Wytheville, VA

Why did we stop in Wytheville, Virginia on the way home from Louisville? Was it for the big pencil that the town is so proud of? (It is the number one attraction posted on their website.)



No...it was to go to Sew What Fabrics & Batiks Etc.! This is not a huge shop, but is one of the friendliest I've ever been too. The ladies there were a lot of fun too. I got to spend two hours enjoying the room of batik fabrics and the upstairs sale room. I came away with a bunch of goodies too. I should even be able to show a finished project from one of my purchases in a few days. Obviously, I was inspired!

If you are a Batik lover (and I most definitely am) and you're not too far from this shop, I highly recommend it. I would definitely travel the 2 hours to it in the future. Too far to travel? You can shop with them on line too.

Louisville and Wytheville

We recently had the opportunity to go to Louisville, Kentucky for a training convention I needed to attend. We had a great view of the Ohio River from our hotel room and the river front park provided many hours of entertainment for us. We walked it every morning and Bob got to ride his bike along it while I was in classes. He even crossed the bridge to Indiana!

Bob couldn't resist having one of the "boils" at Joe's Crab shack on the waterfront. And yes, he ate every last bit of it

This limo was quite different - it was covered in the flat red glass marbles. Wonder how much weight that added to the car?

The best part of the city for me was the historic district. This little house looked just like a doll house. It was so tempting to knock on the door and ask for a tour.

The gardens in this section were to die for. They were so lush - amazing ferns, hostas and hydrangias. I wanted to live there for a few months just to enjoy the gardens every morning!

On the way home, we stopped at Wytheville, Virginia. I'll cover that treat in my next post!

April Retreat Part II

Here we ALL are! We really did have a good time. The quilt square competition was especially fun! All were divided into two teams and given squares to be sewn into larger squares for a "disappearing nine patch" pattern. The team with the most squares complete at the end of 30 minutes won. Those machines roared! It sounded like a sweat shop! One of the Bama girls was designated ironer for her team. Alas, the bright colored squares came in second - only one square behind the winners!

The best part - when the squares all get sewn together, they will be baby quilts and given to the Linus Project that our local quild supports.

Cheryl did an outstanding job on her T-shirt quilt - the sashing and border with the stars was amazing.

Cathy put the border on her batik quilt. The picture just doesn't do it justice - it is totally gorgeous - and her own design!

Can't wait for the Fall retreat!

April Retreat in the Mountains Part I

Waterfall Mountain in Warrensville, NC may never be the same after this past weekend. Quilters from the Lake Norman area and two from Huntsville, Alabama, gathered for 4 days of fun and creativity. Quilts were sewn together, bags were made, knitting, beading and even a cute little girl's skirt was sewn!

Bev completed this bright and happy snowman quilt. Clara, new to quilting, cut and put together this really pretty quilt with greens and wine colors. She is definitely got the but - already has several projects in the works and her mind is racing ahead with others - go Clara!!

We were so grateful that Bev L. (right) and Joyce A. (left) traveled all the way from Alabama - they soon became known as "The Bama Girls." Joyce put together the quilt on the right. She also put another one together and made a skirt for her daughter. Bev was the newest quilter/sewer in the group and did a fabulous job putting together and almost completing 24 log cabin squares!

More pics and tidbit coming in Part II.

She Was a Good Ol' Girl

Sadly, last week we had to say goodbye to our family pet of 16 years - Butter Cream. She was a true family pet. When the kids were young, she slept in their rooms with them. She always greeted Bob enthusiastically when he came home from work. And she was my garden buddy - always by my side as I planted and weeded. We had no shame when it came to showing off her cute tricks. She was always sweet and never had any real medical issues. She just got old. we miss her - can't help but expect her to come around the corner. I take comfort in that she no longer hurts. Thanks Butter, we couldn't have asked for a better pet - you were such a good ol' girl.

FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

And OH! what a glorious day it has been. Temp in the 70's, sun shining. Greeting me out the front door this morning were the daffodils in full bloom. I sure hope they stay around for a while. They are just an undescribable treat.

We took a trip to West Jefferson in the mountains, about a 2 hour drive. I wanted to check out the various shops, galleries and restaurants there. This is such a quaint little town and they are doing such a nice job in refurbishing. There were several painted outdoor walls - I've shown just a couple here. I got to see some very nice pottery, paintings and visited a lovely yarn shop. I treated myself to a small bag of pretty roving for my next felting project.

We had lunch at the town park and check out what was piled in the parking lot - dirty, filthy snow! The NC mountains had a pretty rough winter and this is staying around for a while as a reminder. There was also tremendous tree damage done from ice this past winter. It was enough to break one's heart.

It was a fun little day trip and I would recommend it to anyone who ventures to that area.

More Bags!

Just after Christmas I treated myself to a light box in the hopes that I would do some serious applique this year. I immediately decided this new toy needed a bag so as not to get messed up when I traveled with it. I used large scraps of some home deco fabric Ihad. I love this fabric, it's just so pretty and cheery. The front of the bag is embellished with a fun flower I made from a strip of batik. The back of the bag has pockets to hold pens, pencils and notebook.

My second bag is one I saw in a knitting shop in Georgetown, SC while we were on vacation last year. Batik fabric is cut on the bias, tied together and rolled up - I think I enjoyed this process more than the kitting!. It was knitted with size 13 needs and went together in no time. The inside is lined and there are pockets.