What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Last weekend, we got up early and hit the road heading for northeast Georgia for a MINI club event. It was a 2-1/2 hour drive just to get to the meeting point for an early lunch. On the highway, the mountains in the distance were shrouded in fog and low clouds. The day was supposed to be a bit rainy, but our drives go on rain or shine. There was another MINI on the road ahead of us, but they weren’t going our way.

Arriving at the restaurant, we parked together. This was about half of the MINIs ...

Another week of exhausting heat, and I am ready for summer to be over. The humidity is stifling these days, and it rains almost every afternoon because of it. I admit a certain amount of nervousness as the weather people mention hurricanes in the ocean, and the news keeps going over what to put in emergency kits. But, I cannot imagine that the particular set of circumstances of three days of heavy rain prior to a hurricane hitting us will happen again. At least I hope not. So, I live each day, grateful for our home and the beautiful land ...

So much to say this weekend, settle in for a long and picture heavy post. This week has been brutally hot, with highs in the 90s (which is really hot for us) and humidity at 85% first thing in the morning. Ugh, I hate this kind of heat. So, nothing for it but to hide in my cool basement and play with fabric and paper. First, I finished the Japanese prints wall hanging with the gold sashing. It is quilted and bound, and awaiting a label. I had enough jelly roll strips to make the cranes go all the way ...

The last couple of weeks has seemed to be crammed full of things to do. Some fun, some not so much like getting my teeth cleaned. Three car club events were lots of fun, and I had a blast doing two presentations – one on card design for the Heritage Hills Stampers, and the other, my Decisions Decisions program for the UpCountry Quilt Guild in Pickens, South Carolina. We begin at a local park where the MINIs club gathered for a drive to Chimney Rock.

We had a huge group this time, 30 MINIs.

And off we went!

I took ...

It was a rainy day with lots of fog on the route when we set off for the MINI Christmas event in the northeast Georgia mountains. Arriving mid afternoon, the MINIs were staring to line up in the parking lot.

Some had added some holiday cheer to their cars. They are still fun to see, even in the drizzly weather.

The hotel was on a lake, and even with the fog it was beautiful. Later in the evening, this firepit was lit, and we toasted marshmallows for s’mores. We couldn’t sit down because the chairs were wet, but ...

Last summer I put out a call for British theme fabrics, hoping some would have some bits left over from other projects, or a random yard of something I could buy. I got three larger half-yard or full-yard pieces from several wonderful readers, and a five-yard bolt of the white background fabric on the upper left from my dear friend, Dawn. (Thanks so much, Dawn, you are a peach!) I had a blue background piece with British motifs that I purchased locally on sale, and some leftover grey from last year’s London Panel quilt.

Retreat was coming up, and ...

Rain fell for days at the end of the week, but breaks in the clouds here and there allowed a few more photos of our local avian choir. I sat on the veranda in the cool morning air, quiet and calm, listening to the birdsong. This chickadee was still for just a moment before swooping to the bird feeder for a bite of breakfast.

I watched the birdhouse, delighted to see the bluebird going out and in several times. I hope she is feeding hatchlings, although I cannot be sure.

She was very busy on this morning.

In the garden ...

Once again this week, I have several things to chat about. Spring is warming up and it puts us in the mood to get outside, change things around inside, and do a little digging in the dirt. Warmer weather also means our car clubs are getting out on our mountain roads for some driving. The MINI club was first up this month with a drive. The red one on the left is ours.

The day started out partly cloudy but warm. Of course, we put the top down, then started out going north from our meeting spot to a road ...

In spite of the very hard freeze we got two nights last week, it seems that spring is coming anyway. Out front, our redbud tree is beginning to show its lovely purple/pink buds. We had to cut several limbs off it last year, so I am hoping it will look nice still this year. I anticipate that it won’t be as full with the two large branches gone, but still will have some pretty color.

It was a cool day last weekend when we gathered in Brevard with our MINI club for a drive and lunch. My Sweet ...

This past weekend was our annual Christmas weekend with our MINI club. On the registration, we found out that there would be a Creative Christmas Hat contest. Well, you all know I have to participate in that!! So, that meant making an outrageous hat to compete. I had a somewhat tired hat that I got in a thrift store and mostly used last summer when I was outside digging in the dirt. I got it from the garage, and pulled some things to glue on.

I wanted it to have some height, so I began with several stems of red ...

Our MINI car club does a Christmas weekend every year, and we usually have a silent auction for charity at our Saturday evening dinner and games night. I have donated a few table toppers for auction in the past, but this year I wanted to do a bit more. So, I began doing internet searches for fabrics with a British theme. It wasn’t easy to find this, and I put out requests on forums for ideas but none came. Then, I happened across this London panel with Big Ben tower, palaces in silhouette and a double decker bus in ...

We had some fun recently, for a needed and restful change, playing with our MINI friends. It was time again for MINIs on the Dragon, an annual event gathering MINI owners from all over the US and Canada. Although we are still in the window where My Sweet Babboo shouldn’t drive or go for long rides in a car, we could still go and participate in the other activities like dinners with friends, bingo night, photo ops and short runs to a nearby town for lunch. We were determined to have some fun! We stopped by the gathering point ...

This past weekend, we led a drive for our MINI club. Several last minute cancellations meant we had fewer cars than usual for the drive, but we still had a nice time. We met at a local brewery for lunch, lining up together as we like to do. I don’t care for beer but that is where the group coordinator wanted to start as our club will host a big event there later in the year. That silver MINI on the end is an electric model. It was fun to see, and so quiet.

After lunch, we set out ...

This year, we were once again able to spend a weekend with our MINI club at a resort to party, have fun drives and do fun things. The directors chose to bring us back to the Lake Lure Inn where we’ve been before. I posted a lot of pictures and history about the inn two years ago in this post – Christmas at Lake Lure Inn. Settle in for a long and picture heavy post. Arriving in the late afternoon, lots of MINIs were already in the parking lot. Ours is the red one. My Sweet Babboo put the club ...

I was sure I still had them, but apparently I had lost them. They were certainly missing when I got a phone call from a dear friend in a bind. The person in charge of publicity for our guild’s Garden of Quilts show called my friend and quit a few minutes before my friend called me. That day was also the day before the committee meeting. She was desperate. As the show chair she needed someone to fill that job immediately. As she pleaded for help, how could I say no? I do have a bit of free time ...

Every year, MINIs from all over the US get together in Fontana Village to run the twisty road called the Tail of the Dragon and have fun with other MINI owners. Last year the event was canceled, and this year the restrictions were still in place making it difficult to do the evening activities. So the organizers made it an unofficial event. We could do some drives with leaders that were still willing, but no welcome or last night dinners, no bingo night, karaoke night, fireworks or other indoor gatherings. But people in cars were OK, so we went. You ...

Last Sunday was a warm, sunny day, and our MINI club took the opportunity to get together for a drive. We met in Traveler’s Rest, South Carolina, gathering at a local grocery store parking lot. We had about 14 cars to start, and three more joined us on the route.

Once again, we were leading the drive, so pictures of the cars had to be seen in the mirror.

We wound our way around twisty roads and lots of green trees.

By this time, we had 17 cars and it just wasn’t possible to get them all in ...