Sometimes you've just got to take a break and step away from it all -
It was warm here over the weekend with temps in the 80s.
The main BIG JOB was to spend time painting the porch rails at the back side of the porch at Quiltville Inn, and paint until the paint ran out.
We know the job is too large to get it done all at once. We are working on it as time allows - it's much like maintenance on a cruise ship. Once you've painted yourself all the way around, it's time to go back to where you began and start all over!
The water was exceptionally clear for once!
We could see small fish swimming - usually after a rain the river is a muddy chocolate milk brown with all of the sediment, but on this day - leaves starting to turn, it was beautiful.
We have not as yet seen Zoey swim. She will go up to her belly, but that's as far as she seems to want to go.
We tried throwing sticks, and she seemed excited about that, but only up to her belly, feet firmly on the river bed - NEVER further.
I know if we had gone in swimming ourselves we "MAY" have gotten her out there - but that might have to wait for next year. There was painting to be done.
The before shot -
And yes, I am the Queen of Masking Tape!
This back side of the porch shows the worst wear, simply because the previous owners never put up gutters. If you remember, gutters were our big job this past spring, so the new paint job should hold up much better.
Plus the fact that we are doing two coats.
From my vantage point on the porch floor, scrubbing rails and slats before painting.
The pillars, rails and slats already look 100 times better than they did. But we are going to need more paint!
Power washing took off as much old paint as it could, and then a scraper did the rest - we are not sanding down to bare wood, just doing what we can.
All the while Zoey chews a yummy treat.
We painted last night until we rain out of paint!
And today it is raining, so we'll start up again when the weather is dry.
What a difference a new coat of paint makes!
As you have seen previously - this porch is miles long and wraps around 3/4 of the house. We might not completely finish until next summer.
We will paint through the fall until the weather is too cold - we may have 5 weeks left of "okay enough" weather to want to be out there doing it. We shall see.
View from the porch - the creek is down in there somewhere!
SO many yellows and golds happening around us. We are truly having a beautiful slow fall.
In other fun news -
I got a new batch of Quiltville rulers by Creative Grids in stock! And this time the print is in PURPLE!
The 2 1/2'' x 6 1/2'' size is PERFECT for subcutting small strip sets, trimming blocks and paper piecing and more. It's my go-to ruler for any lines I need to draw, any units I need to trim, etc.
I love that the numbers are small an don't obscure what I'm trying to see through the ruler. And those sand paper dots make the ruler extra grippy. All the good things. You'll find them in the Rulers, notions & tools section of the Quiltville Store.
Yes, it's time to think about small gifts for your Quilty Friends for the holidays - come check them out!
What else? I started shipping quilts yesterday.
Sugar Bowl is on it's way to my cousin Bethany in Minnesota!
Click to Play:
I had a blast making this one out of our grandpa's shirts.
The pattern for Sugar Bowl is found under the Free Patterns tab at the top of the blog.
These blocks were so super fun to make - Essential Triangle Tool friendly, and only contain two units - four-patches and half-square triangles.
Have you started one yet?
And did you know there are only a few more days left to enter this gift-away?
I want to thank everyone for the tremendous response to the PDF pattern release of September Sky and Spider & The Fly!
Thank you thank you thank you!
I have placed BOTH patterns in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store at 25% off the regular price with no coupon needed.
The introductory pricing is good through 9/30/21 and will revert back to full on 10/1/21.
If this is your first time downloading digital patterns from my store to a computer click HERE.
If you intend to download to an iPhone/iPad click HERE.
Save even more!
Purchase BOTH in the September Sky Pattern Bundle and save an extra discount!
This bundle is a limited time only offer, and will be retired on 10/1/21. So hurry!
And while I have you here - I want to remind you of this little Gift-Away for you and a friend!
I will be gifting away a September Sky Pattern Bundle AND a Facets of black color roll from Cotton to Quilts!
And our winner gets to choose a friend who will also receive the pattern bundle and a black color roll!
Fabric prizes must be shipped to a USA address. If you are outside of the USA and win, you may have the fabric prizes shipped to a friend within the USA who can forward them on to you.
Head on over to the release post for more info and get your entry in. We'll be drawing for our winner this coming Saturday, September 25th, 2021!
I have also marked my Appalachian Autumn PDF pattern at 25% off through September!
The sale price will remain through September 30th, and revert to full on October 1st, 2021. Don't miss out!
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Today I am looking for the good in the world and finding happiness in little things that surround me.
It's late September, leaves are turning and there is a soft rain falling outside.
I have fabric and Netflix and time to play!
Yes, I'll keep making quilts - it's in my blood!
Have a wonderful Tuesday, everyone!
16 comments:
Now you've done it! I remember when you made the Sugarbowl Quilt. My sister and I were in LOVE with it. So....we made a few blocks. Then I tucked them away with my orphan blocks to be pondered later. I need to go find them now. Lucky Bethany! I absolutely love this beauty!
Teresa in Ohio
That quilt zoey is on, is that Sadie's chewed one, that Zoey claimed? I love the idea of binding the edges of the chewed parts and gifting it to your acrobatic girl! Thanks for sharing your angst AND the lovely advice from the "unknown" friend...was a lovely "cup of tea and let's talk" kind of respite. Hang in there, warrior quilt woman... there's always more to paint!!! Giggles and grins for the beginning of a gorgeous Fall season... it's cooler in Carlsbad, CA, too, Cats
I love the sugar bowl blocks. I made my sugar bowl quilt several (??) years ago after watching you sew your blocks on quilt cam. Fun memories!
Sugar Bowl is such a fun and lively block. I still need to make one of those! Thanks for letting us see it again before it settles into its new home.
The porch painting looks sharp! It'll be time consuming, but it'll look so great when it's done.
thanks for sharing your sugar bowl quilt. reminds me i haven't worked with my plaids in quite a while. that quilt just looks so snuggly (word?). glad you took time to walk down to the river and enjoy some peaceful time. have a marvelous day. hugs, patti in florida
Lucky cousin! Sugar Bowl is one of my faves of your work. Stay safe!
How blessed you are to have received a lengthy communication affirming your worth and the beauty of your work.
Perhaps you would feel comfortable assembling groupings of your non-prom dress quilts for display at guild shows. Fees could be arranged of course. Not everyone is familiar with your work so a grouping could be advertising for you and a draw for quilters to come to a guild show. Advertised appropriately, this could be a win-win.
Unsolicited advice kindly meant.
I am sure Bethany is thrilled to have the "Grandpa's Shirts" quilt coming her way. When she wraps up in this quilt she will feel the love coming through the generations to keep her warm. What a loving gift. This moved me to tears. Love you, Bonnie.
Love this post. Miss it on Sundays. I have 3 of your rulers and I use them everyday I sew/cut/quilt. I am downsizing my house but not my quilts, but I don't have as many as you...I am working on it though...lol. You are my Quilting Guru..Happy Fall and I am looking forward to the end of October...We all know what that is..lolol Big Hugs from Santee California. <3
I just bought rolls from Cotton to Quilts. Bought Black, purple, orange, yellow and neutral. Thank you Bonnie and Irene..lol <3
A fresh coat of paint always brightens things up. And the porch will be beautiful when you get done with that labor of love! It looks like Zoey has claimed Sadie's quilt for her own! Keep showing the beautiful fall colors, we rarely get them in my neck of the woods!
There is no point in living in a beautiful place if you don't take the time to appreciate.
I really like your wrap around porch. A big house without a wrap around porch looks unfriendly. And your quilts. That sugar bowl patttern is great. Your cousin is blessed. A
Been cutting triangles for Twirl Around. I was looking for a pattern to use up my pink scraps and found this in Addicted to Scraps. So I started sewing HST, and thought it would be a good filler project. but I then get sucked into it and that is all I want to work on. Until I saw the Applaichain Autumn pattern so I took off on that and am stitching up string blocks in all those gorgeous fall colors. Going on a shop hop Friday with my best friend's sister. RIP Dianne we will miss you on this little road trip. Of course I do not need to bring another piece of fabric into my house, but need has never been a factor in my fabric purchases. My granddaughters from TN are coming up this weekend. I have not seen them in so long ... since Covid hit. Looking forward to a fun visit with them. They are all grown up now one in college the other a senior in high school. Bot I have missed them and my daughter...during this pandemic.
Every time you visit the New River I have flashbacks to 1974! My then husband was stationed at the Marine base in Jacksonville, and we often went crabbing for huge blue crab in the areas of the New River where the river almost met the ocean. It was almost magical -- we'd tie chicken necks to string and dangle them off the pier onto the sandy bottom of the river, and sooner or later a giant (to me) blue crab would sidle up and grab the chicken. We'd quickly dip our nets and TADA a crab. There were also water moccasins, so we were careful. That New River was a little different than yours!
Thank you for sharing your quilts!
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