A View From My Machine

 Good evening ya'll.  It was a chilly 19 degrees here in the mountains of Western North Carolina this morning.  We didn't get much snow here yesterday, but some parts of the mountains did.  As I continue with Cheryl Sleboda's 31 day blog writing challenge, I wanted to show you a bit of what I see from my machine each day.

31 Day Blog Writing Challenge!!!

 
Hey ya'll.  I've accepted the challenge of my friend, Cheryl Sleboda, of www.muppin.com to take the month of December and blog each day.  I know, this is a crazy time of the year to be blogging, but this is a great way to build things up and keep up with each of you!

A Christmas Gift-Away

Hey ya'll.  Christmas is right around the corner and I'm so excited.  Things around the house are beginning to look like Christmas.  Outside that is.  Inside will have to wait until this coming
weekend, but it's coming.

Visiting the Logan's Lap Quilters

This week I had the pleasure of visiting with the Logan's Lap Quilters Guild in Columbia, South Carolina.  They are a welcoming, loving group of quilters!

Car packed with lots of quilts, and by 8:30 I was off.  When I journey to share my Quilts and Their Stories lecture with a guild, I love to travel with lots of great quilts both old and new to share stories and examples of what quilting looks like through the ages.  This time I only had one antique quilt with me to share.  I wasn't able to get with my friend Jackie to borrow hers, but rest assured, the stories of her antique collection were shared, including her White Sheep Games quilt. 

I met Donna at the church in Columbia just before noon and we drove to meet a group from the guild at a nearby restaurant.  If you're ever in Columbia, SC, I highly recommend J's Corner.  From their website,

“J’s Corner gas pump… now refurbished, serves as a reminder of the days when Jaco’s was a gas station. At the corner of Bluff Road and Rosewood Drive stands a vintage gas pump and a small building. This spot for more than a century housed Jaco’s Corner, a gas station-turned-neighborhood bar near the State Fairgrounds and Williams-Brice Stadium.These days, both the gas pump and little old bar are looking shiny and fresh, as they’ve both been refurbished. And they’re dwarfed by the brand-new structure behind them — the main building for J’s Corner, a new restaurant and bar”
-Free Times Magazine 

The food was great and their was a light, airy feel to the restaurant.  If you're in the mood for a good burger, you'll not go wrong with the Mushroom-Swiss!  It was also great to see the University of South Carolina Football Stadium across the street.

After our great lunch and conversations, we went back to the church to prepare for the guild meeting. 

 The ladies were milling about, signing in, visiting tables of goodies, raffles, and so much more.  At 2:00 on the dot, their president started the meeting, then turned the program over to me. 

I of course shared stories of my quilts, and we talked about everything from Leader and Enders and Bonnie Hunter to stories of the ladies' quilts. 

After I finished my presentation, they took a break to allow me to pack up and talk further with the ladies, answering questions and hopefully spurring on some conversations about labeling quilts and entering them in shows if not for anything but to share their work and inspire others to get started!

I packed up and was on the road home after that.  I usually stay for the remainder of the meeting, but the ladies assured me that I should get ahead of the rush hour traffic and I was grateful for that.  When I arrived home, I opened the gift bag that I was handed before the start of the meeting.

What a great bag full of goodies.  The bag is a reusable shopping bag with lots of great quilting phrases and such on it.  There was a sweet pattern, Stonehenge Jelly Roll and charm pack, small ruler, personal fan, and Grandma's lotion and stain stick.   The lotion is great!  THANK YOU SO MUCH LADIES!

I had so much fun with these ladies and hope to see them again in the future.

I'm busy working on something great for ya'll that you'll definitely want to check out!  It will be my Christmas gift you each of you!  Stay tuned tomorrow for that!

Until next time, quilt on!

Grateful, Thankful, Blessed, and Charity

November is a month for thankfulness.  It is a time of reflection on what God has provided for us.  As my mind often does, I turn first to my relationship with Christ and my salvation.  I also turn my thoughts to my quilting.  God has so truly blessed me with talents beyond measure with abilities to create and desires to bless others with that creativity.

My sewing group with the Cruso Friendship Club recently began a project to make quilts for our local DSS and Child Services.  We call these our Comfort Quilts.  What began a little less than two months ago has ballooned into a wonderful project.  We are typically a small group of 6-8 that meets most Tuesday mornings.  Two of our usual friends have ventured back to their winter homes, one in Florida and one in Texas.  We had another friend who lives in Georgia visit recently with a generous gift of fabric, blocks, and quilt tops that she had been given.  With these pieces and parts we have already put together four tops with several more started.


Our initial goal of making 20 quilts before our first delivery is being reached quickly.  We have seven in the completed pile with at least 12 more in various stages from cut fabric in kits to completed tops awaiting quilting, to a few only needing binding.  We are making quilts in a variety of sizes and styles from crib to twin and everything in between.  We have some that are very juvenile, while some are flowery and some are bright and geometric.  All patterns are welcome, none frowned upon, remember there are NO quilt police!

We always welcome help with our projects. If you would like to help, we can use fabrics (please only quilting cotton), blocks, completed quilts, or if you're free on a Tuesday morning, we would love to have you join us at the Cruso Community Center from 9-12 and we'll sew up a storm.  I can also get kits to you that need sewing or binding, or if you happen to be a longarmer with a spare moment or two , we could use some additional quilting help too!  This is an ongoing project for us, so if you find time even after the busy holiday season, send me and email or call me at 828-400-7323 and we'll get to work.

While I've been working on Comfort Quilts, I've also been finishing up a long-time due wedding quilt and baby quilts for twins due around the corner.  My friend Jennifer and her husband were married 4 years ago.  I began a wedding quilt for them and as the best laid plans usually go, it got waylaid.  I kept jokingly saying, "I'll get it done before you have a baby"...Well, she's due with twins just after the first of the year, so I've kicked it in high gear and have all three ready for quilting then gifting!!!  All three have turned out exceptionally well.  I can't wait to get them quilted and bound so I can get them delivered.  I'll share pictures of them once they are delivered, since the designs are still a surprise.


Recently, I tried my hand at making something other than a quilt.  I made my first necktie and let me tell you it was super simple and a lot of fun to make.  There will definitely be more in the future.  I found the pattern from Bryanna of Sweet Shop Sewing.  She has lots of great patterns and this one was exceptional.

This week, I was blessed to be able to share my Quilts and Their Stories lecture with the Logan's Lap Quilters Guild in Columbia, SC.  I'll post more about that tomorrow.  I also have exciting news coming in the next couple days, so you'll definitely want to check back for that!

Tim is certainly flying, but I encourage you to take a moment with me, to remember all we have to be thankful for and to give thanks during this season of Thanksgiving.  Thank you for sharing this quilty life with me!

Until next time, quilt on!

Of Quiltfest, Friends, and More

It's hard to believe that a year has gone by already and A Mountain Quiltfest is here. This great show is celebrating 25 years this year! I made it to Pigeon Forge Monday an after arriving Jackie and I made a quick trip to JoAnn and the Cherry Pit before venturing out to check in and get our name badges and tote bag for the year.

We had an awesome dinner Monday night at the Point in Dandridge last night. Such great food and an awesome view on Douglas Lake.

Amy and I spent the morning on Tuesday in class with Dawn Cavanaugh in "Practice Makes Perfect". This intro to Free Motion Quilting on the domestic machine is a whirlwind full of great info and laughter. My "s" curves that were supposed to look like penguins in a line looked more like overstuffed Peeps at Easter!

After class we picked up some Quiltfest t-shirts and ran into our favorite Linda Hahn. I can't wait for our full day class with Linda today!

After lunch, we checked out Iva's Quilt Shop then I went in search of a pair of flip flops. I know it's not quite warm weather, but this boy cannot sew with a shoe on and it's much easier to slip a flip flop on and off. I finally found a pair and ordered a second for 50% off with free shipping! I'm all set for that!

Yesterday evening I made the short trip to Mom and Meg's Quilt Shop in Dandridge to see my good friend Glenda. She has the best little shop and her prices are wonderful! If you're in the area, this is a must see!!

Today is Wicked Wahini with Linda Hahn. There are 5 of us in our group taking the class together and Linda calls us her wild group. Let's see how wild and crazy this day gets!

I'm also looking forward to seeing Lou Anne, Ernestine, Charlotte, and Georganna as they arrive today!

I do want to take a minute today to ask you to say a prayer for one of my quilting friends Lynn. Lynn battled breast cancer in 2015 and beat it, but last week after some lung surgery (3rd procedure since Christmas) she found out that the cancer has returned and has made its way to the lung. She's still in the hospital, hoping to come home soon. I'm praying for Divine healing, will you join me?

Photos will come later when I can get them to post.

Until next time y'all, Quilt on!

Good Tidings of Great Joy

Happy day after Christmas everyone!  I hope and pray that each of you had a wonderful Christmas holiday season and that your days were filled with family, friends, and of course our Lord Jesus Christ!  Without Him there is no CHRISTmas.