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.

Snowy Days Give Way to Mystery Sewing

What a blustery, cold, snowy, week this has been.  With Christmas parties, gatherings, and events in full swing, I had taken a week of vacation this week from the hospital to prepare and rest.  Well...the snow changed those plans.

Of Mysteries and Christmas Decorations

Hey there everyone.  It's been a blustery, cold day here in Cruso.  Perfect for Christmas decorations and some mystery quilt sewing. 

Quiltfest 2018--Day 5

Good morning on this rainy Saturday morning. What a rollercoaster of as weather week this has been. Sunny and warm to thunderstorms to snow. Now back to rain. Tis spring in the South though.

Today I'm off to breakfast then to the show for the final day of Quiltfest 2018.  Right now I'm helping Jackie get set up for her last class. It's a mostly hand stitching class but does have a small machine component and I'm loaning my machine to her for the day.

Yesterday, Carmen, Amy, and I spent the day with Patti Carey of Northcott Fabrics in Bindings, Borders, and more. What a great class and some great techniques we learned for flange borders, stacked borders, miters, and machine bindings. I've got several quilts to apply these to!

Show and tell was a blast last night. Although I didn't win anything last night, we all had a great time. I want to specially thank all of the vendors and sponsors of A Mountain Quiltfest for coming, making this great show possible, and for the awesome prizes they donated.  Let me tell you, it's not often you have the chance to win as much as you do during show and tell at Quiltfest! A complete Martelli cutting table set, Husqvarna Viking machines, even a Juki sit down long arm. Not to mention $1,000 in gift certificates to Tennessee Quilts, $250 in Batiks from Northcott, and so many kits, patterns, fabrics, and more that I can't even remember.

I've picked up several great things this week, fabric, patterns, and a notion or two. I've got a few things I'm gonna look for today, or should I say look at again, lol.

Amy and Carmen always get a matching shirt each year. This year, we've all gotten matching shirts, and we're wearing them today. A good way to end Quiltfest.

With that, I've got to get My machine set up for Jackie and then I'm off to breakfast. It's Saturday, are you sewing? Take that machine out, if necessary dust it off, and get sewing, even if it's just a few minutes, a few seams!

Until next time, quilt on!

Quiltfest 2018--Day 4

Good morning.  I'm up and at it early this morning. Amy, Carmen, and I have a class today. We'll be learning more about borders and bindings today, hoping to get even better!

Yesterday was a great, fun day. I enjoyed the day seeing quilts and vendors with everyone, Lou Anne, Ernestine, Charlotte, Georganna, Carmen, Amy, Linda, and Mary. I picked up a few things on my list. I've got one or two more things to get.

Yesterday evening, Amy, Carmen Linda, Mary and I went to a dinner/lecture by Dawn Cavanaugh called "Judge for Yourself". First, the LeConte Center provided a wonderful dinner. Second, Dawn gave a great presentation with a lot of really good information and ideas on making those competition quilts better. I've got some work to do, lol.

Well, I had better get going, class begins soon!  Until next time, quilt on!

Quiktfest 2018--Day 3

Good morning. I've resigned myself to the fact that my tablet and Blogger simply aren't going to agree with posting pictures. I'm taking lots of them, I just can't seem to get them to attach.  So, instead of continuing to try unsuccessfully, I'm just going to keep updating you this way and post a few pics on my Facebook page and then compile everything when I return home so that you can see everything then.  Bear with me, I'll share soon.

Yesterday was a ball of fun. Jackie wasn't able to go on the bus tour with me, but alas I had a lot of fun visiting 6 historic churches in Sevier County and being able to go inside each, hearing music in most, and even refreshments in the last. Great, great tour.

After returning to the LeConte Center, I made a bee line to see my basket quilt. It looks good hanging in the show, but alas no ribbon. My friend Linda however, got a second place ribbon on one of her entries!  Way to go Linda!

After a quick trip through the LeConte, our group made our way to the Old Mill for an amazing supper. This is a yearly tradition, and we are never disappointed! 

Today, I'm back at the convention center to see all I can see, then a dinner lecture with Dawn Cavanaugh on judging quilts and entering competition.  I'm having a blast here in Pigeon Forge. Are you able to sew any today?

Until next time, quilt on!

Quiltfest 2018--Day 2

Hey y'all. My pictures wouldn't upload yesterday for some reason. I'll try again today. I hope you’re having a good week, I sure am!

I'm getting ready to board the bus for the tour of historic churches in Sevier County. Jackie and I were able to go on this tour last year and I'm excited to see the new, old churches on the tour this year. I'm sporting the lone look today, Jackie isn't feeling well, so I'll be on the bus by myself.

We had a great day yesterday.  Jackie had her Sashiko class yesterday then we spent the remainder of the day wondering through some quilt shops and Hobby Lobby. It was a very laid back day.

Lou Anne, Georganna, Ernestine, and Charlotte made it here yesterday evening. They are coming today but decided to come early in case the winter weather moved into the mountains. I'm having supper tonight with them, Jackie, Amy, her husband, and Linda. 

As soon as the tour is over I'm making a bee line to see my quilt!

Well, I hear the bus coming, I'm off!
Until next time, quilt on!

Quiltfest 2018--Day 1

Hey y’all.  Is been quite a while since I’ve had time to update you on the progress of A Cruso Quilter. Things have been going really well for me just busy, busy, busy.  Right now I'm sitting at the LeConte  Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee as the time for A Mountain Quiltfest is here!  I just dropped my friend Jackie off for her first class this year.

I made it down here yesterday afternoon after some last minute work at the cburch.  I stopped at Holloway's Country Home on the way down yesterday. I got to meet Freida Haley, the new owner of Holloway's. Freida purchased Holloway's last December as Maria retired.

I'm off today to do some shopping and looking while Jackie is in class, then we're off to visit some area quilt shops.

You're probably wondering what I've been working on.  I have one quilt in the show this year. The theme category this year is baskets.  I wanted to venture from the traditional basket quilt blocks this year, so I created my own basket this year. I started with the Creative Grids Curvy Log Cabin tool by Jean Ann Wright to create my basket. I then used scraps to create a variety of tools, notions, and all the essentials that a quilter needs in their sewing basket. The furry quilt inspector got in the way and got tangled up in both a quilt block and the tape measure. We quilters also cannot get away without chocolate and coffee. I surrounded the center design with small, lemoyne stars using the Deb Tucker, Studio 180, Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star ruler.
The amazing Lisa Mann of Lisa's Quilting Shed did the awesome, custom quilting to complete the basket.

Along the way, I decided to name this quilt in memory of a dear quilting friend, Juanita Metcalf. Three of the four main fabrics were from her stash. So, I give you, “Juanita’s Sewing Basket”.

This year, I've got a fairly laid back schedule. Jackie and I will be touring some of the historic churches of Sevier County tomorrow. I have a dinner lecture on Thursday and a class on Friday. This year is even more about fun and enjoying the show!  Of course there will be lots of fun with the rest of the quilting friends. 

Ill be taking lots of pictures this week and sharing them with you. If you're down here this week, hopefully we’ll get to see each other.  Right now, I'm off to do some shopping.

Until next time, quilt on!

Quiltfest Day 3

Hey y'all! Still rolling right along. Sorry, I haven't gotten pics up yet, I haven't sat still long enough to do much blogging. I'm posting this one from my phone. When I use the laptop, I'm using WiFi and that's at the LeConte Center. Anyway, you don't want to hear about my difficulties.

Our whole gang met up for lunch at the Old Mill restaurant today. There were 8 of us all together including Amy's husband Scott. She managed to get him here for Quiltfest and even to the show. An early shout out to him as tomorrow is his birthday. Happy Birthday Scott!  After lunch we were back at the show having a blast, shopping and trying out a long arm. The Bernina was sweet. I've got lots of great pics to share, just not sure how to embed them on the phone. I'll have them soon though.

This evening, Jackie and I had a great class with Donna Thomas. Our friend Lorry was in there too!  We made a sweet protect, Split Geese.

Well, my wee little bed is calling my name as 5:30 will come early. We have to be on the road by 7:00 so we can be ready for class with Amy and Carmen.

Until next time, quilt on!

Quiltfest Day 2

Hey ya'll from a slightly chilly Pigeon Forge.  Today has been a whirlwind of a day.  Jackie and I boarded the bus at 9 am for a bus tour of historical churches in Sevier County.  Maria Holloway of Holloway's Home in Cosby designed a fabric panel of 12 historical churches in Sevier County.  The awesome folks here at Mountain Quiltfest designed a bus tour of these church, splitting them into 2-6 church tours.  We took the first tour this morning.  We visited each church, going inside most.  We even sang and prayed in a few of them.  We had a great lunch at the Bush Beans Cafe.  The tour was narrated by Kathy Gwinn who gave us great history, not only of the churches, but the surrounding areas and their quilts!

Quiltfest Day 1

Hey ya'll.  Quiltfest 2017 is finally here!  I arrived to my friend Jackie's place in Dandridge yesterday.  Douglas Lake is filling up fast and is looking great.  After the start to a hectic day, I did have one bright spot when my second meeting was cancelled.  That freed up some time so that I could get going!

2017, Off with a Bang

Hey ya'll.  It's been some time since I sat down and wrote on the blog.  My goal in 2017 is to write at least 2 blog posts a month.   Key is at least.  I would love to write more, and I'm hoping to, but I'm going to push myself to sit down, take time, and write.  I love to share my life with you and to share what quilty things are going on, but I realize that I must blog to share.

Cruso Quilters Spring Retreat--Finally!!!

Lynn with her quilt!

Hey ya'll.  Last month, my quilting group "The Cruso Quilters" went on retreat to Franklin, NC.  I've been bursting at the seams to share the experience with you, but we worked on a special project for our friend Lynn who, due to her radiation treatments, was unable to attend.  We kept the project a secret and I was finally able to gift the quilt to Lynn today, so I can post all I want now!!!

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.