Side tracked

The sewing room must have been invaded by gremlins, as several quilt tops seem to be in progress simultaneously.

 

 The one and three-quarter inch strip bins were overflowing, which led to pulling 1930s colors.

 Cutting a length of 16 and one half inches, light and dark fabrics were sewn lengthwise

 Cut in half and sewn again.  Seams pressed in one direction.

 Then cut into 4 units.

 Initially lights and darks were matched willy nilly.  After the mains sections were laid out, specific units were sewn and placed so everything would balance.  Special attention was paid to the yellows.  They kept shouting louder and taking over.  Yellows and oranges can get pretty rowdy you know.

 

Each unit of 4 squares is pinned in place, not sewn as a 16-patch.  It's easier to sew a lengthwise section and assemble the horizontal rows, rather than try to match seams in a sewn block.

Temps here got down to 28 last night and we only had a very light dusting of snow yesterday.  The coming weather was announced far enough in advance that I was able to adjust my work hours and stay home for the day.  In this area of the country, it's just not smart to drive on snow and ice.

For our neighbors to the west where the temps are really dropping,  please be safe and check on your outside critters often.

Until then, keep stitchin'.

Meandering Monday

Thought I'd share a few photos from a recent walk around the Folk School.

Until then, keep stitchin'.

More artisans, more neat stuff.

Fall Festival at the John C. Campbell Folk School was well attended, albeit rather warm and sunny this year.  We'll take the sunny, but the "rather warm" is getting old.

As you can see below, artistic talent abounds in western North Carolina.

 Hand spun, hand dyed yarn by Good Fibrations.

 Beautiful leaf imprinted pottery by Travis Berning.

 Life-like, hand sculpted dolls by Ann Hord-Heatherley.

 My favorite hand woven scarves by Ann Eastabrooks.

 Hand forged kitchenware by Elmer Roush.

Hand blown glass by David Goldhagen.

I have a few more photos to share so stay tuned.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Hello there . . . .

Nice to "see" you all again.

Here's a quick recap of this weekend's Fall Festival at the Folk School.  More to come!

 Basket quilt by Pat Meineke.

 Flower quilt by talented designer.

 The Morris dancers.

 Garland dancers.

 High stepping dancers having too much fun!

 Rob Withrow's bowl.

 Elmer Roush's forge work.

A very special rescued pup named Storm.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Groovin' in the grove.

This poor pine tree has been ignored for years.

The short branches form, but few give out leaves. 

As 'Father Tim' says, "It was definitely time for a trim."

So I removed a vast array of short branches, then went back with my trusty hand saw and did the long ones as far as I could reach without a ladder.  Took out the small sapling and trimmed the nearby dogwood too.  Cleaned out all the underbrush, leaves, and debris.

The tiny grove is looking much better.  Soon there will be azaleas to create a bright array of color.

 The burn pile is stacking up in the old briar patch.

 Here's the southwest corner which still needs to be burned.  Briars are creeping in everywhere.

 I was outside yesterday for 4 hours trying to burn one leaf pile.  It's simply too wet still.

The dogwood blossom, a sure sign of spring in the south.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .