A Blue Ridge Mountain Weekend Ahead!

Good Morning from Virginia!

I made the great escape yesterday afternoon – barely missing the rush hour traffic that has gotten worse over the years in Winston Salem – I-40 begins to crawl about 4pm in both directions.  Those coming from Greensboro headed west, and those leaving Winston, heading east –

And it was a Friday afternoon which can make it that much worse.  Just a quick stop at Barnes & Noble to pick up a book Dad had ordered for me for my birthday and we were off!

All I had on the brain was a long soak in the hot tub and a good night’s sleep in complete darkness and silence. 

No traffic noise.

No uncontrolled barking at 5:30am from the crazy neighbor’s dogs. (This story for another time.)

Just utter rest.

Not even any stitching happening – just pick up a smattering of groceries on the way, enough to see us through the weekend, and GO.

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Quiltmaker March/Apr ‘19 Gift-Away #2!

A Strange thing happened on the way to the mailbox!

(Wouldn’t that make a great title for a quilty murder mystery? LOL!)

I went through a mountain of mail yesterday.  And I’m not joking!  3 weeks of mail covered my dining room table and overflowed onto any horizontal surface in the kitchen.  It was quite the undoing!

Of course most of it was junk mail and found its way quickly to the recycle bin, but THIS!

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Nothing Could Be Finer Than to Be in Carolina -

My 3 weeks worth of hexie stars.

So many miles, and even more memories!

I brought home a bunch of Japanese fabrics, and I want to work some of those in here – as well as the African batiks that I’ll be picking up in Kenya come October. 

If this is the everlasting ongoing on-the-go project with no deadline, then I can also add fabrics found along my way and really make it a memory quilt.

I’m not tired of these yet.  They are a tad bit more tedious than “regular” hexies.  The sides are nearly 2’’ long, requiring thread basting THROUGH the paper (I do not like glue, don’t tell me to use glue!) to keep the sides from flapping, but the basting comes out with one snip of a stitch and a couple of pulls taking no time at all. 

How big will I go?  I don’t know! I don’t know how I will even set them yet – block to block?  Or with setting triangles in rows?  Or perhaps with large unpieced hexagons to float them?

No need to worry about that yet.  Just keep stitching.

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Going Home Day.

Things that make me smile.

Flora, Fauna and sunshine!

We had all three in our favor yesterday, but our plans to go for a mountain trail hike were kaboshed by a gusty wind that made walking a bit more difficult than you would think. 

From the inside of the house – it looked beautiful out.  Step outside and we heard a chorus of windchimes pinging and clanging in dischord – if there were tumbleweeds they would have been holding a race down the street – it was an in-your-face kind of gusty day.

A walk around our immediate area was our compromise. 

I was fine with it – there are so many things to see and enjoy here.  And the wind didn’t seem to bother the birds!

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Ramblings From the Heart.

Peach Blossoms!

I’ve been watching these buds through the window at Sharolyn’s since I came to visit on Tuesday evening a week ago.  I peeked at them again on Saturday night when we gathered for a small family dinner, just my dad, my nephew Spencer and his wife McKinna in attendance – others were busy, or caring for a sick baby and no one wanted to be the cause of gifting Sharolyn with any germs due to yesterday’s procedure.

I checked in on the blossoms again un Sunday evening – but yesterday was so busy I didn’t look again until this morning as I was gathering my things to leave.

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Show & Share and the Love of Family.

I am about to be really bad with names!

That sometimes happens when on a fly-by-night quick turn around schedule – and I had this story all ready to go in my head but as I sit here at my laptop at the hospital while my Sister-in-law is having an outpatient surgery, I’m drawing a complete blank.  AUUGH!

**NOTE** Because of my staying to be transport and emotional support for this procedure, our last Monday Mystery Link-UP for Good Fortune will bappen NEXT MONDAY.  Thank you for understanding.

I know she is from Texas originally – or family is, and this is a family quilt.  She lives near or in Tucson, and was in my classes there a few years back, and I recognized her bright smile and fun personality instantly when I walked into the classroom at 35th Ave Sew & Vac on Friday.  I can see her face as clear as day – but her name?  Gone. just gone.

It will come back to me as soon as I hit post!

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A Day of String Piecing Fun!

Check out all of these happy scrappy faces!

Yesterday was our day to dig in and play with some string piecing in a Serpentine Web Workshop from my book String Frenzy hosted by 35th Ave Sew & Vac in Phoenix!  I LOVE THIS PLACE!  

It is housed in an old Fry’s grocery store and has everything from fabric, to machines  (from domestic to industrials and longarms!) and is much more than just a quilt store – it’s a community gathering place for like minded quilters from all over.  It’s just FABULOUS!

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Midnight Flight, Phoenix Style!

What a way to kick off my 2019 teaching year!

I walked into a room filled to the gills with 56 quilters, machines, fabric, books, rulers, rotary cutters – the WORKS!  And I felt instantly at home!

“Hello, my name is Bonnie Hunter and I haven’t sat at a sewing machine in over 3 weeks, do you mind if I pet yours?”  Let’s face it, it’s not something you can say to just ANYONE!

But Quilters get it, don’t we?

In fact, I came face to face with a machine I haven’t seen in the wild before – so this one is for YOU dear friend Allison, if you are reading today:

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The Day Before We Play!

I was greeted by THESE smiling and helpful faces yesterday!

It’s time for me to get back in the saddle and throw on my teaching hat and get back in the ring!

In my entire traveling/teaching career of more than 13 years I have never had a 2 1/2 month break away from the classroom.  I’ve got butterflies!  I hope that I can get in there and not miss a beat.  Our workshops this weekend at 35th Ave Sew & Vac will be fun ones to throw myself into – 

Today we’ve got Midnight Flight from MORE Adventures with Leaders & Enders up on deck, followed by Serpentine Web from String Frenzy tomorrow – how can we NOT have a ball?

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