2025 Leader & Ender Challenge: Four Patch Fun!

Hey hey, Quiltvillians!
It's Time! (Finally!)
Our yearly Quiltville Leader & Ender challenge begins today.
Things to know:
Leader & Ender challenges are given so that you have "SOMETHING" to stitch in between the lines of chain-stitching other things.
These little units are made as "sew-betweens" instead of using a folded over, thread covered throw away scrap to keep your piecing continuous and always leaving "something" under the presser foot of your machine to hold your place while you go press pieces from your current project.
If you have this finished in 2 weeks it doesn't count. Please play along with all of us and make it alongside the projects you are already working on.  It is not a race.  There is not a prize if you finish first. We won't be impressed.  LOL!

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Mississippi Meets Virginia!

As I gather and edit photos, plan and type up this post, the Mississippi Quilters are heading out car by car and beginning their journeys back home.

What was supposed to be the rainiest retreat on record turned out to be not so bad - just a few showers here and there, some middle-of-the night thunder bumpers that brought the temperatures back down into the pleasant range -

And nothing disrupted the quilting, chatting, laughing, and of course the eating of wonderful meals prepared by their own hands.

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Sunshine Through Fog -

I sat on the front porch this morning - my favorite hickory rocker, a hot cuppa in my Iceland mug in one hand.

Dawn arrived with much birdsong and the lovely Brigadoon feel of morning fog.

Oh, it will all burn away, but this is all thanks to the rain that fell yesterday afternoon and giving us much of the cool-down that we have been longing for after the past week of heat on the East Coast.

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While The Quilters Went Shop Hopping!

Wouldn't you know this would just be a lucky retreat group?
The Mississippi Quilters arrived right when our local shop, Quilts on Main in Galax, Virginia is having a 15% off fabric sale this weekend, and when I arrived at the inn, there were only a couple of folks left behind - that means that TEN Mississippi Quilters flocked on over to Galax before 10am.  Oh boy!
I hobbled on up the back steps and into the kitchen to first take care of Flash and Tula (Who demanded to know why they could see the bottom of their food bowls and didn't I know they were starving?) and in through the back hall to a completely quiet house.

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Lunch With The Mississippi Girls!

Where is the forecasted rain that is SUPPOSED to be falling and cooling us off?

It keeps moving further out.

Or it's falling in surrounding areas, but not here - because the mountains make their own weather patterns.

And while we are talking weather patterns, did you hear about the falling meteor pieces in Columbia, South Carolina yesterday??

I did not have that on my bingo card.....oops.  Another squirrel.

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Blooming Right On Time!

I'm sure it's a bit hard to see in this photo with the sunshine fully on the mountain rhododendron in our yard by Hubster Dave's shed -

But there are blossoms opening daily - right on time!

When folks ask me when the mountain rhodies bloom - my answer is "Near 4th of July."  It's as close to a seasonal pinpoint that I can get, and this year they are blooming right on schedule.

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Leftovers, Pieces & Parts -

I have the hardest time getting rid of (or setting aside) any leftover units from a completed project -

Remember the finishing of my Lahinch quilt in May? (Yes, that one - it's being released as a PDF pattern in the fall, so be watching for it.)

I kind of went a bit overboard with the half-square triangle count and ended up with quite a pile left over.

My first thought was to just baggie them up and save them for a "rainy day" but there were also 3 block quarters extra...

Couldn't I just use the leftover pieces and parts to make one more block quarter and turn it into a pillow or something?

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Baby, It's Hot Outside!

It may not be hot, hot, Arizona hot - but these Blue Ridge mountains are not used to this kind of heat!
The good news is?  Temps will break tomorrow and rain and thunderstorms are expected through the next weekend.  Not good news for my incoming Mississippi quilters, but let's face it - Once all of the quilting paraphernalia and food are inside - the weather outside really doesn't matter as much, does it?
Besides - there is something so soothing to hear the pitter-patter of a summer rain on the metal porch roof.
However - yesterday - let's get back to hot hot hot and our over-the-porch-rail photo op!

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Weekend Full Up With Quilting!

This was my view Saturday Morning as I walked from the front door at the inn, down the hall, through the kitchen to the back door -
We've been taking the cat food dishes in at night because....RACOONS!
You'd think they are starving.  They.  Are.  Not!
But look at how much closer Flash is!  From being completely feral, to feeling more comfortable, to now knowing that food is on the way.
No one has been able to pet him yet...he's still very shy, but he is more trusting day by day.  I love this for him.

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Quilters, Quilting....and Cows!

The summer solstice happened last night at 10:42 pm!  

Were you up for it?

I was NOT! HA! But it's still an occurrence that I Both rejoice in (warm summer nights! Yay!) and one that makes me a bit sad...days will now get shorter from here day by day by day.

How did we celebrate the solstice?

We quilted of course!  And with summer comes more opportunity for rocking and stitching, relaxing on the porch at Quiltville Inn.

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Ditch Lilies Blooming!

We did it!

A handful of quilters and I headed out for a dirt road hike yesterday morning and we beat the rain!

And to my surprise...look what had burst forth while I was gone to Iceland?  Ditch Lilies!

Oh, how I love their vibrant orange facing the sun in the summer.

Now some may call these worthless and invasive - but I say to them, and to ALL of us.  We may not be native. We may not be born here.

But bloom where you are planted!

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Stepping Back Into Home.

So this happened while I was away.

Evidently Zoey thought she could make friends with neighboring animals (We are not even sure it was a dog??) and came home with her tail between her legs and a plethora of hide-piercing bites requiring a visit to the emergency vet.

On a weekend night.  As it always happens.

And poor hubster Dave was left to deal with that late evening drive to the emergency vet in Boone - an hour away - because I was in Iceland.

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Fireweed Gift-Away!

Good morning!

Guess who is back from Iceland?

We had such a marvelous time and I'm looking forward to sharing many of our photo memories with you.  Hopefully you were able to keep up a bit while I was gone through Facebook/Instagram.  

While I wasn't able to blog while I was away, I did my best to keep up with some postings through other social media outlets.

I returned late Monday night - so this morning I'm still recovering from a bit of jet lag by kicking off the release of my Fireweed PDF quilt pattern, along with a Gift-Away!

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Iceland In Reverse!

Hey friends!

I'm home from our wonderful Iceland adventures with Craftours!

We had 21 wonderful quilters - No hubbies this time! (I've never had this happen before) plus myself and our Craftours tour manager Tommy.

This was the most relaxing, wonderful trip.

We stayed at the fabulous Foss Hotel in Reykjavik the whole time - and our day trips to different parts of Iceland were geared toward showing us the beautiful nature, as well as focusing on things like the wool industry.

It was a fun and fact-filled adventure, one I'm sure those of us who experienced it will be talking about for a long, long time to come.

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Almost Tomorrow!

When I was little I used to count things in the number of "sleeps" left to get to any particular date.

12 sleeps until Christmas.

5 sleeps until vacation.

3 more sleeps until grandma comes.

I have ONE MORE SLEEP until I start my Icelandic adventure!

And no, I am not packed!

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Laying Low, Moving Slow -

Hi guys - I'm here to say that I'm moving a bit easier today.

I've done all of the things for my healing back before my upcoming trip to Iceland.

I've taken long hot tub soaks followed by ice packs.

I've rested. LOTS.

I've sat little, I've reclined some.  I've laid flat more than I like.

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Things On A Random Wednesday -

I must have slept wrong.

I can't think of anything else I did or could have done to throw such a wrench into my lower back and left hip - but I sure felt something wasn't right as I sat in the car yesterday driving myself to the inn.

That hitch in my get-along continued to tighten up as I started in on the laundry and doing all of the routine Tuesday morning post check-out things that happen.

And when I couldn't stand it any longer, when no amount of yoga stretches or back exercises would seem to bring any relief, I called the chiropractor.

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June Quiltvillians - It's A Wrap!

Maybe the best weather comes in June.

Or maybe we just notice it more because May was so wet and windy and unfriendly.

Whatever weird weather patterns seemed to control our activities during the month of May seemed to have moved on - finally- allowing us to enjoy the last couple of days of the June Quiltvillians retreat.

And yes!  We got another road hike in yesterday, but we were so busy chatting that we didn't bother to take any photos.

There were quilt tops to finish up.

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Fill The Design Walls!

There has been a whirlwind of quilting activity happening through the weekend at Quiltville Inn!

Cutting tables, pressing tables - even layouts happening in the front foyer and dining room.

Every available space is covered by pieces, parts, blocks and tops.

The weather only became decent enough to get out for a walk yesterday (Sunday) afternoon...so the quilters have had plenty of machine time to put thread to fabric and make beautiful things happen!

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Quilt On, Quilters!

Our weird weather patterns continue in Southwestern Virginia - 

To the east of us there were tornado watches and high winds.  We had intermittent drippy drizzle for what feels like the umpteenth day in a row.

I thought I could beat the predicted rain by sneaking in a road hike while the quilters were brunching.  I had gotten as far as throwing myself in my car...driving down to where I usually park to walk along the creek, but as soon as I was out of the car, the rain started.  Rats!

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June Quiltvillians Plus One!

I was 10 when the Alice Cooper song "School's Out" was released as a single on April 26, 1972.

I remember it playing on the little clock radio I had wished for and received for Christmas in December of 1971.

My 10 year old self would sing "School's Out for the Summer! School's out FOREVER!" at the top of my lungs when school let out in June - feeling like this song was written just for my school.

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Gifts That Keep On Giving!

I arrived at the QPO Studio yesterday to find this big box.....I opened it to find recycled shirt parts!

Oh, happy day!

No, seriously - this is awesome.

Shirts are the gift that keep on giving....After finally getting Summer Picnic out there as a PDF pattern (Remembering that I spent however long piecing the blocks and about 5 months hand quilting the Baptist fans on it.) I have been longing to dig in once again to the recycled shirts.

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Helping Hands!

A week or so ago I related the story of how a crazy windstorm took out one of our porch blinds.

I don't think I even got photos of it as son Jeff had already done the job of picking up all of the wood slats that had fallen to the ground below the porch when the string (and zip ties!) holding the old blinds together gave way.

I have no idea how old those old wooden roll up blinds were - they were there when we bought the house, 7 years ago now.

Wood and string are things that nature definitely takes a toll on, especially with our extreme weather patterns here in the mountains.

So with the breaking of one blind - a big decision was made.  It was time to replace them.

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Two Ways Around It!

Things that happen in the late night hours at retreat -

If you recognize this  quilt in progress as our County Clare Leader & Ender challenge, you would be right.  To a point!

This is what happens when things are set aside for a while, and then we come back to them, forget which way units rotate and just dive in with full gusto!

This is how new variations are discovered - and all variations are RIGHT if that is the way you want to go.  It opens up other opportunities.

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Memorial Day 2025

 

Memorial Day is one of those holidays that sets my own cognitive dissonance into overdrive within my soul.
I always had a hard time as a child understanding why BBQs and picnics and long holiday weekends to head to the nearest amusement park could happen alongside holding space for family and friends who had lost loved ones in war.
"We celebrate their sacrifice for our freedoms" I was told as a child.
Okay - but isn't there a solemnity to that?
"But they'd want us to be happy and not mourn and enjoy our lives - that's what they fought and gave their lives for."
Okay.

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In Spite of Wind!

THIS is what greeted me when I stepped out of the back kitchen door at the inn to feed two hungry cats.

Furniture sculpture?

Remember when I said I was leaving them that way because they kept the wind from blowing the rug off the porch?

I wasn't kidding!

And that's not all....

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A Blustery Thursday!

This photo is a bit zoomed in and shot through the window in the back porch door.

Someone is feeling a bit more comfortable with people each and every day.

For those asking about Flash - we think he has been around since Tula was dumped - that winter a couple of years ago when there were three kitties who had taken up residence under the old general store.

He is so very very feral. (or was)

The third one got hit by a car/truck and Hubster Dave did the deed in burying it.  It was also a stripey one.

We'd see Flash from time to time - remember when we were first trying to catch Tula in a live trap so we could get her infected leg seen to? And he ended up in the trap instead?

"We've caught the WRONG CAT!"

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Quilts for Graduates!

My nephew Porter graduated from high school yesterday.

We are so proud of him!  

And of course, the tradition of gifting nieces and nephews quilts upon their high school graduation continues.

I had asked my sister Mary "What colors does Porter like?" a couple of weeks before I headed to Idaho to visit my mom.

"Red!  He really likes red!"

This I could cover....and off to the quilt vault I went to search.

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Hanging With the May Q's!

I'm so happy for wonderful weather!  But I'm blown away that there are only 10 days left in May -

Someone slow this speeding train down, please!

This wonderful group of ladies headed home yesterday to places far and wide - some as far as Oregon. I'm so honored that they would choose to come back year after year and spend a week reconnecting with their group of friends made through our Quiltville's Open Studio Group on Facebook.

We have 13 retreat groups who have formed through membership in ourOpen Studio group.

Many only knew each other online before meeting in person at Quiltville Inn - and these friendships are deep and long lasting.  I just love seeing this happen!

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We Went Out & About!

There were a handful of us - 5 (Me included) who got out a couple of times for a road hike exploration of things that are changing around here week by week!

This photo was one we took up Roundhouse Road (even though the roundhouse is pretty much no more after the flood from Hurricane Helene where water was up to the roof. SAD!) for a just shy of one mile hike to the county line sign dividing Grayson County, VA from Alleghany County, NC.

Much discussion over the different spellings of Alleghany occurred!  It depends on where you are from.

But suffice it to say that on THIS side of the sign, we are firmly on NC ground.

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A Full-Up Weekend!

Who needs a quilt shop, when a quilt shop comes to us?!

One of our May Quiltvillians brought precuts, fabric on bolts, patterns and charm packs and our quilters could shop in their jammies without having to leave the house!

From what I understand there was even a jelly roll race underway yesterday afternoon as some of us begged out for a leg stretch and a dirt road hike.

I nearly fought Rebecca over the one jelly roll that was mostly neutrals - but I figure she needed to build up her neutral stash more than I did!

Projects continue to grow on design walls in the Quilting Quarters -  Tulip Time is well underway!

There is now a deer peeking out through the pines!

These star blocks in progress became:

The pink pearl bracelets on burgundy was purchased at the foyer store!

Love it!

Maybe why I love it so much is burgundy and rose were my wedding colors, and I still love them together. Yep - 1981 was 44 years ago? How can that be?

Bowdacious blocks from Adventures With Leaders & Enders are getting their sashings.  So cute!

I love empty sewing stations with blocks in progress!

More curves happening here!

Posh Sunflower!

The Plaidish quilt in blue and green is moving right along!

And an Old Town top center reached completion!

So did a halloween charm pack!

While there was no pattern for this, I was told she used 2'' strips to frame each charm square and then used a ruler to trim each block a bit wonky, similar to what I did with Happy Scrappy Houses. (Free Patterns tab)

Garden Party from the Addicted to Scraps book keeps growing over here -

Rebecca is determined to FINALLY get her Blue Ridge Beauty finished!

Pattern from my book Adventures With Leaders & Enders.

And I will never be able to see these border units as anything other than "Cat Ears." LOL! Once you see it - you can't unsee it.

Speaking of cat ears:

The ladies have been brunching on the porch as the weather has been incredible.  But brunch time is also cat-breakfast time and having all of these two-leggeds in his space on the porch was confusing and disconcerting to Mr. Flash.

So I've solved two problems with one move - He is eating down the back stairs, keeping him safe from people, and Tula hasn't figured out yet where is food is so she is leaving him alone to eat it himself without her interfering and stealing his food.

I have photos taken on walks of wildflowers, cattle, ,a deer on the road - but I'll save that because I want to jump in here and show you where my focus has been over the weekend.

Ummmm....yeah. This.

Believe it or not - I do have a plan!

The release of Summer Picnic has me yearning to dig back into shirt scraps, but I wanted something a bit more improv with no real triangles after the tile floor inspired quilts I've been working on.

And I'm going to want something to put back into my hand quilting hoop to snuggle with in the evenings for feet up tv watching time.

My plan is to have some of these all dark, some of these all light, and some of them half-light-half-dark.

Knowing how I dig into things with hyper-focused gusto - I have a feeling this will be all-consuming and full steam ahead for a while.

And no - the kits I need to make for my upcoming trip to Iceland did not get made yet.  But there is still time.

Working on these also gave me a way to put our new Leader & Ender challenge into poduction in between the seams - I think you are going to like it.

I took this photo on Friday - before our huge rain storm hit Friday night.  I'm glad I did - the rhododendron is at peak in this photo.  By Saturday morning the storm had pounded blossoms to the ground and she is starting to look a bit sad.

Rhodie season passes too quickly!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the marvelous response to our Summer Picnic

PDf pattern release and gift-away!

Did you get your entry in on that post? 

We'll draw for our 2 winners on Tuesday, 5/27/25.

The PDF pattern for Summer Picnic is currently 25% off in the Quiltville Store through Saturday 5/31/25. No coupon needed.

Stars For The Win!

Stars and Scraps were meant for each other! Create this stunning star quilt in scrappy plaids from recycled shirts or with your own stash yardage. Piecing options, full color photos and graphics and many tips for easy piecing pleasure included.

Quilt Size: 72’’ X 72’’

I'll be drawing for two lucky winners who will each win a Summer Picnic PDF pattern from me and a Paw Paw's Shirts fabric roll from  Cotton to Quilts.

The Paw Paw's Shirts roll is so cute and will enhance your own fabric stash!

And check out their selection of neutral cotton rolls to add more cute neutral prints to your collection.

And I think that catches us up to now!

How did your weekend go?

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

What advice are your quilts giving you?

Have a marvelous Monday, everyone!

 

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