2 Days to Play, the Straits of Mackinac Way!

It’s so hard to wave goodbye to these ladies!

We really did have an awesome time over the past week – Each and every day – Sunday through Friday things were hopping with excitement in the Brighton Pavilion room where my classes were held.

But THESE ladies were BRAVE!

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Straits of Mackinac with the Scrappy Sisters!

The Scrappy Sisters are in the house!

They arrived in an entourage of cars on Wednesday afternoon and we've been enjoying each other's company over the past few days!

While groups usually bring many many projects to work on individually - this group made a decision that they would choose one of my workshops and spend the entirety of their time here working on it together!

Straits of Mackinac from String Frenzy is being created in 12 different ways by 12 different quilters - and it is so exciting to see a workshop situation once again!

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Straits of Mackinac, the California Way!

Aqua to Turquoise – our color theme of the day!

I fell in love the moment I walked into the classroom – not only were many of us playing with this gorgeous color range, but some came all decked out wearing our “color of the day” and even SEWING on a machine of this beautiful color.

And it doesn’t stop there.  Check out the sippy cup behind.  Oh beautiful!

Straits of Mackinac from String Frenzy.. SO much fun and creativity packed into a 6 hour workshop day – could they do it?  Could they get even ONE BLOCK made?

With 35 students in class, I was hopping between two rooms watching folks tackle one unit at a time, breaking the room into 3 smaller groups for hands on demo time.

My plates were spinning – but we got it done with smiles and laughter!

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While the Quilter’s Away --

While the Quilter’s away, Her quilts were on DISPLAY!

My exhibit in Hershey happened at the same time as my family reunion here in Utah.

And while I wasn’t able to be there, so many of you sent me photos so that I could share them here.

This was my first exhibit experience and I was sad to not be there to experience it, but I wouldn’t have traded family time for anything.

So thank you for keeping me in the loop!

I loved all of the comments that came with your photos, what you loved, what you couldn’t wait to make – and HOW LONG would it be before the next book is available?

Patience, my friends – there are enough UFOs to keep you busy for a while, including our new Checkerboard Rails Leader & Ender Challenge as well as our next Quiltville Mystery (which is only 4 months away!)

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The Colors of Texas Show & Share!

This photo makes me happy!

I fell in love with Bluebonnets when we moved to Sulphur Springs, Texas in 1999.  It was a season of so many things New To Me as one century was poised and ready to turn the page into the next.

I’m still smiling every time I think of these Bluebonnets!

Warm sunshine.

Soft breezes -

And loads of traffic noise from the interstate! LOL!

Isn’t it great what you can do with photography?  

We were actually just off the frontage road on a patch next to the parking lot of a restaurant we had met at for lunch on our way to Mineola – more than a week ago now.

But by this photo alone not knowing – you would guess that we were way out in the Texas hill country – not sitting mere feet from the off ramp of a major toll road.

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Oh, Those Sewciologists!

We had not just one - but FIVE Straits of Mackinac finishes over the porch rail this past weekend!

FIVE!

Here we are capturing a bit of afternoon sun (and shadow) on this glorious Sunday afternoon.

Of all the quilts from my book String Frenzy, this quilt is undoubtedly my favorite - and the one I tore my hair out most over.  But it was so worth it!

I was excited to see them all side-by-side for our photo op on this gorgeous October day.

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Straits of Mackinac on Mackinac!

Day one of our 2 day Straits of Mackinac Workshop happened yesterday!

(Pattern found in my book String Frenzy)

This is the day I’d been anticipating with glee – the place that inspired the making and naming of this quilt, the first time this quilt has been shown in this beautiful location – everything that brought it to fruition found right here at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and I got to share it with nearly 50 students eager to make their own rendition!

Busy bees!

And let’s face it – it’s just kismet when your quilt matches the walls and chairs and other accents in the room!

Since this is a two day workshop – we broke the units down into two easy parts -

String pieced triangles in two sides -

(yes –and the rotary cutter and the mat sense the theme too!)

I love that little bit of purple thrown in!

And Katy’s tan featherweight Annette is the star of the vintage machine fleet!

And on go the star points!

Big ones for the blocks -

Baby ones for the sashings!

When you wear flannel, your shirt becomes your design wall! LOL!

Or just go on and wear them on your head like cat ears! LOL!

Breaking this quilt up this way really helped the quilters relax and enjoy the day instead of stressing out over it. It’s the moments that make us laugh that are the most memorable!

Oooooh!  An Emerald City Block Share!

The Sit n Sew room is just down from where my classroom is and we loved the impromptu share of blocks from the Emerald City Class that waltz through on occasion – Great job!

So happy to have Patricia and Ann here at The Grand!

“The Parlor”

So iconic!

Melinda Bula’s presentation was last evening, only we couldn’t file in until 5:30 on the dot (they run a tight ship here!) and I took a moment to wander the parlor and soak up a bit of Grand Hotel that had NOTHING to do with quilting.  Just splendor.

There are ALWAYS amazing fresh flowers.

And completely over-the-top furniture.

Sofa arm detail in the trophy room.

Just beautiful!

Detail of sofa back.

What a gorgeous piece!

Section of vintage wall mural.

From where I sat -

Guests enjoying a leisurely card game.

It is truly the most remarkable place to hold a quilting and needle art event.  It’s just been fabulous being a part of this thing we all love.

My morning through the window screen -

It’s blustery and it’s raining. The current temp at 7:33am is 37.  With the wind chill, it feels like a brisk 28 according to my weather app. 

Yeah – those folks who thought they’d want a bike ride today?  A few more rounds of cards, or perhaps a few more hours of sewing may be a much better idea.

But even in rough weather – this place is vibrant and alive and full of so much history.  There’s magic in every moment.

Quiltville Quote of the Day

No sunrise today -

But even with the rain and wind outside my early morning window at The Grand Hotel, there is majesty in this place. Notice the magic!

Opportunities are like those small moments of magic, don't let them pass go by unnoticed!

Have a very happy Thursday, everyone!

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A Bit of Cabin Stitching Time!

This past weekend there were a few moments when I could step away from the unpacking of “stuff’  the hanging on the walls of “stuff” and all of the settling in and simply go through the motion of stitching pieces together with machine and thread.

When I sit down to sew, even in the midst of upheaval and chaos – albeit planned upheaval and chaos – my soul finds its happy place.

What’s not to love about stitching away with Annie Get Your Gun playing on an old laptop saved for its Cd player capability?

This is another one of those reasons that I love having my projects cut out and kitted up so that I don’t have to travel with yardage.  Just grab a couple of prepared baggies and sit down and sew.

This project has been ongoing for many months now, built as one unit at a time as I found time.  

There have been times when it has sat idle for a couple of weeks while I was doing other things, but I always came back to it.  I've been captivated by i t!

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A String Frenzy Trunk Show!

Happy Last Sunday of November!

I feel like we are doing this String Frenzy Trunk Show thing a little bit inside-out, but it was too much to post along with Friday’s mystery post – and Thanksgiving was in the mix, and let’s face it – the books are still on a truck and haven’t arrived here yet!

So once again I am flying by the seat of my britches and shoveling this in on Sunday, so we can do our first Mystery Monday Link-Up for our Good Fortune Mystery tomorrow!

I’ve loved writing this book.  I’ve loved even more – making the quilts for this book, and I know this isn’t the end of my own love affair with string quilts.  String quilts are just the most fun I have ever had in my quilting life, and there is no stopping this string piecing train.

To get the detail photos for this post, I had to go back to my google photo albums, back to September of 2017 when I was getting the quilts ready to send off to photography for my Quilter's Date Keeper.  This book writing thing takes a LONG TIME!

And so my friend - this is what you are going to find within the pages of String Frenzy.

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In a Pressing Conundrum.

Sometimes pressing doesn't go the way our brains think it should!

Things like "Always press to the dark."  "Always spin the centers of four-patches and hourglass units" may give a false sense of security that any project is going to fit together well - 

It's one of those things that sometimes stops me in my tracks as I go merrily along with a stack of blocks that I haven't yet decided how I'm going to set -

Such was the case this morning!

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Quilt Showing & Sharing with the Scrappy Sisters!

This was the view over the porch rail as evening fell on Saturday -

The sun on the western side of the porch was perfect, and gave all passers-by quite the show!

So many beautiful quilts were brought by the ladies, and it was wonderful to see each one -including many Grassy Creek mystery finishes!  WONDERFUL!

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Straits of Mackinac with Irene's Sewciologists!

We dug in to Straits of Mackinac from String Frenzy yesterday morning as rain continued to pelt the world outside.

Quilting, friendship, and being cozy inside?  Perfection!

Nothing puts a smile on my face faster than walking up the front steps of the inn (Where I can see that all of the lights are on, and there is already much quilty activity happening in the sewing room!) opening the door with a "Good Morning!" and finding myself surrounded by yummy smells coming out of the kitchen, and the sound of machines and laughter filling the space.

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Pam's Scrappy Sisters - Over the Porch Rail!

I'm so glad that the Scrappy Sisters had beautiful weather while retreating at quiltville Inn!

They sewed, some took quilt shop runs, some took long hikes - the weather was spectacular for late October.

That all changed YESTERDAY!

In fact, this is posting a bit late this morning - I was awakened just after 6am with the Generac turning on due to the power going off.

It didn't stay off long (Thank heavens for Generac and knowing it works!) but I was unsure of the power situation at the inn and QPO.

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Straits of Mackinac in Denton TX!

I’ll not soon forget these happy faces and the crazy antics

that come with a heavy dose of scrap over load!

These ladies don’t even know how much they have added to MY life!

I love talking to folks, finding out a bit about them, their family, their former jobs if they are retirees, family life if they are still raising kids, or supporting kids through college – listening to the discussions of every day life with jobs, plans, grandkids, upcoming weddings, babies on the way – and usually there is a quilt in the planning or sewing stages for each of these occasions. 

Quilting is how we mark the momentous events that dot the timelines of our lives, isn’t it?

This was also the maiden voyage for Straits of Mackinac as a workshop – and starting out with 53 in class?  HOLY MOLY!!

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And Car Horns Honked!

We were trying to beat the rain on Monday to get this done!

Just look at those clouds!  

And the quick click of the camera in between gusts that set the quilts flapping - 

And of course, cars were drying by and honking - in approval is my guess!

Or maybe it was a honk to say "What the heck are these ladies doing hanging out laundry when it is about to rain?!"

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Bye-bye, July Quiltvillians!

I waved the July Quiltvillians off yesterday morning -

They stayed into August - it was time to go home! LOL!

This photo shoot happened on Monday evening after I returned from my eye doc appt in Winston Salem.  The end of a very busy day, but the light was JUST RIGHT on that side of the house to throw those quilts over the rail and dazzle the cars passing by.

These gals worked so hard on their projects - some of what you see here are newly finished tops, others are projects they have finished since the last time they were here, and they brought them to adorn their beds for sleeping.

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Where Rhododendrons Grow -

This was Thursday!

And when early December days get warmish - the quilters get out walking!

Okay, THREE of us got out walking and I'm glad we took just an hour to do this.

This is down Bear Branch, and yes those are giant rhododendron bushes growing along that stream - Rhododendrons keep their leaves through the winter, and though they may get a bit droopy with the incoming ice and cold, they are about the only other thing that stays green besides the pine trees.

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Sew Many Scrappy Projects!

Judy's Stitchers may have left on Monday - but echoes of their laughter and visions of their quilty productivity still remain in my mind!

My yesterday was a whirlwind of getting things ready for the Pieceful Hearts who are arriving this afternoon - and not much sewing happened as I spent MORE time working on tomorrow's Rockabilly Swing PDF pattern release than I had anticipated -

And when I feel bogged down, all I need to do is look at all of the design wall goodness that continually happens with retreats, and it puts me right back into my happy place!

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From Phoenix with Love!

This is Sherri’s Pineapple Crazy from String Fling!

Oh – hold on to your hats folks – she went way above and beyond what I did and made this gigantic beauty nearly king size with 400 blocks coming to 100’’ x 100’’!

This photo is from the show & share portion of yesterady’s presentation event at 35th Ave Sew & Vac in Phoenix where I am teaching this week. 

I was blown away by everyone’s gorgeous quilts, but I swear – the entire room stopped breathing when Sherri unfurled her Pineapple Crazy.

Take a look at the full sized photo here .  It’s AMAZING!

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Sew Long, Sewciologists!

We had the most glorious of October days yesterday at Quiltville Inn!

The ladies continued to work on their Straits of Mackinac blocks and units, but the pull of the OUTSIDE was strong!

Just LOOK at this display over the rails - fantastic!

In fact, it was so beautiful that we even had a car stop, pull into the parking lot behind the QPO (where I am standing to take this photo) and ask if these quilts were for sale, and just what was going on here.  LOL!

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