Mountain Musings

Friends, Friends, and More Friends

Last week we enjoyed back-to-back-to-back get-togethers with friends! Fun times!

First, our Texas friends (the E's) were in Virginia on business and dropped by to say hello and have lunch with us. We had a good time catching up, and Krista even accompanied me to pick up quilts from the West Virginia quilter!

Austin and Amanda and their children were part of the Texas contingent. Amanda enjoys quilting so we checked out the quilts I'd just picked up. That timing was perfect!

The very next day we were on the road headed to Richmond where we rendezvoused with our friends Fred and Chris. This is our long awaited Christmas get-together....delayed until Valentine's!  But that made it even sweeter!

We always meet at Whole Foods and enjoy the huge salad bar there, open gifts, and stay for three hours catching up!

And she wanted me to bring the quilts so she could see them too! Of course, they all need trimming and binding, so that's what I'll be finishing up this week.

And, of course, the annual selfie foursome parking lot picture before we left:

Our final meet-up was on the way home from Richmond. Tom had been wanting to visit with a former co-worker for years! It just has never worked out. This time we went to their farm for part of the afternoon, and it was wonderful seeing where they live and catching up on their lives.

Ooh, and while the guys were doing some final yakking...I pulled the quilts out yet again and showed Bonnie what I'd been working on. Those pitiful UFOs that had been hidden for years are now trying to make up for lost time! LOL!

Thanks Gibbs and Bonnie for the time together. Please come visit us here at Mountain Musings any time!

This week is shaping up to include a sewing day with a friend. If all goes well...I'll post about our time together!

~Deb

Quilt Drop-Off Day

Since last week when I posted about discovering several UFOs, I've been busy; and that's an understatement! I've been getting several of those quilt tops ready to take to the quilter!

I picked the ones with the least amount of work to do on them first....to get some encouraging finishes under my belt!

Every Thursday afternoon, the lady who long arm quilts my quilt tops arrives at Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant parking lot. She meets anyone who has a quilt to drop off or pick up from a previous week.

Snowbird Quilts is located in West Virginia! So this lady drives over two mountains every Thursday to meet quilters in Harrisonburg at Ragtime Fabrics in the morning, in Staunton at Mrs. Rowe's in the afternoon, and back up to Dayton at Patchwork Plus parking lot for a later afternoon pickup/drop off.

This is the super amazing part....what she picked up today will be all finished next Thursday when she drives back to Virginia to drop the quilts off!  One week turn-around time for my three quilts!

Here I am showing her what I brought her with a detailed list of the tops, backings, and quilting patterns I selected as choices when she quilts them. Look at her loaded trunk with so many other quilts!

I'm a happy camper dropping off these quilts that were started many years ago! Can't wait to get them returned!

So...if anyone in our local area reads this blog and you are a quilter, I would highly recommend Terri at Snowbird Quilts to quilt your finished quilt tops for you. She does an excellent job!! All details are on her site. She also accepts quilts mailed to her, and she will mail them back!

This is the next quilt I'm working on finishing that I will take to her next Thursday. All 16 of these blocks were sewn 10 - 12 years ago. So now I'm adding sashing and borders and sewing the backing:

These leaves I showed you last week, unfinished. I straight-line quilted it since the wall hanging was small enough for my machine. Now all finished after all these years!!! It wasn't my favorite when I took that class, but now that it's quilted, I really, really like it. It will make a great fall display:

So....following through on these UFOs and getting things done! Much more to do! I'm in a race against time...yardwork and gardening season is right around the corner!

~Deb