Waiting On The Rain

It was one of those sleep-interrupted nights.

Too much weather channel and watching the aftermath of Hurricane Ian as it moved across Florida and out to sea.

I wasn't sure what things were going to happen through the night, and I had the weirdest dreams.

The thing I kept remembering the Hubster telling me was "It's been downgraded to a Tropical Storm."

But once it hit water again my fear is that it would spin up into Hurricane status again.

As of 4am this morning as I put on my ear phones and looked at YouTube on my tablet - yes.  It has.

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Windows, Doors & Hurricanes - Oh My!

Something momentous happened yesterday.

And you'd likely never know it if you hadn't been here before to see what was made better.

For those who DO remember - the two years we worked on the house to get Quiltville Inn ready for retreats, and finding that very first winter that windows and doors were so drafty the paper towels blew in the breeze?

Yes.  It was THAT BAD!

That led to 4 1/2 years of having to put shrink wrap over this kitchen window front and back from October to May each year.

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Some Days Just Go Random!

If I had to explain yesterday - in one word - I would call it RANDOM.  

Rogue would mean that EVERYTHING went off the rails, and this just wasn't so.  

But there was plenty of random this and that to make me shake my head at the end of the day in wonder that I got anything done at all.

Do you have days like that?

On a positive note - The Shippenstitchers are on their way from Shippensburg, PA and I have pulled out some of the autumn décor which I LOVE!

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So Long, Susan's Quilters!

The dining room at Quiltville Inn has been reoccupied now that it is too chilly out on the porch for meal time.

Late afternoons for beverages and snacks are still a go - as long as the wind isn't blowing - but with October right around the corner, meal time festivities are moving INSIDE!

As you can tell, the food was delicious and plentiful - it is always so fun to see what quilters come up with when it comes to feeding their retreat sisters right!

Cheers, ladies!

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Quilting Through The Weekend!

This is what I love to see when walking past the Quilting Quarters at Quiltville Inn!

So many machines running...so many projects up on design walls!

And the weather stayed pretty good until Sunday afternoon - but even on Sunday with a downpour and some power blipping (Thank heavens for the Generac ready to power up at all times!) the ladies kept on quilting on!

Everywhere you look - there was more quilty eye candy to be seen!

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Appalachian Apple Bounty!

Take a look at these beautiful apples - all from the apple trees in the side yard at Quiltville Inn!

They are gorgeous and delicious!

And even better - I didn't have to pick them!

The trees at Quiltville Inn are ancient - I have no idea when they were planted, but they are happy producers and all of this wonderful bounty will be canned by friend Martha for apple sauce, pie filling and more.

Can you smell it now? All of that apple goodness?

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Susan's Quilters - In The House!

Say hello to these friendly faces (and others not in this photo!)

Where else do you find quilters not only examining blocks on the wall - but the plethora of phones pulled out to check out the quilt photos on the phones too while we are at it?

Technology and quilting - a match made in quilty heaven!

Susan's Quilters have returned for their second retreat at Quiltville Inn, and I am thrilled to have them back joined by some new faces.

It's like homecoming - and this week, THEY are doing all the cooking!

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Mach Mob Down a Holler -

Yes, there is a Puerto Rico flag hanging in front of Quiltville Inn.  And it is staying.

I put up the flag in front of Quiltville Inn before picking up family at the Charlotte Airport last week.

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My Uncle Tony is from Puerto Rico, has been married to my Aunt Gail for nigh on 30 years and this was the first time I was meeting him in person.

(Before this point he was referred to as my "Invisible" Uncle Tony as I had no proof he really existed. LOL!)

The flag was a huge surprise to Uncle Tony- we didn't tell him ahead of time what we had done to welcome him to Virginia.

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Tito Tony and Auntie Gail spend half of the year in Puerto Rico and the other half of the year in Florida.

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The story goes that when Florida is too cold in the winter, they go to Puerto Rico to warm up!

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We also got to celebrate Tony's 70th birthday while they were visiting here.

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We were all concerned with hurricane Fiona hitting Puerto Rico over the the time they were here, with more flooding, loss of power, and devastation to the people who live there.

And though family has all gone home, I have decided to leave my Puerto Rican flag up in support of the people of Puerto Rico as they begin to rebuild and put their beautiful island back together.

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Mach Family Memories!

This is my sweet mama on the side porch at Quiltville Inn.

As I'm going through these photos - I'm wishing I had done more photo taking.  Perhaps with EVERYONE on the porch.

But this of mama solo is pretty precious too.

It's her first visit to Virginia, and I was so happy to be able to walk her through each room and show her how the things she has made for me in the past are here for everyone to enjoy.

"You kept all of these things?"  Of course I did!

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Family Visit Recap! (Where to Start?)

If you can imagine this crew -

My mom, her 2 sisters and brother, and 2 spouses.  And me with the boot removed from my foot only the day before picking them up at the airport.

My mom at 81 with some hip and sciatica issues, my aunt with bad knees, my uncle with leg/heart issues, my own foot being slow to cooperate - it was quite hysterical, but we got out and did what we could and I'm so glad we didn't let our various ailments and challenges stop us from trying!

We took a short walk along the New River - and while some wandered and looked at scenery others pulled out phone apps to determine which plant was what.  Isn't technology amazing?

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Ditch Lilies PDF Pattern Gift-Away Time!

Hello Quiltvillians!

I am so happy to be sitting here at my desk connecting with you after having 6 family members - my mom, her two sisters her brother and two of their spouses spend a week with us here in Virginia.

We housed the whole gang at Quiltville Inn and have had the BEST week.

My days were full from breakfast to bedtime and there really wasn't time to blog.  I'd wake up excited to head over each morning and crawl into bed after arriving home each night - and the days passed so quickly.

Aunt Gail and Uncle Tony headed back to Florida after breakfast yesterday.  Today I return the rest to the airport in Charlotte.  Things will be quiet for just a blink - The gals from Susan's Retreat arrive Wednesday afternoon.  Whew!

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Family Time!

They are here and we are having a great time!

So much so that I haven't had a spare minute - and I think that's a great thing.

There is much time for blog writing after everyone has gone home - but I wanted to put a few photos up here so you'd have an idea of what is going on here.

Anyone who hasn't been with family since Pre-Covid knows exactly how full my heart is right now.

I am spending every moment soaking up time with family - I am only home to go to bed, and then up the next morning heading over to join in on cooking breakfast and getting the next day's round of "Hey, wanna do this?" started.

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Big Family Visit - Incoming!

My emotions are running the gamut.

I have precious inbound cargo arriving tomorrow.

I spent the weekend in a cleaning frenzy - as we do - when dear relatives that I haven't seen since Way-Pre-Covid are coming to visit ME in middle-of-nowhere Virginia.

Is this how we will always refer to things on the timeline from now on?  Pre-Covid?  I fear so.

Nonetheless - in the midst of cleaning, dusting, moving around, scrubbing, setting right -

I took some time to get the hanging sleeve on my Bristol quilt.

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From Quilting to Binding, Oh Boy!

"Thrown Together Quilts." There are those I find in antique malls and beyond where the delight of imagining the maker just digging into what they had in the contents of their scrap basket to make a quilt just "work somehow." brings a smile.

Did they take a long time planning things out?

Or did they just dig in with reckless abandon having fun with the odd pairings and mismatched scraps of prints, stripes, plaids?

As I was working on the quilting yesterday, I stopped to smile at this one block - the center square with men on tricycles just cracks me up.  It's vintage - from who knows where, but it was in the box of saved squares, and it fit the size I was working with, and it added to the weird mix I was going for, and in it went.

Being matchy-matchy is highly overrated!

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Hooray for Quilting Day!

You know that guy at the circus, with all of those plates spinning on poles?

Things go great guns for a while, and then occasionally - those plates go spinning off the poles and he just doesn't have enough arms to control everything?

There is no better life analogy than that!

But I can say that after yesterday's arrival of the fridge repair guy, and the installation of a new ice maker in the inn fridge that all systems were GO, and the plates were back under control!

So much more under control that I was able to get this quilt loaded and start in on the quilting.

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Ice, Ice, Maybe!

Good Morning & Happy Thursday, everyone!

This post is coming just a bit later than normal - there was a perfect storm of events this morning that had me leaving the house by 7:30am to take care of things, knowing I'd make it back to the computer before long so I could play catch up.

Life just happens that way - 

Yesterday I was able to do some quilt photography, and since many of you have asked if there is a September PDF Pattern release coming soon, I thought I'd give you a sneak preview!

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I Sew...Therefore I Swear!

The title of this post?

It has a lot to do with friendship.

And a group of quilters who befriended Kathy when she arrived at her first Quiltville Inn retreat LAST September.

Someone had dropped out last minute, very last minute, and Kathy threw everything in her car, drove right up from Florida not knowing anyone.

My comment is always "You are only a stranger ONCE!" and it doesn't take long for the stranger status to be a thing of the past.

This group had so much fun that Kathy invited them to come down to her Florida beach house to keep the quilting fun going on.

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What Christy Brought!

Marvelous things happen when folks don't know what they want to bring to retreat - and because the car is big enough, oh, "Let's just bring it ALL!"

I remember those days of traveling with 100 lbs of quilts in the back of the van, or trying to fly with that many.  It's not for the faint of heart -

And now I get to be the spectator and take it all in.

Such a feast for the eyes!

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Car Rides & Labor Day Quilting Fun!

These two doggie girls LOVE a car ride.

And it doesn't seem to matter whose or which car it is.  

An open door is an invitation to jump on in - which scares me just a little bit!

A couple of weeks ago it was starting to sprinkle and Zoey Jo was on a long tether between the trees when ladies were unloading at Quiltville Inn - they were visiting because The Hubster was busy with some evening weed-whacker activity.

One quilter opened up her back door to unload some belongings into a wagon, and Zoey saw the opportunity and jumped in, tether and all.

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Friday Fun Follies!

It was brunch on the porch, y'all!

And as you can tell, it was a lovely morning - 

Some took off to go hike up to the ponies after we enjoyed eating al fresco on the porch (And oh, what a time they had - I understand they were witnesses to spontaneous animal husbandry in action - right on the trail.  Like don't ponies GET A ROOM anymore? LOL!) while others enjoyed some leisurely stitching.

What a great onset to the long holiday weekend ahead!

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Ghost Barns and September Quiltvillians!

What do Ghost Barns have to do with September Quiltvillians?

Nothing really - but when friend Martha asked if I'd like to take some time yesterday morning to run some errands, I quickly said yes.

When you live this far out, having someone to ride along with makes the long journey not only fun, but a car-pool shared is half the gas, right?

Truth is, there is only ONE Ghost Barn in this post, and this is it.

How much longer will it stand?  I have no idea.  I'm afraid that one more big storm will have it on the ground only to be seen the next time we take this round about way to get to where we are going.

Or home from where we've been.

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September/October '22 Quiltmaker Gift-Away!

Happy September, Quiltvillians!

If you are one of those in the "Hotter than Hades" parts of the country, and September carries the promise of cooler temps around the corner, I am cheering for you!

(With family in Arizona I understand this - my dad calls it a REVERSE winter.)

It's not quite time for all things Pumpkin Spice yet, but it's in sight -

And the September/October '22 issue of Quiltmaker is chock full of fun  (And doable!) fall projects to tantalize your fall loving hearts.

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