Time Is Humming Along

I cannot believe that it's February 2 already!  The groundhog didn't see his shadow here at our house this morning and I can certainly believe that spring will be arriving soon.  Way too soon, really.  Due to the on again, off again weather we've been having, we already have early flowers coming up.  Trees and shrubs are budding.  This is just plain crazy here in the mountains.  Don't get me wrong.  I enjoy the mild temperatures but I worry about the plants and insect populations later in the summer.  

I spent a few days with friends from my quilt guild from Florida at a retreat over in north Alabama.  Had a wonderful time, of course.  No finished project to show but made a lot of progress on a couple of things.  Had lovely views of Lake Guntersville for the duration.

I'm not a fan of 'smores but a good time was had by the outdoor fireplace and some of the girls enjoyed them.   We've already reserved the same time for next year to do it again. 

Here on the homefront, a few friends came over and we worked on a small tote for use with hand projects. 

Now, to actually get to work on one of my hand projects. 

Life is good and I try to remember that and acknowledge the fact every day. 

Y'all take care 

Spring is Trying to Arrive

I can't believe this weather.  One week its above 70 degrees and the next it's 50 degrees.  I'm hauling my deck plants in and out of the house still in order to avoid frost damage.  Sheesh! 

From last summer

The goldfinches are donning their breeding plumage, at least some of them are.  I've had a lot of them all winter long and they all seem to have stuck around.   There's a pair of Eastern Towhees that appear to be about to nest in the area, too.  The Eastern Phoebes are working on a nest right now. 

Had a great trip to Florida for hubby to play in a bridge tournament and for me to spend time with my quilty friends.  We had our own mini retreat for a couple of days.  It was fabulous.

View from the coffee porch

Little guys trying to not be blown away 

I've been making some progress in my quilting studio but nothing to show you for it just yet.   Hopefully soon I'll have some pictures for you. 

Meanwhile, hope all of you are handling pollen season well.

Y'all take care

Just Checking In

Oh, me.  Where to start.  There's lots going on here.  Won't go into details until later but let's just say there's lots of boxes involved.  

When I was at quilting retreat, I worked on a pattern called Falling Charms.  It was SO easy.  Its one of those things you can do and still talk til your heart's content.  My kind of pattern.  This lousy picture does not do it justice.  I really like this one. 

It's a very large throw size, or nearly a twin size.  

Also, had a real treat this year gardening wise.  I've had this plant for many years and mostly because I neglected it, it has bloomed only once before.  It was given to me by a lady I dearly adored when she moved to Virginia to be near her daughter in her last years.  This year I paid attention to it and was rewarded grandly.  I don't remember the exact number of blossoms it finally put out, but was between 15 and 20.  

Each of these blossoms is bigger than my outstretched hand, so probably about 8 inches across. 

I also had the girls over for lunch one day.  Figured we'd do a lot more talking here than out at some restaurant.  And I was right about that!!   Can you imagine four women talking a lot??? 

Lots to do around here, so I'm off to get the day started.  

Y'all take care.  

Quilts Full of Love

Since I'm behind times anyway, I might as well just carry on. 

In addition to the birding trip in April, I also had my semi-annual quilting retreat.  I was the coordinator for this one and there was a learning curve.  I think I've about got it figured out now.  

Just after our last retreat, we decided that the two ladies in the group who are veterans needed their own Quilt of Valor.  The owner of our retreat center, Elizabeth Mathews, is the Alabama coordinator for Quilts of Valor.  So, all sneaky like the word went out for blocks.  They were collected and put together by two different members of our group and were presented to Sara and Char at our retreat.  Boy, did we pull a good one on them. 

Sara's Quilt of Valor

Char's Quilt of Valor

These ladies never suspected a thing beforehand.  

In addition to these two special quilts, another quilt was presented to one of our girls who lost her husband back in February.  The call was put out on our online forum (not just our retreat group) and over 80 blocks were hurriedly made and sent to Char who put it together and quilted it.  Then she came over to present our gift to Margot. 

Margot's quilt 

By the time all three quilts were presented, there wasn't a dry eye in the building!!!   We love these girls so much.  

Aw, heck, I might as well go on and tell it.  In addition to Margot losing her husband in February, another local quilty friend Nancy lost her husband on March 20.  Then, to top it off, yet another local  friend Winnie (who is also a friend of Nancy) lost her husband suddenly on April 12.  She was working at the quilt show when he had a massive heart attack.  All that would be bad enough, but then I lost one of my favorite aunts on April 26.  All those losses together in so short a time just about did me in.  I still don't think the loss of my aunt has really sunk in just yet.  I know that these events have surely gotten my husband's and my attention. 

Here's my Aunt Dean and the king sized quilt I made for her three years ago.  These were the colors she wanted (batiks)and she was thrilled when I gave it to her.  She used it on her king sized bed all the time. 

I guess what I've had reaffirmed for me is that we should never take a day for granted.  We should cherish each one of them and cherish our friends and family.  

Okay, enough for now. 

Y'all take care.  

Galavanting, again.

Where does the time go?  I cannot believe that today is November 12 already.  Thanksgiving will be here shortly and then Christmas just four short weeks following.   Mama always said that time passed faster as you got older and I surely believe it, now. 

Oh, I had the best time recently at two quilting retreats, back to back.  Yes, ten days in a row of quilty fun.  First up was a trip to Blairsville, Georgia where we took in a lovely quilt show. 

I love this purple and white Hawaiian style quilt.  One of these days I'm going to be brave enough to tackle something like that, maybe a bit smaller though! 

In addition to the quilt show, we just had to do a few touristy things.  One of the girls had never been to that area so we just had to show here around.   We went over to the flea market in Murphy, NC looking for occasional tables for the cabin.  Have you ever seen anything so gorgeous in your life as this table?

And, lucky me, it was placed right beside my bed. 

And, we got lucky in that the quilt show was being held at the same time as the foliage was putting on a real show.  Here's the view from the porch outside my bedroom. 

And we just had to spend some time downstairs on the swing where we had this view. 

As we were doing our running around, we saw a flock of gorgeous turkeys. 

And there was a herd of deer.   You can see only a few here, but I think we counted about fifteen of them.  

Every turn in the road provided a breathtaking view. 

On one of our days, we decided that a picnic was in order and we found a lovely park for just that purpose. 

Now, I was on that trip with quilty friends and we did, indeed get some sewing done.  After we'd come home for the day, somebody would handle cooking supper and we'd commence sewing, which continued until the wee hours of the morning. 

There might have been a little laughter mixed in there somewhere, too.   Oh, what a good time we had.    

After parting ways with those girls, I headed on over near Birmingham to meet up with my other quilting retreat buddies.  I must admit that I don't have a single picture from there, but we most certainly did have a good time.  As I've said before, some of the girls come from all over for our retreat.   So, I spent another five days there, sewing and talking and laughing.    I was truly and well tuckered out when I finally got home. 

Y'all take care. 

The Threadcatchers' Antics

Now, where was I?    After returning from the birding trip to Texas on a Sunday evening, I hurriedly did laundry and repacked my bags.  I left on Tuesday morning for my semi-annual quilting retreat.  I love that bunch of crazy women!!

What ensued can only be described as four and a half days of controlled (barely) chaos. 

One of the projects worked on during our stay by some folks was Quilts of Valor. 

Others had made blocks or tops or entire quilts for donation.   All together, about 15 quilts were donated that weekend.   We all sewed up a storm on various projects.  No pictures of what I worked on. It's at home on the design wall.

As usual, we had to have our fun.  After all, what would be the point otherwise??  :)     Seeing Stars and I made tutus for everyone, some in purple and some in turquoise.  After all, every woman needs to remember the carefree little girl inside. 

My reluctant model 

Now, once the tutus were presented to everyone, what else were we to do?   (Sorry about the lousy picture.  Totally wrong settings on the camera.)

And, the evening wouldn't have been complete without a little music. 

Y....M.....C.....A

Until the next time.......

Y'all take care.  

Quilters Break Out

No sooner had we returned from the Texas birding trip, when it was time for me to pack up the car and head northward for my semi-annual quilting retreat. 


Once again, the event did not disappoint.  Our Maryland contingent arrived in fine style, having driven their work of art all the way down, even through heavy rain where pieces went flying!! 

These bits of fabric were lovingly applied to the vehicle using starch and/or wheat flour paste. 

Not to be outdone, Miss Elizabeth, the Magnolia Madam, thought we were all winners and presented every one of us with our very own personalized beauty queen sashes!!    Our retreat virgins were presented with tiaras during an induction ceremony conducted by Miss Congeniality.   And, we've all got that parade float riding, beauty queen wave down pat!!!


Oh, did I tell you that we actually did get some sewing done?  No?  Well, we all arrived on Thursday (some even Wednesday night) and proceeded to take over the retreat center.   We sewed, we ate, we sewed, we shopped, we ate, we sewed and we ate some more!!!!  And through it all, we seldom stopped talking and laughing.


I'm just learning to paper piece and Ms. Bluesnail made sure we started learning by piecing the tiniest block she could find!!! 

That block is a whole 3 1/2 inches!!! 


I also worked on my first hand applique project.  Not being inclined to start on tiny projects, I figured I'd go about as big as I could get. 

This one is about 3 feet tall!!!  

Immediately upon my arrival home, my hubby's first question was:  "So, when are you gonna do it again?"   My answer:   "November!!!"      Is it November yet????????????????


Y'all take care.