Quilting With Friends!

They checked in Wednesday afternoon and this is what greeted me when I walked in yesterday morning!

Happy design walls!

Conversation and much laughter, and the reconnecting of friends who hadn't seen each other since this time last year.

And last year, if you remember - I was just leaving for Egypt and missed much of this group because travel dates are travel dates and life happens.

But this time - I get them all the way until Sunday and we are filling up every moment with everything good that we can.

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Throwback Thursday!

Growing up I didn't get to be a Brownie or a Girl Scout.

I was lucky to be the daughter of my Bluebirds leader, and then later into Camp Fire Girls.

How many of you belonged to either of these and found fast friends that have lasted through the years?

I was lucky enough over the past year to reconnect with my childhood friend Charlotte - a friend from 3rd grade

Little did I know living in her attic were the remnants of her childhood - including these photos, and even her old Camp Fire Girls vest with beads yet to be sewn on.

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Mountain Laurel in the Morning -

The sun actually rose this morning, not hidden by clouds -

There was a gentle breeze that beckoned me to get outside, to walk around the edge of the yard and see just what mother nature was gifting us this morning.

Mountain Laurel.  Such abundant delicate clusters -

It's Mountain Laurel season!

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Quilters of the Night All Weekend!

They quilt all day.  They quilt all night.

Some as late (or early) as 4am, or so I'm told.

How do they do it?  I'm not sure!

I'm worn out just thinking about it - but what fun we had over the long holiday weekend!

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Memorial Day 2024

Flag Season has begun!

Before the Quilters of the Night arrived - I took a quick swoop through the house and put away all of the "spring" things and pulled out the red, white & blue full stop.

I didn't realize just how many patriotic quilts I had - or even those that would pass for patriotic - as in our last mystery, Indigo Way!

Here in the front foyer I have hung my Solidarity quilt, and on the table is Courthouse Square.

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Quilters All Through The House!

There's much more than just quilting going on over at Quiltville Inn this weekend!

I walked in yesterday morning to a sourdough bread baking workshop in progress.

There are so many more skills to share than just quilting alone, and I love how this group has offered several different things to each other in the form of mini demos so each and every one has the possibility of returning home with new things to try.

And the bread wasn't bad, either!  BONUS!

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Quilting - Resumed!

I shared a photo yesterday of my Eclipsed quilt in the machine yesterday -

But I didn't share with you how I got there!

Tuesday/Wednesday was a "Do or Die" kind of push to get it done.

Blocks were completed on Monday - and I was raring to go to get them together.

Quilting needed to happen - June is right around the corner.  I leave for Ireland/Scotland one week from this Sunday!

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When It Rains, It Pours!

That number in the bottom right corner? 5.46?  That's the rate of how much rain was falling. 
5.46 inches per hour.
And it continued for about 90 minutes giving us a total event measurement of just under 6'' of rain fall in a very short amount of time.
It was completely insane.
It broke loose when i was driving home from the inn after welcoming the Quilters of the Night and seeing most of them settled in for retreat.
By the time I reached Grassy Creek rd - the creek was starting to look more like a river and rain was falling so hard that I could barely see in front of me even with the windshield wipers on turbo.

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Another Retreat Farewell!

I waved off the May Quiltvillians yesterday morning -

What a fantastic and fun group of ladies.

Yesterday was also the first "donning of the shorts" day - temps reached FINALLY about 80 degrees and since it was sunny and I'd be running back and forth to flip laundry - once the ladies were gone no one was there to be blinded by the whiteness of my winter legs.  LOL!

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Sunny Day Smiles!

Monday turned out to be the lovely day we were hoping for - it didn't rain!  The sky was blue.

And I grabbed a few willing quilters who wanted to get out for a walk, stretch their legs, breathe in some fresh air and MOVE their bodies after being inside since they arrived on Wednesday.

And I was raring to go too.  There had been so much rain and it was nice to have a cooperative day where we could just go close by and walk along the creek for about an hour.

That's it.  One hour.  We can step away from the machines and projects for one hour and do something good for our bodies.

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Quilting With The Ladies!

Sometimes you just have to pull up your big girl panties and power through!

And that's just what I did with the remaining string pieced triangles for my Ecliped quilt.

I just put on something to binge on Netflix, and got down to business.

I already knew I had printed out the right number of remaining foundations - so no counting was involved.

i just got down to business and made these happen.

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Let It Rain!

The May Quiltvillians are quilting up a storm inside while the rain continues to fall intermittently outside...and that's okay!

There is plenty of food, and a plethora of fabric and projects to keep them busy through the weekend and beyond!

Projects are going up on the design walls, and there is color and inspiration everywhere!

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Mabel's Choice PDF Pattern & Gift-Away!

Happy Friday Quilty Folks!

It's finally here!

I've been looking forward to the release date of Mabel's Choice since I puot the last stitches into the binding a couple of months back.

I love everything about this quilt - the simple easy-to-piece blocks, the sweet reproduction 1930s - 1940s prints mixed with recycled shirt plaids - even the solid barely off-white background (Which is something I rarely do but was just right for this quilt) all the way down to the hand quilting stitches that hold it all together.

It's finally in PDF pattern format and ready for you to make your own!

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Time Out for Piecing!

And sew - it happened!

Beds were made, things made ready - and with rain falling outside, I took the opportunity to sit myself down at my machine and continue on with the string piecing of parts.

"But I HATE removing paper!" I hear some say.

Just make sure you use a paper that is easy to tear away.  Make your stitch length SMALL so the needle holes are very close together and the paper comes off easily.

I don't mind paper removal.  I actually find it rewarding and therapeutic.

It's all in your mindset.

Say you hate something enough, and you'll convince yourself that you do.

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At Halfway -

Halfway done - with the last block in row 4 which means I have reached halfway to complete on the hand quilting of my Ladder Star quilt.

I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to finish that block so I could move the hoop to the first block in row 5 which would put me on the downhill side -

But that's okay.  There is more evening hand quilting time to come.

Putting that hoop in my lap is like saying "What a day!" to a good friend as I settle in for the evening to put some more stitches in.

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While Rhododendrons Bloom!

I know I posted about the rhodies blooming earlier -

And everyday more blooms are opening leading me to think that "Today must be peak!"

And then the next day it outdoes itself once again.

And I take more pictures.

Because the blooming season for this ancient bush is just not long enough.

All it will take is one big hard rain and all of the blossoms will be on the ground.

And.....that kind of storm rolled through last night in the wee small dark hours and I"m not sure what I'll find this morning.

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Short & Sweet (Weekend!)

These kinds of skies.

Impressive.

But daunting!

It's this kind of weather that says "Maybe it's not the best time for over the porch rail photos...."

But it also came at the RIGHT time.  Because the upstairs AC unit decided to go on the blink. 

Oh, it blew air - just not cold air.

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For Mother's Day -

Those of you who have been with me all of this time - (It will be 20 years next June that this blog started...really. 20 years!) will remember when I shared a previous visit to Idaho in 2014 and my post entitled Like Daughter, Like Mother.

I had started my mom on a hexie project of her own vision - she had picked up English Paper piecing while watching me as we sat in a dentist's office a couple of years earlier while waiting for my aunt.

If you want to know where my busy hands come from - this is it.

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Mother's Day Weekend Deals!

Happy Friday, Quiltvillians!

I'm putting this right up top so no once misses it.  It's our annual Mother's Day Weekend Digital Pattern sale!

Starting Today 5/10/24  and good through Sunday 5/12/24:  

All digital patterns in the Quiltville Store are 30% off using coupon code Digital30 at checkout. 

Code MUST be used for discount to apply.

Where to find the spot to type in your code in the Quiltville Store Shopping Cart:

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May In Bloom!

Oh, the lilacs!!

I could smell them in the drive as we arrived home from the airport after midnight on Tuesday - which I guess was really Wednesday morning.

But it was dark - so I didn't really come face to face with them until I walked out the door to head over to the inn to make things ready for the Muddy Creek Misfits who would be arriving after 4pm.

Oh!!  The lilacs!  I didn't miss them after all!

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Fill It Up With Family!

"I'll go to Idaho to visit family in May!" I thought. "Surely, the weather will be lovely in May? It's a week before Mother's Day..."

And nature laughed and placed the snow-capped Wasatch Front in view from my window seat as our plane descended into the Salt Lake valley.

One more flight to go....

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