Mount Mitchell

 

IT'S LEAF SEASON !!!!  

A few days ago, we headed out to find some lovely fall color.  The easiest way to do that was to head up in altitude.  Our house is at 2200 feet.  

Up and up we went, til we reached the top of Mount Mitchell, highest point on the East side of the United States.  The views were spectacular, and yes, you can see a bit of fall color, although we were just a few days before the real peak of color.  

                Mt. Mitchell was named after a college professor from the University of North Carolina.  In the 1930s, he attempted to get an accurate measurement for the height of this mountain using a barometer as his tool.  He calculated that this mountain was just a little bit taller than the famous Grandfather Mountain, which was then known as the highest mountain on the East coast.  So, no one would believe him when he said it was taller.  

So - he went back up on the mountain to make more calculations and to prove his measurements.  On the climb, he fell and died.  Today he is buried on the mountain top.  Later, scientists confirmed that Mount Mitchell was, indeed the tallest mountain on the east side of the country.  

Enjoy the fall season wherever you live !

Kathleen

THIMBLE: THE CHOICE

 

Hello, hello - 

This week I had the amazing experience of playing in that big box of thimbles that Jan sent me from her silver thimble company,  www.ThimblesforYou.com.

So it was sort of like a Beauty Pageant - and here are all the contestants on stage:  

Aren't they lovely?

Can you guess which ones will be finalists?

Some are classic, some modern.

A few just didn't fit my finger quite right - but two made the final cut:

So - TWO MADE THE FINAL CUT, so I sewed and sewed and sewed with them.

This little gemstone thimble wanted so badly to be the winner, but it just didn't fit perfectly.

But THIS ONE did !  So the others are now packed up and are journeying back to Jan in Fairfield, IA.

I love this thimble.  And today my cat tried to steal it - so she likes it too !

I BET i know what would help !

I need a CHATELAINE - you know, a tool that hangs around your neck, and you suspend your thimble on it.......

Hey, guess what, Jan makes those at ThimblesforYou.com, too !

Go see...  I'll be there, just picking one out - DH has agreed that Santa might shop from the ThimblesforYou website !!!

Thanks, Jan, for the opportunity to try your thimbles- and the gift of one.  I am happy to tell anyone who admires it that I love it !

Kathleen

I GOT THIMBLES AND MORE THIMBLES !!!

 Hi everyone.  My thimble event continues.  I'm enjoying it so much I am dragging it out just a little bit.

Just so you have the info,  it's Jan Larson who makes the thimbles.  Her company is called ThimblesForYou.com.  She lives in Iowa.  

So - you'll remember from my last post that I measured my finger on her nifty measuring tool.

WELL, of course, MY FINGER falls in between two of the holes.  

So, I took the picture she asked for, and sent the numbers and the photo to her.  

She said "I will send you several thimbles.

Oh, excitement - a few days went by, and then this tiny box arrived:

Oh there can't be many thimbles in there - maybe three or four........  I was a little disappointed since I wanted to play in all the thimbles.

So I opened it:  WOWSERS

Look at them in there !   All nestled up....

Two jumped out right away:

oh isn't that so gorgeous with that gemstone - I told her I didn't think I wanted a gemstone, but hey, it's too lovely........... maybe I will change my mind............

and this lovely classic silver design:

OK, enough peeping, let's get them all out and get serious about figuring out which ones fit and which one I like the best !!!!  (I only get to keep one)...

And I better stitch something with it, too !

hmmm, let's see if i have any fabric anywhere to stitch with...

Kathleen

 

Hello everybody:   remember I told you I was talking with a silversmith about a thimble?  

Well, when she first told me she was selling thimbles through the mail, I had my doubts, because how would I ever buy a thimble without trying it on?  So in today's post, we move on to the answer to that question.  

This week, she send me a nifty little packet, complete with a photo of herself on the envelope.  Hi, Jan.

Also inside was a nifty card for me to fill out and send back to her.  

And, this little treasure:  a sizer !   Made just for her, or by her, I guess.  She asked me to take two measurements.  One is up to the bottom of my fingernail, and another to my knuckle.  

Easy enough !

So, I am a 5.5 to the nail,  and a 5.75 to the knuckle.  I will send those back to her, and we will see what happens !  

Maybe the mailman will bring me a thimble !!!!

Kathleen

Something Different is Happening !!!!

 

Well, hooray -  

I was so very bored with the same every day, every day every day - all running together !

So this morning I got an email from a Silversmith.  Doesn't that sound fascinating?   What an amazing thing it would be to melt and pour silver..........  better yet, she makes THIMBLES !!!

Here is a picture of one of her glorious thimbles.  Isn't it wonderful?

So, like everyone else, she is trying to help tell quilters about her product at a time when all the quilt shows are closed.............

She has asked if I will write about her thimbles on my blog, and she is going to gift me a thimble !

(so, there's the disclaimer, but, hey, I'm pretty honest - if it turns out I don't like the thimble, I'll just give it back to her and be honest about it).  I'm not one of those people who writes a review for a Motel6 and complains because there are no Chocolates on the Pillow).  

So - stay tuned - first step is that she will be sending me a "sizer" so we are sure to get the right size.  I'll let you know when that arrives.

Oh - for some serious eye candy - go to her blog:  ThimblesForYou.com

and stay safe, friends.

Kathleen

The Glorious Blue Ridge

Hello, everyone !

I have been feeling an unexpected burst of energy as late -  enough so that I dare hypothesize that I have been depressed, and that it has lifted..... whatever it is, I will take it !  I am sleeping better, eating more fruits and veggies, too !  wow.  

We celebrated our first anniversary of being in North Carolina this summer, and we are more and more happy with the choices we made.  

For the past year, we have wondered what mountain we were looking at from our front porch - but we just didn't know.  Now, thanks to a local, it has a name.  

Originally, it was called "Elseetoss", by the Cherokee, who owned all the land in the area.  Later it was purchased by the Vanderbilts, and finally, now it is owned by the Forest Service.  The Blue Ridge Parkway runs up the spine of the Pisgah Ridge.  

This is the photo from the tourist site on the internet.   

And here it is from my porch.  Our view is wider in winter.

 The name Mt. Pisgah comes from the Bible - it was the mountain Moses climbed, and saw the proverbial "Promised Land" spread out in the valley below.  

Like that mountain, the North Carolina Mt. Pisgah overlooks a beautiful valley - the French Broad River runs there.  The French Broad is one of the very oldest rivers on the planet, and the area is fertile and beautiful.  

Almost every night in the summer we get a beautiful sunset, complete with the babbling creek sounds and the bull frogs croaking.  

More and more, this wonderful area seems like "home".  

Now let me go quilt something !

Kathleen

Are We Done Yet ????

OK, I AM GRUMPY......

IS THIS OVER YET?

I WANT TO GO OUT AND PLAY WITH MY BUDDIES.

This is kitty Mystic, but I feel just the same way !!!!

Kathleen

Hands2Help Another Year !!!

Hello everyone !

Well, very few things are "normal"  this year, but it feels good when something just goes ahead as usual.

I have participated in Sarah's Hands2Help for all the years it's been going, so I am doubly happy to finish three quilts this year.  They will go to quilts for the Happy Chemo program, and they went to the post office this morning.

This year's quilts are a bit rustic, probably good for boys or teens.  They were made from squares that were given to me by a neighbor lady... She had kept these squares for many years in a shoebox.  Well, they are out now, and on their way to work., hooray (but there's still a bunch in the box !!!)

Purple and green squares !

Blue squares and Stars

 Congratulations, Sarah, on another year of H2H !!!!

Kathleen

Big Progress

BIG PROGRESS UNDERWAY !!!

This room, which was a woodworking shop for the former owners:

will now be a QUILTING RESOURCE ROOM.   YIPPEE  HOORAY  HALLELUJAH !!!

Can you imagine it all cleaned up, with shelves stacked with fabric, batting safely stored, drawers filled with tools and notions.   

DH is donating some of his Corona time to remove the rough workbenches, vacuum up sawdust, and then mop down the walls, patch the holes, and paint.....

We will have to do this one step at the time, one wall at the time, because look what's on the other wall:

and more:  

 Well - stay tuned and I'll show you progress as it goes.  But don't hold your breath, cause this is going to take a while !  

Kathleen

Easter Storms

Sunday afternoon I saw this article pop up on my computer:  "How to social distance while hunkering down in a tornado shelter"

 I knew it was just all too much.  Oh, lord.

Double disasters, terrible for some parts of the south.  How did a nursing home move 55 Alzheimers patients at night in a storm?  Those nurses and aides are saints, saints.

The other saints are the southern men...….. all those men who drive all those pickup trucks.

Ladies, when you are in trouble, you need one of those men with a pickup truck (sometimes called "bubbas".  They have a truck, they have jumper cables, they have a chainsaw, and they will be the first one to stop when you are disabled beside the road, or there is a tree blocking your driveway.

We were lucky here.  The debris is mostly taken away now.  I won't complain about a 3-day lapse in internet, power, and phone because others were hit more badly.

So, here we are.  Amazingly, the petals are still on the dogwoods, and the mountains are green.

And the hummingbirds returned yesterday.

The quilt on the longarm is calling to me, and I must save some time for sitting on the porch and watching nature.

Stay well,

Kathleen

Scrap Attack !

Look what's happening at my house !!!

I showed DH how the Go Big works.

He thinks it is a power tool.

Go, hubby, Go !

and, I found this on someone else's blog, but....  AMEN.

Stay well..... stay home...….

Kathleen

Refuge

Have you found a place of refuge, either mental or physical, during this incredibly crazy time?  

For us, it's our screened in porch...it overlooks the pond and the distant mountains.  And it's finally warm enough to hang out there.  The kitties LOVE the porch.  

This is Mystic.  He looks like a Fancy Cat, but he is really a Mechanic at heart .  He loves being in the garage and getting dirty.  He wants to hunt and eat all these lovely birdies - NOT !

Our rare white squirrel, Blizzard, is coming around more often.  Probably because we are feeding him pecans on the front porch !  He is a part of a colony of white squirrels (not albinos) that live in the Western North Carolina mountains.  He is so beautiful !

He goes WAY up in the tree and then chatters at the kitties on the porch.

There is refuge in QUILTING, too !  At a retreat last fall, a quilter at my table was preparing to throw away some scraps - I offered to adopt them...  A week later she was gifting me FOUR big grocery bags full of leftovers - great quality fabric.  This one is all finished and ready to send off to snuggle a needy teen or tween.

The top below was officially approved by Mystic immediately after I sewed it up.  The original quilter had already sewn up the rows, and I only had to put it together.  I think some little girl or boy who likes cats will love it !

Well, that's my refuge.  

I wish I could invite you to come sit on the porch with me and sit a spell, maybe sew something.

Hopefully one day - -   soon.

Kathleen

A Great Week !

Oh such a fabulous week this was...

DH and I went to the town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee...  What a fascinating place - it's the home of Dollywood.

AND - it's the home of the Mountain Quiltfest.  Hundreds of absolutely fascinating quilts, plus classes, vendors, etc.  I went to be a part of the quilt judging, so I had the opportunity to observe the judging being done.  Part of the etiquette of judging is that you never repeat anything said during the judging...…... so I will just say "Quilt Judges work hard"...  studying more than 400 quilts, and being positive, cheerful, and kind the whole time !  If you have a 'fear of quilt judges" - let go - they are really nice people - all of them !!!!

After that wonderful experience, I came home and sewed and sewed on some low-stress donation quilts.  These will go to a group that is providing quilts for Foster Children in the Baltimore, MD area.

These are crumb blocks formed into square-in-a-square.  I love the gentle color palette.

And this is squares and snowball blocks.  You can do lots of interesting things with snowball blocks.  I think a pre-teen will like this one.

Keep on Quilting !!!

Kathleen

Block of the YEAR ???

Let's see.  Started in 2009 as a Block of the Month........

Now it's 2020 - that's 11 years.

This is very close to becoming a Block of the YEAR.

ugh, no -  can't let that happen.

Isn't it a lovely pattern ???? It was published by "This & That", by Sherri K Falls, of Minnesota.  I'm not at all sure if it is still available, but I am working hard to finish it, Sherri K. Falls !

Keep quilting,

Kathleen

Nimble Thimbles

Hello !!!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting the Nimble Thimble Guild in Greenville, SC.  

On Saturday, we had a class, and we talked about how to make small wholecloth quilts using pieces of embroidered bed, bath, or table linens as the top layer of the quilt.

Each member of the class brought some linens - one lady brought her hanky from her First Communion !   

After some discussions about Design Basics, including symmetry/asymmetry, Sunshine and Shadow,  we learned about double batting techniques, and the ladies began to design their pieces.  

By lunchtime, the small  quilts were marked and pinned, and ready to be quilted.  

On Monday night, I returned for a Guild Meeting and a trunk show of my own linen pieces.  My favorite part of the night was that the ladies from the class brought their pieces for Show and Tell, and one was even finished !!

Hooray, Nimble Thimblers - it was so great meeting you !


And, before I sign off, I will share a little kid-sized quilt I just finished that is made from blocks donated by quilters in my online quilt group - it's amazing how well some of these fit together, and I like this cheerful one !

Kathleen