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!

Read More»

A Punkin’ Patch Day in May!

How can these NOT make anyone smile?

We had such a great time in our Punkin’ Patch workshop yesterday at the Grand Hotel Needle Art Seminar on Mackinac Island, Michigan! (Pattern from my book String Frenzy!)

And I think we were ALL amazed at how many different oranges there were just within this class alone!  And once you get quilters swapping strips with other quilters – the combinations and variety is endless.

Read More»

An Emerald City Day 2 at The Grand!

44 quilters giddy with excitement over EVERYTHING at the Grand Hotel!

Sew all day, dress up for fancy dinner, every need catered to in GRAND style – what could be better?

This is my third opportunity to teach for the Grand Hotel Needle Art Seminar, and GRAND is just not a big enough word for this fabulous place.  Such a wonderful event in a much more than wonderful spot.

The room we are meeting in – was once the card playing aka gambling room.  The story goes that through prohibition there were even hidden compartments in the walls to hide the hooch.  Can you imagine the Grand Hotel back in the speak easy days? 

Read More»

Quilters, Start Your Engines!

And they are off and stitching!

Yesterday was an afternoon “head start” on our Emerald City workshop.at the Grand Hotel Needle Art Seminar on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

Some folks had arrived the day before – on Saturday – giving their bodies a chance to rest in  and soak up a bit of the island before starting yesterday afternoon.  Some others had newly arrived – just stepping off the ferry yesterday morning from wherever they came –and there was a bit of a kerfuffle of machines and luggage that hadn’t been delivered yet.  It would in due time – it just takes a bit for the luggage to go from ferry to horse wagon to the hotel, and then to be distributed by very busy bell boys that are working as hard as they can go get luggage to everyone as quickly as possible.

My thought is – if you are arriving the day of the workshop, if possible bring your machine and your project with you on the ferry – bring it up here yourself (Take a horse drawn taxi from the dock) so you will have what you need when class starts.

Other than that – it was ALL good!

Read More»

Oh, Mackinac!

If things were just a bit warmer -

I think this would be my favorite place to sit.

Overlooking the gardens, watching folks play a round of bocci ball, croquet, or the now-popular-even-on-Mackinac – CORN HOLE! LOL!

Yesterday was a day for wandering and exploring – and temps did reach into the low 50s by mid afternoon. This meant a great day for grabbing a couple of rental bikes and biking the 8 miles around the island – it was WONDERFUL.

Read More»

The Journey to Mackinac!

It’s not the easiest place to get to, Mackinac Island Michigan.

But it is worth every step of the way!

We left for the Greensboro Airport at 5:30am, flying in on a Friday where we could go from Greensboro direct to Detroit to catch our last flight to Pellston – if we flew today (Saturday) due to the flight schedules we would have added a Greensboro to Atlanta to Detroit to Pellston leg in there – And when you add up the layovers and the crazy departure times we just decided it was best to come in on a Friday.

Besides – that gives us today to wander the island and see what there is to see instead of arriving tonight all road weary with classes starting tomorrow.

An extra day on Mackinac Island? I’ll take it!

Read More»

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.

Read More»

The Mystery of Charlotte the Singer 27.

I feel like I’m still in recovery mode from that week – as you well know from the past few day’s posts that I have not slowed down a bit.

There were things to do and very little time to fit it all in in the few days available before flying to Michigan tomorrow.

Monday was for driving to Columbia, SC to pick up Charlotte’s lovely treadle -

I wanted to show it to Martha when she arrived on Tuesday for our jaunt over to Tennessee.

Read More»

Down a Winding Mountain Road…

What’s a few more miles under my feet??

I’ve been itching to jaunt around with my friend Martha and when she suggested a country drive over to Mountain City, Tennessee for a round of antiquing fun and lunch out – a great way to explore roads I’d not been on, see the fars and the wildflowers, rivers, creeks, and abundant green – how could I say no?

She showed up bright and early yesterday at Quiltville Inn, helped me unload Charlotte's treadle machine into the Post Office, and down the road we went – oh what an adventure ahead! Across the Virginia state line back into North Carolina and not a far piece off – Tennessee.

Read More»