Mountain Quiltfest and Sew Much More!

Hey ya'll.  Wow, so much has been going on lately and I've been behind at getting my posts done.  Let's catch up.
 Two weeks ago I traveled to Pigeon Forge, TN for the 22nd Annual Mountain Quiltfest.  I always have a great time at Quiltfest and this year was no exception.  I spent the days prior to the trip working like crazy both at work and home so that I would be ready.

Monday morning came, and as I left for work, I had my car packed to the gills and ready for the trip.  When 7:00 came that night, I hopped in the car and I was off to Tennessee.  After a quick supper stop and a bit of shopping at Walmart to get a few things, I made it to my friend Jackie's lake house at

Lake Douglas.  Tuesday, brought some shopping and finding a new quilt shop.  We visited our friends at Holloway's Country Home where I found a few things on their clearance table, yay!  We then ventured to find Mountain Stitches by Susan in Gatlinburg.  She has a great little shop nestled in the Craftsman Village section of Gatlinburg, which is off the beaten path, but oh so worth the time.  I'll definitely have to have more time to spend next time, because I saw several shops I'll be making a stop at.

After a stop back by Jackie's for lunch and to let the dog out, we were off to the LeConte Center to see a few quilts, vendors, and the meet and greet with our instructors for the week.  We found my quilt to see what the judges had thought, and no ribbon, but it looked great hanging in the Exhibit Hall!  We met both Laurie Brobst and Linda J. Hahn our instructors for the week.  I also got to see several other instructors I've had in the past and were returning this year.

We started shopping at some of the vendors and I needed a few more fat quarters for my Wednesday class, "Smoky Mountain Sunset" with Laurie Brobst.  I had went through my FQ collection before I went to Pigeon Forge and had made the trip down with 17 FQ.  There were a few that I wasn't so fond of together and wanted a few more for variety.  As we shopped I would pick up a couple here and there to add to the collection.  After visiting both Holloway's and Mountain Stitches as well as about a third of the vendors at the show, I ended up with a total of 32 FQ in my bag for class.  I told Jackie to not let me buy any more FQ while we were there.

My first block laid out, ready to be sewn.

On Wednesday, we made it to the Cherry Pit and to Machine Quiltin' by Iva in Sevierville on our way to the show.  We visited more of the vendors and had a late lunch before making our way to class that evening.  The class "Smoky Mountain Sunset" with Laurie Brobst was a lot of fun.  It looks like a sampler, yet it's not because all of the blocks are identical in construction.  It's simply a matter of where you put your colors that make the blocks look so different.  After class we made a quick trip through Wendy's drive through for supper and a Frosty!

Thursday brought the arrival of Lou Anne, Georganna, and Ernestine, three of our good friends who always come down.  We had a great lunch with them at the Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge before visiting the show.  We visited the vendors and of course bought a few more things before it was time for Jackie and I to go to class that evening.  Thursday's class was Celtic Interlaces with Linda J. Hahn.  What a better class for St. Patrick's Day than Celtic Knots and some Celtic music.  The interlaces were quite fun to make, and I'm still trying to decide how I want to use them.

During class my phone died.  Right before it died, I had gotten word from Amy another of our friends that she would be arriving sometime that evening.  When I got to my car, I found a note "I was here. -A".  Who else?  I plugged my phone in, once I was in the car and headed out to find some supper.  As soon as my phone came on, I phoned home to check-in and then got a call from Amy.  She let me know where she was staying and that I needed to stop by so that we could say hey.  I made my way to her hotel, which was right across from the LeConte Center.  We talked for a minute, when around the corner steps, Linda, Amy's mom and my great friend.  To say the least, I was quite surprised.  Linda doesn't get to come to the show usually because it is always right as she is getting ready to come back to the mountains from Florida.  To make matters so much better, Linda had gotten into the class we were all taking on Friday.  Our instructor Linda J. Hahn was in for a shock when the 5 of us, Jackie, Amy, Carmen, Linda, and I walked in!!

Time for a quick selfie, smile ya'll.

Friday was full of vendors and quilts as we made our rounds with Lou Anne and her crew as well.  Our crew is going on a retreat in May and I had purchased a Judy Neimeyer pattern earlier in the week to work on at retreat.  I started my search for fabrics on Friday and Saturday.  I decided on the Quiltworx pattern, because I knew that I'll have lots of brains to pick at retreat if I run into any problems, lol.

We made it into class at 1:00 that afternoon after saying goodbye to Lou Anne, Georganna, and Ernestine who were traveling back home.  Linda Hahn's technique for New York Beauty is great!  I love the way the blocks come together and make it so much fun!  As class was finishing up, Linda Hahn turned on some "New York, New York" and had us all dance with our blocks, what fun!  We had about an hour and a half to kill before the Show and Tell started that evening, so Linda, Amy, and I hopped on the tram over to the Island and had a quick supper at Margaritaville.  That crab dip was amazing!!

After catching the tram back to the LeConte Center we made our way into Show and Tell equipped with our NY Beauty blocks and some quilts to share on stage.  We each also donated some Children's Quilting Fabric for the local guild's charity project.  I was equipped with 8 tickets to the drawings to be held at the show and tell which included a Martelli cutting table, a Janome sewing machine, and SOOO much more.  Well, after lots of showing and telling and lots of drawings, they came within 3 numbers of my tickets for a prize and within 3 numbers of Linda's tickets for the Martelli table, but alas we didn't win anything.  However, we did have a great time, and Linda Hahn had us all on stage yet again, dancing with our blocks.

Saturday morning was filled with quilts, quilts, and more quilts as we saw everything in sight and visited the vendors again.  You can never see them too much.  You just don't know what you missed the first three times through the booth, lol.  I bought several pieces for my Vintage Compass quilt project and saw some gorgeous quilts.  If you click the link below, you'll be taken to a YouTube video I've put together of some of the quilts I saw at the show.

Linda, Amy, and I stuck around until the end of the show so that we could pick up our quilts.  We had some time to kill between the show ending and pick up so we rode back over to the Island and piddled in some of the shops like the Emory's 5&10 store.  We picked up our quilts, and I said my farewells to Linda and Amy and made my way back to Jackie's.  Jackie, her husband Fred, and I went to Angelo's at the Point in Dandridge for supper (the 2nd time Jackie and I had been there that week, lol).  I love their food and what a great atmosphere on the edge of the lake, even if it was low still.

Sunday morning, Jackie and I visited First Baptist Dandridge for a great worship service on Palm Sunday.  The church is so wonderful and the worship is amazing!  When we made it back to Jackie's we got everything packed and headed out.  After a quick lunch at Cracker Barrel I was on my way home!

I had such a great trip to Quiltfest again this year, and can't wait for next year.  I've been busy the last couple weeks, working on projects and such.  I've finished my NY Beauty top and am ready to quilt it.  I love how it turned out and am excited to quilt this one.  I've also finished 14 blocks in my Smoky Mountain Sunset.  The class project had 9 blocks in it, but I decided to keep making blocks until I either ran out of FQ I had collected for it or until I get tired of making them.  I've still got lots of strips left, so who knows what I'll end up with.

I've been busy over the last few weeks and I've got lots coming up.  I start teaching at the Cruso Community Center again on May 3rd.  I've got several signed up so far, but there's still room.  I'd love to have you join me in Quilting 101.  You can visit my website for details.  http://www.crusoquilter.com/quilting101.  I'm also happy to announce that beginning in May I will be an instructor for the JoAnn Fabric and Craft store in Asheville!  I'll be teaching 3 classes in May and June.  I'll be posting more details on those in the next week or so.  I'm excited to start both sets of classes and look forward to seeing you there!

It's a busy time of year, but I do love spring.  What are you quilting on?

Until next time, quilt on!