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Monday, February 17, 2025

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!

Saturday, February 15, 2025

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.

Friday, February 14, 2025

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.

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

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 -


 

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

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.

Monday, February 10, 2025

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.

Saturday, February 08, 2025

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."

Friday, February 07, 2025

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!

Thursday, February 06, 2025

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. 

Wednesday, February 05, 2025

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.

Tuesday, February 04, 2025

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.

Monday, February 03, 2025

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.

Saturday, February 01, 2025

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.

Friday, January 31, 2025

A Moment of Peace & Piecing


When my brain seems to be whirling out or control and thoughts creep to the dark side of despair and I'm feeling a bit helpless over things like plane crashes and other humanitarian crises -

Sometimes the only thing I can do to move forward is to sit behind the machine and do some simple piecing.

In the case of yesterday and the aftermath of a commercial airplane being hit by a blackhawk helicopter over DC - this was my result.

I'm thinking of the families affected on both sides of this accident.

Nothing like this happens on purpose - of course not.  Could it have been avoided? Likely. 

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Field of Lights!


As darkness falls and Uluru is thrown into silhouette, Field of Light illuminates. 

As far as the eye can see gentle rhythms of color light up the desert.

This was our last evening in Yulara, after a long hot afternoon of our close up and personal discovery of the sights, sounds, and sacred sites around Uluru.

Uluru is a sacred site in Australia, and the surrounding area is protected as Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The Anangu people, who are the traditional owners of the land, are dedicated to preserving Uluru and the park.

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Hi Honey, I'm Home!


Hi!

I guess that is the simplest way to start.

I returned home last evening - it's been more than 3 weeks since I have sat here to write a blog post - other than the one for the release of our Huka Falls Gift-Away which I think went greatly unnoticed because I wasn't home to promote it at all!

We'll recap that more later.

Most of all I want to scream out just how glad I am to be home.

Friday, January 17, 2025

Huka Falls Gift-Away!


G'day from Australia!

Yes, this post has been *mostly* written ahead so all I had to make were a few edits during my time here and set it to go live -

This is our first pattern release of 2025 and I'm so excited to be releasing Huka Falls one year after viewing this magnificent destination in New Zealand just a year ago.

If you've never heard of Huka Falls - you need to see it!

Monday, January 06, 2025

Ice, Snow & Bugging Out!


It's All Fun & Games -

Until it looks like continuing ice and snow could make it extremely difficult to make it to the airport in time safely tomorrow morning.

So guess who is bugging out and getting a hotel room near the airport in Kingsport TN so there isn't so much worry and fretting over the drive to the airport tomorrow?

Me. Which means there is packing in hyer-drive going on over here currently.

I thought I'd have today and this evening to pull everything together.

Turns out I only have this morning.

Saturday, January 04, 2025

Snow Day Sew Day Ahead!


Good morning, friends!

I'm starting off this post with a bit of studio clean up while I watch the snow fall beyond the QPO window.

Just look at these two finishes hanging off the long arm rail - it makes me smiley all over!

Old Town on the left, and Huka Falls on the right.

And yes, that's a bucket of your gifted aqua strings behind the take up roller just barely peeking out.

Thursday, January 02, 2025

New Year's Day Things : Some Quilting, Some Hard.


January 2nd and reality sets in.

Festivities are over - and yes, Christmas decor is already put away and I am diving into the 5 days remaining before I leave for Los Angeles on the 7th and meet up with my Craftours group on the 8th as we make our way to Australia!

That means there will be little time for quilting over the next several days as I get all my ducks in a row and ready to fly.

However...there was time yesterday to finish this ONE LONG SEAM that joined the diagonal row I shared in yesterday's post that was half finished from New Year's Eve jammie sewing and tv binge watching.

Wednesday, January 01, 2025

Quilting The New Year In -


What? You didn't think I'd actually go OUT on New Year's Eve, did you?  

Don't you know me better than that by now?

I think the last time I stayed up until midnight to wish the new year in was when I was.....wait, was it? 

I do believe it was the first New Year's as a married couple.  When 1981 was turning over to 1982.

And even then I found it hard and wanted nothing more to be in my PJ's curled up on the couch watching something on TV (Not that ball drop thing.....that's way boring!) and heading to bed by 10:30.