Enjoy your comments about Zoey. So glad she found you for her family. We just lost our coon hound that looked similar to Zoey 3 weeks ago and are now trying to find a new dog to fill our empty hearts and space. Thank you for all you do.
ReplyDeleteZoey is such a happy being and gives great advice. Make the most of this moment,and then on to the next. Who knows when the next storm will hit, but it too will pass.
ReplyDeleteYour handwork in the evening project is going to be gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI changed the size of leaders and enders to 2.5 and 4.5 as that is the size I save. It makes just over 8 inch block. We'll see what I think.
ReplyDelete