>>>>

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

That Little Road Trip - (And TWO Gift-Aways!)


On Friday I took a little getaway.

Sometimes you just have to!

Part Three of our Grassy Creek Mystery had just gone live -

All of the mail that I could get out was out.

(And yes, the Simple Folded Corners rulers arrived YESTERDAY so I'll be caught up on all outgoing orders by closing time today. Hooray!)

And I just needed a long drive in the abundant sunshine.

And this is a rather long and rambling post, so pour yourself a cuppa and settle in!  Don't miss the Gift-Away info toward the end!


Bright and sunny, downtown Wytheville, VA!


Neutral Stash Enhancement!

A stop at Batiks, Etc was just what this girl needed.

I have been blowing through my neutrals lately with several quilt finishes - it feels SO GOOD to watch that UFO pile - and boxes of random units - go down.

I probably use more neutrals than any other color of fabric - and I need to keep my variety up so neutrals are ALWAYS a legal purchase for me.  Even when I say "I am on a fabric diet!" encouraging myself to use up what I have on hand - or at least make a dent in it - neutrals are the glue that hold everything together for me.

It also makes it a lot more fun when using older, lesser loved fabrics, to throw some new life into the mix with some really fun neutrals.

I only bought 1/2 yards.  The three folded pieces came from the sale room upstairs, and the meandering ants on the bolt (SO CUTE!) came from the downstairs fabric selections at the shop.

I celebrated my support of small town business with a yummy lunch at a local Chinese place - there was plenty of take-home for a future lunch. (Always planning ahead!)


Loading up my bookcase!

I mentioned my trip to Wallburg last week to mail 3 quilts to the Iowa Quilt Museum, and loading the rental car with boxes of books.

My #mediafreesunday was spent puttering in the sewing room - and to make myself some more floor space for laying out some projects - I emptied the book boxes into the awaiting cabinet.

I will need to go through these again, and take things over to the Quiltville Inn library that would be better stored over there where more people can enjoy them.

We also spent some time in the Quilting Quarters at the Inn making things a little bit more floor-friendly.

We are going to have to have the floor refinished  (I need to call that guy!) and with all the wear and tear of people and rolling chairs, I need it to be as protective as a gym floor in there.

I had put sticky felt pads on the table legs when we first set up the tables, but those tend to shift and slide and come off with the use and moving of the tables.

So guess what we found?


Silicone leg caps!

These things are AWESOME!


They slide right over the leg -

And the felt part will NOT come off.


There are 24 (Enough for 6 tables or chairs) in a package.

I have added them to the Around the Inn category of the Quiltville Amazon Affiliate Store where they are on sale (with PRIME!) for $18.20.  That's less than $1.00 each.

The chairs in the dining room are on carpet, so I don't think I need them there - but we'll see.


A bit of this happened yesterday afternoon -


I'm going to quilt this one up quick!

I shared the whole top in Yesterday's Post.  I've been asked if there is or will be a pattern.  I don't think so.  I made it out of leftovers.  I made it just for fun. For me.  

Not all quilts can be the kind of thing that works for pattern writing.  This quilt has odd sizes of units because the string blocks were saved from behind my hexie star applique.

Sometimes I need to make stuff just to make stuff, not because I want to write a pattern for it. I hope to finish the quilting today, and be stitching binding by tonight.

But here is something I CAN DO instead!


Let's Gift-Away a Pine Tree Point roll from Cotton to Quilts!

These sold out really quickly, but Irene sent me one to offer as a give away, and I'm going to include a FREE PDF pattern for Pine Tree Point along with the fabric!


Pattern PLUS fabric?  Yes please!


We will draw for our winner on Saturday morning, December 19, 2020!

You’ll find the PDF pattern for Pine Tree Point, including both the lap size and the runner in the Digital Patterns section of the Quiltville Store.

And while you are entering THIS Gift-Away - head on over to our current Quiltmaker Bundle Gift-Away!   It's a fantastic bundle including my new Sugar Top PDF pattern and a Sugar Top fabric roll from Irene at Cotton to Quilts!

The Quiltmaker bundle drawing ends THURSDAY, December 17th, so hurry and get your entry in!


The pattern for Sugar Top includes many full color photos to guide you to success each step of the way! 

This quilt is made using a 60 degree triangle ruler that is at least 8'' tall - check the pattern description for more info.⁣ I used the Clearview Super 60 Triangle available in the Quiltville Store

Sugar Top is currently on sale in the Digital Patterns Section of the Quiltville Store for 25٪ off through Wednesday, December 16th - so HURRY! No coupon code needed.⁣

My big excitement from yesterday?


Moby is HOME!

I took this photo this morning - you can see how frosty cold we are.  There is a big storm due with snow tomorrow, I keep hoping it will head somewhere else! The sunrise is just out of the photo, to the upper left - but baby, it's cold outside!

The rest of my afternoon was spent picking Moby up and then returning the rental car to Galax.  I was pooped by the time all was said and done.


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Oh, doesn't this one just hit home in all the right places.
If it's a sewing mistake - fix it. ⁣
If it's a life mistake - rectify it. ⁣
Breathe in the peace.

Have a Terrific Tuesday, everyone!


 

28 comments:

  1. Yes, we are getting the storm today probably not as bad as what's supposed to hit you all. I bit the bullet and put my name in for the pine tree gift away. The colors are perfect for the pattern. Thanks for the opportunity.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Husband Jesse and I are packing up this morning for a road trip to deliver 7 finished tshirt quilts. One is a gift for our niece and is full of memories from her high school experience. The other 6 -king sized!!!- are for the wife and adult
    children of a deceased Illinois State Trooper.

    We are traveling from west central Illinois to Bowling Green KY and then back home through Paducah and St Louis. This is our Christmas gift to us.....we need a getaway and we can do this safely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Make a stop at Hancock Fabrics while in Paducah. And check out the flood walls along the river downtown.

      Delete
    2. Call first to be sure they are open. For a while they were only doing online sales.

      Delete
  3. Bonnie,

    Thanks SO much for the chance to win such an pretty prize. I LOVE green. It's totally my color.

    Marilyn in MS

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the pigs in your string quilt!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG that quote hits me right in the solar plexus! So true!! Have a wonderful day Bonnie and thanks for all you do to make our quilting world so much brighter.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm so glad you could get out and away for a little while. It always helps me, too. The gift-away is awesome! Have a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Irene is so generous, wish her the best with her longarm service. She has such a beautiful smile. Downloaded the sugar loaf pattern and will focus on that ASAP, am doing the mystery right now with you. With 2020 happenings was looking forward to keeping my mind busy. Did the unity quilt with you earlier this year. Thank you Bonnie, words cannot express how much you have touched us. Blessing to you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  8. When I was a little girl, there was a Greyhound bus station in Wytheville and sometimes when we were downtown shopping, we’d stop in for lunch. I think I remember it being diner-like.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a wonderful, enlightening quote!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I live in the Hudson Valley, just north of New York City and we are expecting at least a foot of snow! By the way, winning that drawing would be a wonderful surprised gift for my 50th anniversary next week. I'm so disappointed that I can't celebrate this one in a lifetime event with family and friends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not looking forward to the snow either!! I live in Dutchess County. Having two friends for lunch Friday and hope we are plowed out by then. Not the same as our usual Christmas get together out, eight of us but it will be nice to chat and catch up us three. Better being safe and all that. Happy Anniversary

      Delete
    2. We'll take the snow. I live in the mountains in northern Colorado. We've had two big dumpings this year - the week after Labor Day and late October. The rest has been an inch here, an inch there. We so desperately need the snow. We're in the area where the Cameron Pea Fire was (the largest in CO history) and were evacuated twice in September, so we are dry. And the outlook is for a dry winter. Please pry for snow for us out west. Happy anniversary, Debcal1946.

      Delete
  11. Your pictures, and description of how you made the blocks for the latest scrappy quilt should be an adequate "pattern" for most quilters. THAT QUOTE! ....is so real!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love that your car has a name. My car is Phoenix, so named as it replaced the brand new car that was totaled in an accident.
    Thanks for all you do for the quilting world. You are the queen of scrappy quilts and I am proud to be one of your subjects. 🤣

    ReplyDelete
  13. Even though there will be no pattern for your fun quilt, quilters can learn from simply looking at the construction that any block alternated with light/dark hourglass blocks will be framed beautifully. That's a nugget for my future use for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  14. We had found "socks" for the legs of our chairs and table until we got a rug under them. My granddaughter had used them in her apartment. But, like the caps too. Thank you for the giveaways.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the give away. Thanks for the chance. Adore your hourglass and string quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Maybe I will win a birthday gift lol. 19th is my birthday..thank you Bonnie for all you do..I will have to check out the silicone for our chairs..wood floors..😀

    ReplyDelete
  17. Bonnie- I LOVE the pine Tree table runner. I was so disappointed when I tried to get the fabric bundles, and they were sold out w/in an hour of when I got your post for the day. I was sooooo disappointed. I would love to win this. I think it is beautiful in blue, also!

    Donna
    Kasilof, AK
    Where is snowed a little during the night and has been snowing lightly most of the day!

    ReplyDelete
  18. It must feel so nice to get your books in their new home, you are really settled in you lovely cabin now.
    Love the quilt you made from the leftover scraps, looks great and is so nice to use up the scraps.
    Hope the weather front dosent make things too bad for you, and welcome home moby!
    Stay safe
    Love and quilty hugs
    Anne xx

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well they told us to expect between 1 and 3 in. of snow by 5 PM today. At 9 am we already had 4 in. of snow here in N. Central Indiana. So be forewarned.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bonnie I love hearing all your travels about the community and back to your quilting projects. This year has turned me upside down. Unable to quilt because of caring for my husband and 90yr old mother. I seem to only be able to sit still and read when not about with their care. I have a stack of quilts to finish up. Hoping to sandwich and quilt someday.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh I would love to win this luscious bundle of greens!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I’d love to win a bundle of greens! I seem to gravitate to patterns with trees involve, maybe because my husband was a forester. Thanks for the possibilities!

    ReplyDelete
  23. For the first time, I am keeping up and determined to finish this mystery. I know it is going to be a beautiful quilt and something to have made this year good.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow, my theme this Christmas is trees and what a prize this give away would be. But if not I will just have to make as many as I can.
    Love green-my fave.

    ReplyDelete

If you are commenting as "anonymous" please leave your name at the end of your comment.

Did you know that ad space on this blog provides for all of the free patterns and free mysteries and challenges at no cost to you? Without ads, this blog would not be possible.

Thank you for understanding the many hours that go into this blog 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. :)