In A Deep Freeze!

Brrrrr!  That's about all I have to say for this next couple of days.

This was my view of Quiltville Inn as we rounded the corner yesterday - it looks peaceful, but boy is it cold.

This morning is our coldest yet - it was 15f this morning with a high of 17f expected.  Tonight's low overnight? 8.

You better believe that those sinks will be left dripping!

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Quilting Safus - SOLVED!

Yesterday I wrote about the frustration we all feel when sewing and/or quilting machines take on a cantankerous attitude and refuse to do what we simply want them to do - 

Stitch with perfect tension and no issues.  

Yes, we make those plans, plan our day for everything going swimmingly, and the universe laughs.

I'm happy to report that all of the things I did seem to have solved my issues.

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Slow Starts.

Dogwood Days began its quilting process yesterday.

But it was not fast moving!

I think I encountered every problem that a long arm quilter dreads.

In my case it mostly revolved around the constant snapping of my top thread - 

My goal was to make it to half-way quilted yesterday, but in all honestly I was happy to make it 1/6 of the way before I had to abandon everything and head to town for an appointment with the Chiropractor.

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Trimming Up and Binding On!

I made it!

I made it all the way around.

Can you see where my hoop is now? It's moving up about 10'' from the edge and I'll start working the cross-hatching toward the center of the quilt.

But first - this quilt needs a trim and a bind!

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Maple Leaf Red

This is where my hand quilting hoop is now on my Abbeygate quilt.

I'm getting close to having the 4th side quilted - Just another evening or two and I'll be able to trim up the quilt, get the binding, label and hanging sleeve on and be rid of the batting fuzzies and the backing ravels as I then work my way to the center of the quilt.

Yes...working from the outside in means I can get the binding on faster and clean up that outside edge.

And this is all because the quilt has been basted well by longarm and will not pucker or shift in the hand quilting process.

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Ice Storm Aftermath -

I don't care about the snow.

But the ice is a different story.

As I write this we are currently on generator power - the electric for the whole area, and much of SW Virginia and into West Virginia lost power on Wednesday.

At one point yesterday morning there were more than 122,000 out of power.

And while I am so grateful to have our generac to the cabin, there are so many others that do not have an alternate source of power.

It's one thing to be out of power in September due to hurricanes when the weather is still nice enough, but in this kind of weather? It's brutal.

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Snow Day Doings...

Winter Wonderland? Give me a break!

I'm perfectly fine with this stuff happening around the holidays, but December is long behind us and I'm wanting this stuff put away and packed up with the holiday decorations until next year, got it?

It sure is pretty - but once again our truck is parked at the bottom of the steep drive and we are taking the RZR shuttle to and from the car.

A thaw can't come fast enough!

Scenes from the back yard at the inn.

I can't wait for summer and fire pit season!

We were able to get the walks shoveled and ice melt put down.

The old mill stants neglected in this snow covered scene.

After we finished things at the inn, we headed over to our friend's house to see if they were able to get their own drive plowed.

They had just finished up, so Hubster Dave had to dive in and let his inner 10 year old out to play:

Go Dave Go!
We stayed a bit to visit - hot chocolate or hot tea in hand before the outdoors once again signalled it was time to get home before things got too bad.
Icy rain had started.  All else was put on hold until this passes - roads and trees were getting pelted and it was time to not be out and about any longer.

I went as far as I could on these.

I am 2 units short of the last big block I need to make.  And I didn't have any spare papers with me.  I'll see about picking those up today when we go over.

I DID have log cabin papers at home....so quickly dug in.

Lola knows just what to do to make herself at home.

Piecing until dinner time!

Many more to come.

Printable paper piecing template will be included in the pattern once the quilt is finished.  Thanks for understanding that this may take some time....

This morning.  Yikes.

It's so pretty, but so treacherous!

The decision was made last night with the next incoming group to push things forward a day due to road issues.  They'll come tomorrow instead. It's for everyone's safety as they are coming from Northern Virginia.

The power blipped off in the middle of the night due to the ice.  The generator ran for a while until the problem was solved - evidently crews were on round the clock alert - and we haven't lost power again....yet.

Today will be much like yesterday - shuttling down to the bottom of the drive somewhere around noon, giving things a chance to thaw a bit before heading over to the inn to take care of things, feed Tula and Flash, pick up the mail, take care of any out-going mail, bring home a couple of printed templates for the aqua string quilt and spend my day sewing.

How about you?

This happened - did you see it?
If you haven't started your Old Town yet - did you enter?
This time I even included the paint chips in the pattern. It's ALL in there, even the printable paper piecing templates for the square-in-a-square star block centers, and the small flying geese for the pieced sashings.
And YES - there is introductory pricing for those who have been waiting to start their own Old Town when it was released in pattern format.
The price is already marked 25% off and is good through 2/17/25 at 11:30pm Eastern time. No coupon needed.
International customers:  Please DO NOT USE THE BUY NOW BUTTON. It uses autofill to put in your mailing address. This causes a problem with international folks as I do not ship physical items internationally.
Instead - place the pattern in your shopping cart, and go to the cart directly to choose your payment option (Which does not use autofill) Things should work fine for you this way. You do not need a physical mailing address to receive a PDF file. Just your email.

You can also enter the Gift-Away on THAT POST.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -
I can do many things at once. 
But I don't do them all very well!
Have a terrific Wednrsday, everyone -

 

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Well, This Is Fun - NOT!

It didn't seem possible that we would actually see this kind of winter weather overnight - all yesterday it was cool but sunny!

We headed out with friends for pizza last night - the full moon was out and the skies were *mostly* clear.  There was no wind.

But somewhere in the wee small hours I woke enough to hear little icy crystals hitting against my bedroom windows.

This is my morning view from my studio door as I padded downstairs to type this morning's post.

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One By One!

This was our first Over-the-Porch-Rail photo op of 2025!

And you may notice that there aren't as many top finishes as some are still on design walls and didn't make it as far -

You also may notice we are short a few people.

We've got awful weather slated for tonight and all day tomorrow, into Wednesday so those traveling home to areas that will be impacted by this storm are heading out this morning in an effort to beat the bad weather before it arrives, cutting their retreat one night short.

I don't blame them!  Safety first. Four had already taken off for northern states.  As of last night one of our group had made it to Indiana and will make the final leg home near Chicago by this afternoon.

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That Out & About Day -

The only thing I can say about yesterday's foray back to Boone to visit the dermatologist is that it's done.

Well, maybe it's done.

That is...he froze the barnacle on my forehead (That should take care of it) but found a suspicious mole at the back of my knee which he promptly circled with his black Sharpie, mentioned to his assistant to come take a photo and said "This needs to come off."

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Quilting In The House!

This is what I walked into yesterday after returning to Quiltville Inn from....

Well, my totally unnecessary drive to Boone BECAUSE - when I got there, I found they had tried to call me when I was in Australia, and of course that didn't go through because I was only connected when I had wifi at the hotel.

If I was out and about, forget it.

Anyway - they rescheduled me for next month and so I ran a couple of errands and came home.

BUT!  Quilting Is Happening once again at the inn!

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A Bit More Melbourne!

Isn't this just a fun and iconic site?

With this dreary February day unfolding in Southwestern Virginia I thought I'd post some cheery photos from our lovely warm day in Melbourne, Australia.

Brighton Beach is the most recognised of Melbourne’s beaches, and it is the rainbow huts that make it so memorable. Not only is it the most popular seaside segment of the city, but it is also the wealthiest, where a bathing box will cost you a jaw-dropping $200,000. 

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Just Shy of Twenty -

I've been digging into these for just about a week.

I've not even reached 20 blocks made yet.

They are kind of fiddly with the skinny neutral strip side and the not-much-wider colored strip side, but I like how they give the illusion of curves.

Someone asked if I knew what the final quilt was going to look like before I dive into something.

Usually - NO.

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A Bit of Phillip's Island!

From the hot Australian Outback to the windy coastline of Phillip Island - 

I'm still going through photos and making video collages.  We saw SO MUCH STUFF!

My favorite part of all?  Being outside in nature.

We had traveled on a day trip out of Melbourne to beautiful Phillip Island, a nature sanctuary with a beautiful coastline and incredible wildlife.

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Old Town! The PDF Pattern Booklet Gift-Away!

Happy February 3rd!
It's Monday, and it's one month since our Old Town Mystery reveal.
You know what that means?  I've spent oodles (such a favorite word) of time unscrambling, rewriting and getting Old Town ready in PDF booklet form for those who didn't participate along with us.
This also means that all parts and PDFs have been retired from the blog and my website.
If you missed out on the mystery this year, no worries - It's all presented to you here in a much more cohesive non-confusing format. The directions are straight forward and still contain all of the optional construction methods and all of the other hints, tricks and helps I presented all throughout our mystery time together.

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Found Upon My Doorstep!

Look what arrived when no one was looking!

My elusive missing suitcase made it home from Australia - everything intact just the way I left it.

Stuffed to the brim - everything rolled tightly and packed like sardines.

When checking in at Alice Springs for our return flights home I was a bit on edge that I would be overweight and I was already making plans on what I could quickly extract from within and stash in my backpack for the flights home....

I was one kilo UNDER!!  Whooowhooo!  And then the thought of....you mean :I could have crammed in 4 more fat quarters?" crossed my mind and I immediately regretted what I had left behind at the fabric store. LOL.

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