IronEZ Holiday Gift-Away!

Let's keep building up the holiday spirit with an IronEZ Gift-Away!

We haven't done this in a while, and when Scott, the CEO of IronEZ contacted me yesterday - I replied with a resounding YES!

The adjustable clip can fit a multitude of thicknesses – this will even clamp to a table top, tray or big board.

It fits and corrals a multitude of favorite bottle sizes – and the free bottle that comes with it has even a finer mist than the traditional trigger spray on Best Press. 

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Quilt Memories & Cyber Monday!

There is a still a pile (or two) of "What do I do with these?!" quilts stacked next to the gust room bed.

I pretty much keep that door closed! LOL!

I have rehomed several quilts to loved ones over the past several months, and there will be another round of that coming likely in the spring.

I needed to catch my breath.  And recover from the shipping sticker-shock, that's no lie.

But there are some quilts that will stay with me - no matter what.

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Stuffing, Stitching & Small Business Saturday!

Things were In the Pink on Thanksgiving morning!

Son Jeff was up bright and early to get the insulation activity started.  And lucky for us - temps were not bad on Turkey Day.  High of 55 and I'll take it!

When I arrived at Quiltville Inn, I could hear the whir of the machine upstairs as soon as I entered through the kitchen door.

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Stuff the Attic, Not the Turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving, Quiltvillians!

I'm sharing this morning's sunrise with you - isn't it beautiful?

Today I am reflecting on the wise words of Tecumseh:

“When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.”

There are no stuffed turkeys cooking in my oven this year!

It seems less and less important to cook huge meals for small amounts of people (This year there are just three of us.) and more important to spend the time enjoying each other instead of slaving away in the kitchen making too much food.

So this year - we have plans to join other locals at our community hub - Corner Market Cafe - and leave the cooking to someone else, while we STUFF the attic with more insulation!

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Gratitude Rushes In -

There wasn't much stitching happening last night.

All of the emotions of the past many many months were rolling off of my shoulders, and my burden became much lighter.

I'm a worrywart.   Always have been, always working on it.

And 99% of the time when the situation is resolved or past, most of that worrying was really a waste of time.  Do you find that to be true too?

Ivy's like "I told you so!"

I've been carrying around a huge knot in my stomach the size of a boulder.  The kind of anxiety that makes deep breathing hard.

But as of 3pm yesterday afternoon I was deep breathing with a sign of relief that could be heard all across these mountains.

The Wallburg house is no longer ours.

It now becomes someone else's permanent address.

Dear Wallburg House -⁣

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You were good to us for the better part of fourteen years.

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I know you will continue to be a place where happy memories are made with your new family.

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I will remember the good, the bad, the⁣ ugly, the hard as well as the fun - and all of the growth that happened through the love that lived here.

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Oh, and we got all the way into closing before we were asked if we knew that there were still dishes in the dishwasher.

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I hope that they were clean. LOL!

It's a weird feeling knowing that I won't be walking through that front door anymore. But it feels so very right, and now we can concentrate on fully being Virginians.

How does one celebrate a house closing?

By cleaning out all the dead bugs and webs from the overhead light fixtures both here at the QPO Studio, and in the Quilting Quarters at Quiltville Inn next door.

It had been 2 years since installing these fixtures and it needed to happen.

This is happening next -

I know it is a holiday week.  But sometimes projects take several days of vacation time to get them done.

The trailer is full of blow-in insulation to add to the attic space at Quiltville Inn in hopes of keeping heating bills a bit lower all the way around.

Since there are no retreaters this week - it's the perfect time to do it.

It was 24 degrees when I awoke this morning.  it is DEFINITELY time to do it.

Today everything will get moved into place, and tomorrow morning when son Jeff arrives for Thanksgiving, they will get this blown in before celebrating with turkey dinner.

And no - for the first time in I don't know how long I am not cooking.

Our little Corner Market Café is serving up Turkey dinners, and I'm calling it easy this year since it is just going to be the 3 of us.  I may make pie.  Or maybe not.

For the first time in a long long long time I don't want to do anything more than just BE.  Does that make sense to anyone?

I truly wouldn't care if my Thanksgiving dinner was a doctored up frozen pizza at this point. If I can just catch my breath this year, maybe next year I'll feel like doing a production meal - but only because I'll want to, not because I have to or it is expected of me.

I puttered around at more of this in between everything else yesterday.

There may be more of this happening through the weekend.

And yes, I've been working on Part One of Rhododendron Trail behind the scenes.

Questions have come in asking when to come looking for the post on Black Friday 11/26/21.

Clues will post by 9am Eastern time.  It may be earlier.  But it is safe to say that 9am is as good a time as any.

Don't set your alarm.  It will be there when you wake up. 

And I'll have more to tell you about some things on Friday morning within that post.

We're going to have a great time.

It's a mystery.  Just go with it.

And if you are feeling that knot taking up space under your ribs keeping you from breathing deeply, remember that 99% of the things we worry about turn out to be no problem at all.

Exhale.  And drop your shoulders just a bit further away from your ears.

After all....Stressed is DESSERTS spelled backwards.

It's nothing that a little pie can't fix.

Now give me a smile.  It's all going to be okay.

LAST DAY!!

I have placed the printable PDF pattern for Pine Tree Point at 25% off - only $9.00 in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store. Sale price good through 11/24/21 when it will return to full price at $12.00. No coupon code required.

It's time to pull out those languishing holiday fabrics and sew yourself into the holiday spirit!

I made the runner in blue, too!  Good for having out all winter long!

Sale ends tomorrow: THANKGIVING MORNING - so don't miss it!

And while you are at it - don't forget to enter the November '21 Quilty Box Gift-Away!  

It's full of fantastic goodies you are going to want to get your hands on.  Enter to win On That Post. Drawing to happen Saturday 11/27/21.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Before speaking (or commenting) hold your tongue and ask yourself if your words are coming as a sharp rebuttal or from a place of love and attempted understanding.

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That is all.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, folks!

 

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Bye Bye, Bonniacs!

We caught the sunshine!

I'm so glad we did - the weather has been doing what late November weather does - it plays both sides of the coin from sunny to cloudy to rainy to frosty -

The side porch at Quiltville Inn faces West - so we are deeply in need of that late afternoon sun this time of the year to not have everything on the porch in shadows.

And then there is the wind...which was luckily at bay on this day.

And just look at this wonderful array of quilts!

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Weekend With The Bonniacs!

It was a intermittently sunny Saturday - but don't let that sunshine fool you!  it was just a tad bit chilly as we filed out of the front door, down the steps and into our "Short people in front, tall people in back" places for a round of group photos.

And YES!  There were custom shirts with a lovely photo of Quiltville Inn on the front - all arranged by Nola and the gang.  LONG SLEEVED!

What a great addition to my personal "Quilt Wear" collection - because, you know, it's quilting shirts all the time. Every day.

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November '21 Quilty-Box Gift-Away!

Do I ever have a fun way to kick off the Weekend-Before-Thanksgiving!

 

The November 2021 Quilty Box was delivered to the front door at Quiltville Inn yesterday afternoon, and I just could not keep myself from opening it to see just what is inside!

This month's box features an Orbit fabric bundle (8 FQ's = 2 yards!) by Whistler Studio and Windham fabrics, and these wonderfully stellar prints are featured in the included Star Field quilt pattern by designer Carl Hentsch.of 3 Dog Design Co.

That's a mouthful!

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Dirt Roads and Bonniacs!

This is the season where the not-so-faint of heart throw on their coats and go for a walk before the rain starts.

And we barely made it to the state/county line and back without getting wet!

But we did it.

A handful  of us loaded up, drove 1/2 mile to park on Round House Road for a bit of a leg stretch and fresh air. on what will likely be the warmest day of the Bonniac's stay at Quiltville Inn.

I hadn't been up this road in months - since before the great ankle turn of September 2021 and I was eager to see how the change of seasons appeared along one of my favorite Mouth of Wilson jaunts.

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Tree Harvest Time!

How Slow Can You Go?!

I have always been fascinated by the whole harvesting operation of any kind of farm crop.

After all, I married the Farm Boy in 1981, plucking him right off of his family farm where potatoes, onions, corn, sugar beets and beans were the crops that kept the farm going.

We lived for years in the Ontario, OR  to Payette ID area and during harvest season the wind would actually lift the dried onion skins that came off the back of the onion harvest trucks and blow them around like leaves.

I remember one performing group was called "The Onion Skin Players" as the sight (and slight fragrance on the air) of these harvesting crops meant that the farming community was thriving.

Onion processing plants near by were also an icon.  You can imagine what onion processing would smell like, I'm sure - along with the potato smell coming from the Ore-Ida potato processing plants.

Have you ever smelled a sugar beet processing facility?  It's not as sweet smelling as you would think it would be!  Rather nasty, in fact -

So living in a place that harvests truckloads of pumpkins in the fall, followed by trailers and truckloads of fresh cut fir trees from Halloween in to December is AWESOME!

And yes, it smells much better than sugar beets ever could!

Even more fun is watching the eyes of my guests as they try to catch the trucks with cameras before they rumble on by too quickly.

I caught these two photos on my way back from the USPS yesterday.

And even better:

Now on the front door at Quiltville Inn!

Imagine my joy when the Clayton's of Clayton Garden Center, Indiana drove up, parked out in front of the inn, and tried to sneak a wreath to my door!

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I love that they come all the way from Indiana to Mouth of Wilson VA to load their trailer and big panel van up with fresh Christmas trees to haul back to their Garden Center in North Webster, IN.

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I also love that I intercepted the sneaky couple and got to give them real hugs in person!

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This beautiful wreath is now hanging on the front door at Quiltville Inn, where it will be enjoyed by the last two retreats of the year before coming home to spend Christmas with me at the cabin.

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Safe travels back to Indiana, Claytons! You made my day!⁣

Everything went into hyper drive to get the rest of the inn ready for the arrival of Nola's Bonniacs.

Indigo a Go-go from String Frenzy is hanging in the front foyer!

We will be working on this quilt through their time here, breaking the workshop up into several segments over several days so no one has to rush at anything.

So much better than cramming it into a 6 hour session!

And yes, that is Appalachian Autumn on the round table.

I just love the indigo blues mixed with neutrals and cheddar!

And what's not to love about nine-patches?

The Bonniacs began to roll in right at 3pm - and the afternoon couldn't have been better for their arrival.

Sunny and warm, as if the welcome mat kept cold temperatures at bay at least until they were safely here and unloaded.

These five are waiting for a couple more cars to roll in until all were present and accounted for.

Weekend Forecast:  A Flurry of Friendship and Much Quilting Activity Ahead!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Go create some beauty today, and every day! 

Enjoy your Thursday, everyone!

 

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Color Inspiration Confirmation!

Yes, this picture is a bit blurry as we were whizzing down highway 421 to meet up with realtor Jen in Wilkesboro, NC.

We were meeting "half-way" between her place in Kernersville, NC and ours in Mouth of Wilson, VA to sign some papers - the Wallburg house should be closed upon and no longer ours as of next week!

But I digress -

There is no way a photo can capture what the sun was doing to the sky at this moment we were driving by.

(And in my mind's eye, there wouldn't have been power lines to obstruct that view as well.)

The camera couldn't capture the golds and rusts, and the vastness of the Blue Ridge Mountain view before me.

But I saw how the aqua sky was playing against those warm earthy tones and I smiled - because that is what was before me all day long.

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Little Bits of Progress Here and There -

This is where things stood over the weekend.

Sometimes it feels mindlessly good to just chain all the pairs of triangles -

All caught into one long chain that seemed to reach from here to eternity.

But then the fun of having to press everything comes to mind, and that chain gets tangled quickly into the realm of "WHERE IS THE END?!  I CAN'T FIND THE END!"

Sigh.

There has to be a better way.

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Sew Many Pines!

Would you just take a look at this!

Lori's Quiltville Q's have been busy over the past year - there are EIGHT Pine Tree Point quilts over the porch rail at Quiltville Inn!

And it was quite fitting.

We watched trailer after trailer after trailer hauling Christmas Trees past the inn, while across the street this was going on:

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All On a Friday Drive -

I had a day away yesterday.

I try to schedule any appointments for either a Friday or a Monday when I know retreaters are well settled in and self sufficient, and yesterday was a round of a couple of things in Winston-Salem, while The Hubster and Son Jeff went to blow leaves around the Wallburg house to get it ready for the buyers.

They also picked up the last of the big furniture - the couch, chair and ottoman going to Jeff' & Ashlyn, and my big cream leather recliner coming up to the QPO Studio.

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Hanging with the Quiltville Q's!

I snapped this photo while the cutting stations were busy yesterday afternoon!

It was a day of different directions as more than half of the retreaters took the opportunity to beat the late afternoon rain, and drive over to Wytheville for a quilt shop run at Batiks, Etc. While the true diehards stayed behind at the machines!

I admit to playing hooky from my own ti-do list just to go and hang out and visit!

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Ruby Jubilee Mystery - 40 Years of Quiltmaker!

It's out!

It may not have arrived at your doorstep yet if you are a subscriber, but it has hit newsstands, and is available as a digital copy if you must have it in your hot little hands NOW!

How many of you are feeling antsy while waiting for part 1 of our Quiltville Winter Mystery, Rhododendron Trail, to be released November 26th?

Did you know that Quiltmaker Magazine is featuring a Ruby Jubilee mystery starring blocks from my Addicted to Scraps columns (from the past 10 years!) in every 2022 issue?

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Sew Long, November Quiltvillians!

Nearly mid-November and short sleeves!

I'm so glad we captured these moments because there is a cold snap coming next week, and I need something warm and sunny to reflect on as I accept the fact that it can't stay lovely like this forever!

As folks were packing up and saying their goodbyes yesterday, we all commented on what a lovely driving day they had ahead of them.  It was truly magical!

And so are the quilts over the porch rail!

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Quilters On Rhododendron Trail!

What is with near-mid-November with temps in the 60s?  Buckets of sunshine!

Four brave quilters and I took a little pilgrimage up to Grayson Highlands yesterday afternoon to see what we could see.

And from this photo, you can see what we saw!

It was my first time back on any kind of hike - putting the healing rolled ankle to the test, I had on tall socks, a compression sleeve and my lace up tall hiking boots to support my ankles.

I did fine - along with everyone else!

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Sew Many Great Cooks!

No one is going hungry at Quiltville Inn!

What a fantastic array of wonderful meals the ladies of the November Quiltvillians have prepared.  It just doesn't stop!  

I tell you, it's hard to want to come home and fix dinner at the end of the day - because they've fed me so well.

Saturday's lunch fare?  We were spoiled rotten with ricotta stuffed shells, and Italian sausage sautéed with peppers and onions.  Oh my word - the aroma wafting from the kitchen was fabulous!

The downside?  I need to get back to hiking. Quick.  LOL!

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Quilting With Friends!

All things scrappy, bright and cheery!

12 machines humming away, 12 quilters chatting up a storm and design walls full of inspiration - everywhere you look!

The November Quiltvillians are having a ball - and their excitement is contagious!

There is a very scrappy 16 patch going on one half of this design wall, and the other shows a Bitcoin quilt under way.

Do yo have one in progress too?  Sew much fun!

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