Once in a Blue Moon

I am so excited to announce the "Once in a Blue Moon" retreat that will be October 4 thru 7 with Susan Brubaker Knapp at Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Susan is an amzing quilt artist, designer, publisher and teacher. Susan is designing two brand-new projects just for this retreat, based on her new book, Point, Click, Quilt! "You’ll learn the skills you need to go home, take your favorite photo, and interpret it in fabric using fusible appliqué and thread sketching." I know I can't wait to see the pumpkins and passion flowers that are created at this retreat.
The fun begins on Thursday afternoon with a kick-off that evening.  There will be two full days of instruction on Friday and Saturday, departing Sunday morning.  You will be treated to homemade breakfasts and lunches and have the choice to experience some of the great dining in Black Mountain or nearby Asheville. There is also the choice to dine at the Blue Ridge Assembly Hall for an additional fee.  

We'll be in a private lodge - you may stay up all night and you may even stay in your p.j.'s if you wish! And...there even may be some prizes!

Be sure to check out the flier and registration form and sign up today to join the fun - there are a limited number of spaces!

The beautiful and peaceful Barnhardt Lodge will be your accomodations for the retreat.

4 Out the Door!

I have felt such an urgency lately to get projects finished.  It could be because I have so many going! I had success this weekend - 4 quilts going out the door!  2 are baby quilts for Project Linus.  No, they are not quilted. The person who heads up this effort in our guild is gracious enough to quilt them, so I finished the two quilts, and prepared the backs and batting. The one pictured is cotton flannel - so cute with lions and elephants.  The other didn't photograph well.
The pinwheel quilt is going to a professional quilter (machine quilting is just not my thing - I only do really small ones).  I started this quilt about 3 years ago and just finished it a few months ago.  Getting this one out the door is a real accomplishment!  The fourth quilt is a signature quilt that is a gift, so no picture being posted. I won't get to post that pic until September. By then it will be quilted and the binding done.  I'm determined to bind the 2 quilts that are coming back to me as soon as I get them. Of course, the one being a gift will definitely push me.

It just feels SO good to have these done. Now I just need to dig into the pile of 12 or so projects I have started and get a few more out the door!

Back to the Garden

Up until a few years ago, I spent very much of my "disposable" time in the garden.  On my days off it was not unusual for me to be out there from sunup to sundown. Then, my gardening gene seemed to have shut down. Maybe it was the droughts, excessive heat, or the voles that plagued my hostas, wiping out a whole bed in  just a few days. I also started to quilt more about that time, replacing one passion for another.

This past year my husband put a sprinkler system in the front yard. Wow! That has really made a difference.  No more lugging around heaving hoses, and rearranging them every hour.  Now with just the flip of a switch or two, I have zones I can water. We've also been blessed with a fair amount of rain this year.

As for the voles, our cat has eliminated over 50 - yes, 50! But the varmints continue to plague the hostas. Just this morning I found 6 mutilated hostas.  I have not given up yet.  I'm working on a new strategy and will give it another go in the fall or spring when I can find a couple of large varieties on sale.

 

 

So please, come into my garden. Enjoy the daylilies, phlox and big elephant ears. Sit on the glider in the back yard for a while and enjoy the peacefulness of the fern bed. I'm so glad to be back to the garden.

Our Quilt Show

Lake Norman Quilters' quilt show was this weekend. I am continually amazed at the talent in this group.  To see all of the quilts and winners, go to our site: http://lknquilters.wordpress.com/.  A big congratulations to Teresa for winning the Viewer's Choice.  This was my favorite quilt.  I also know that Teresa worked very hard on this one and am so glad for her - isn't it a beauty?!  I'm also very proud of young Diana.  This is the daughter of one of our members and she is a fine young lady.  She has come to our meets and shared some of her sewing projects.  Her quilt is the picture quilt just above her.  In a few years she is sure to walk away with many ribbons!

I was also both surprised and pleased to have won two second place ribbons.  One was for a quilt I gave my son last Christmas and the other for a pillow I gave him the year before.  I reminded him that he is now the owner of award winning work!

An awful lot of work goes into the quilt show and my hat's off to Michele and Liz who co-chaired the event and to the many who put so much of their time and effort into the planning and execution of the show.  Thanks also to the many husbands who not only worked tirelessly during set-up and take-down, but who supported us during the year while we sewed our little hearts away!

Lampshade Dress Up

For quite some time now I've wanted to dress up a lamp shade for our guest room.  My daughter did one from the Pretty Ditty blog (http://pretty-ditty.blogspot.com/2009/02/peek-boo-lamp-shade-makeovertutorial.html.)  Once my husband did the math, it wasn't hard at all! It was especially fun going through stash to pick out the 8 different print fabrics I used.  I decided to use a black and white for the top and bottom bias finished edge and liked the look.  What would I change? If I were to do another, I would add more sections.  This was not really specified in the tutorial.  I used 8 sections on a small lamp shade.  I wish I had used 10. Other than that, I love it and it really looks good with the light on - bright and fun!

99 Blocks off the Wall

Finally!  My scrappy quilt top is done. This is one I started several years ago with romantic notions of using up a bunch of scraps.  The scrap supply, however, has increased mightily since then.  There are 99 blocks, each containing 13 pieces not counting the black and white sashings.  I wish I had kep count of how many bobbins of thread I went through - many, many, many. I do plan on quilting this one myself sometime.  It's back on my project shelf, but I do feel quite a sense of accomplishment.  Will I ever do another scrappy quilt?  Oh, probably sew!

Cincinnati



A beautiful old bridge.



Went to Cincinnati last week for work for a couple of days.  There was no time to go to sites like the zoo or gardens, but we did enjoy some beautiful architecture on our early evening walks.  Rain had been predicted for our stay there, but the weather was perfect!  In the main hall of the convention center I was surprised to find this wonderful quilt hanging.  I cannot find where I wrote down the name of the artist, but did want to share this.  It was really glorious in person. There was so much detail and so many embellishments.



One of several old churches.



"Freedom" Quilt

 On the way home I treated myself to a quick visit to Batiks, Etc. in Wytheville, Virginia.  If you have never been here and like batiks, you will love this place. There is a whole room devoted to batiks and they are glorious! The sale room is filled with them as well.  Amazingly enough, I behaved - I was out in 30 minutes and spent very little. I'll have to remedy that my next trip in that direction!