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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