Thanksgiving 2025!

Good morning, friends!

The house is still quiet as I write this - though there is a load of laundry running so I can finish my packing for tomorrow's flights to New York in preparation of our Germany/Austria adventure ahead.

Baking will happen as soon as this posts.  I'm responsible for the creamed corn corn bread and Dave's gluten free pumpkin custard.

Dinner is at 3pm at Jeff's so we'll be there by 2pm. That gives me time to get this out to you!
This Thanksgiving we are, of course, so eternally grateful for how well Jason has come through this brain tumor surgery episode.

The next best news - he is able to drive again!  It has been difficult for him to rely on friends and family when all he wants to be in independent.  He still has to wait a bit longer to return to work, but things are falling in place.

I am crossing my fingers that by the time I get back from Germany that we will have that pathology report and finally know what the road ahead entails.

This happened at the inn in preparation for our last retreat of the year:

Abbeygate is hanging in the front foyer with my Pine Tree Point runner decorating the round entry table.

I put all of the fall/Halloween decor away and brought up the bin of Christmas/winter things.

I'm excited for the December Quiltvillians to fill this space with much merry making - the last retreat of our 6th season.

I hung the big Pine Tree Point quilt in the Hen Den!

They will arrive next Wednesday afternoon. I return on Monday, December 8th - so I'll get a chance to visit with them after returning from the airport on their last day as they check out Tuesday morning.
And that's it!  That will be a wrap of our 2025 retreat season and we'll open again in February 2026.

I left off in yesterday's post with my big scrap sorting job well underway.

I mentioned the HUGE bag of scraps that was still left to go through - you can see why I have put this job off for a few months waiting for my end of the year cool down.

This bag was HUGE but - oh, so much wonderfulness it contained!

It took most of the day to go through this one, to determine what would go in scrap bags for the free basket at the inn, what would go into string bins (Yes! MORE STRING QUILTS are coming!) and what pieces needed to be left as big hunks, and which could be pressed and cut down into Scrap User's System widths and put away in my strip bins.

I cleaned up the mess - but there is that one bin of all of the strip-down pieces that will be a great winter project when I return from Germany.

This one mess remains.

But it's a working mess, and I'm okay with that.

(Yes, and my favorite hot cinnamon tea keeping me fueled!)

All of these saved small pieces are big enough to do the job at hand - I need something like 400 of these mini Cracker blocks.

There is something so satisfying quilting and creating from the BOTTOM of my stash.  What seem to be insignificant scraps are coming together to make something wonderful.

Let's face it, I've always rooted for the underdog.

My dogs are rescues.

My cats are Cat Distribution System foundlings.

These scraps are also orphans thought to be of little significance or pedigree.

Yesterday's small smattering -

But when pulled together they create a beautiful sight. I can't get enough of these little unsung heroes from the bottom dregs of my bins.

A few more i a batch I brought home for trimming -

Just wait till you see what I'm going to be doing with them!

This morning while the baking things are baking I'll be going over tomorrow's Part Two for Lupine & Laughter. It will post at the normal time, somewhere between 8am - 9am Eastern. 

While Bonnie's Away Pattern Sale!
While I'm gone, all PDF patterns in the  Quiltville Store are automatically 30% off - no coupon code needed!
This is the only time of year I do 30% off, so it's a great time to stock up on patterns you have wanted.
This automatic discount is good from today 11/27/25 until 11:30pm Eastern on 12/8/25 the day of my return.
I'm so grateful for the community we have built here and that includes having YOU in it!
I hope you have a wonderful holiday, however you spend it.
And with that, the oven is calling -

Quiltville Quote of the Day -
I'm grateful for YOU!
Much love on this day of Thanks -