Sunday - Post Earthquake -

Sunday morning New River views.

I kept waiting for aftershocks.

Growing up in San Jose, California – in the San Francisco bay area, we ALWAYS watched and waited for aftershocks whenever an earthquake of any size rumbled through.

Truth be told, there were very few of note that happened during my childhood.  Any of the devastating ones that toppled bridges and overpasses happened after I had moved away, gotten married, and started a family far away from the old stomping grounds of my youth.

Yesterday was different.  It’s not that earthquakes don’t happen here – they can happen anywhere.  It was just so oddly unexpected, like an out of body experience of “can this be real?”

What happened yesterday is the strongest earthquake to happen in this area since 1916.

For those wondering, the epicenter just south of Sparta, NC is only a 20 minute drive from Quiltville Inn.

Your NC week in review – LOL!

But other than that – the day settled into that lazy kind of summer loveliness, not much breeze, just sunshine, heat and the sound of cicadas all around.

Son Jeff came up from Jonesville NC (On the other side of Sparta, down past Elkin) to mow the lawn at Quiltville Inn.  We had a good visit with much talk of the quake.

I was just glad that no china fell out of the china cabinet and broke, no bookcases toppled over.

And it had me thinking back to that 1916 quake and how the folks who lived in the house at that time would have reacted.

Our hike up Round House Road beneath a cloudless sky.

Water rushing down the mountain to the river.

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A post shared by Bonnie K Hunter (@quiltville_bonnie) on Aug 9, 2020 at 8:07am PDT

In Sparta, closer to the epicenter.

Some homes were shaken off their foundations.  Some chimneys fell.  I didn’t hear of anyone losing their life – but seriously – 2020!  Are you done yet?

I did spend part of my afternoon getting the green string border on the Blossom Time quilt!

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And while I was cutting and measuring -

And looking and realizing -

WHY does this border work so well when nothing else would?

It’s all in the leaves/stems of the blocks!  There are so many different greens within the quilt that not one single green would work as a border.  And the floral prints with multiple colors that I pulled out to try wouldn’t work either.

NOTHING said “YES!” to me until I pulled out Robin’s string blocks and chopped them into rectangles and pieced them together to be this border.

And it’s even better – if there is a bit of Elvis!

And a green M&M!!

In other studio news:

These three, getting along great!

Lola – being even being a bit vulnerable!

This is NEW!

And even eating their treats together!

It has been almost 2 weeks now.  And things are looking UP!  I’m not sure that they will ever curl up together and sleep.  Lola never did that with Dresden, he was too dominant.  But who knows with these two.  It seems to be just a bit better every day.

My plan for this Monday?  I hope to get a backing pieced for the Blossom Time Quilt – which turned out Queen size due to block sashings, sashings between the blocks and borders.  So much for keeping it a Twin! LOL! 

Don’t you agree that a quilt will let you know what it needs, and when it is done?  That’s my story anyway.

If I get a backing done, there will be quilting to come next.  And I can’t wait to get it loaded into the machine.

It’s going to be a scrappy green back – bigger quilts use more fabric, and that is a good thing too.

How about your Monday? Anything in the works?

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Vintage Robbing Peter to Pay Paul quilt shared by Cathy.

Perspectives change. Things become more clear the longer we live.

Maybe a side effect of 2020 is learning to focus on what is truly important.

And the orange in this quilt is signaling to me that I am ready for pumpkin flavored everything!