Too hot this weekend!

Four Blocks for Friday

Four FWQAL for Friday.  Easy ones too.  Clockwise from top left:  friendship star, churn dash, calico puzzle, and homeward bound.  Another extremely hot & humid weekend forecast so I'll be inside sewing thankyouverymuch global climate weirding.

Wool for Wednesday

I got caught up on my Henrietta Whiskers block of the month just in time for next week to bring another block.

 Block 6.  These squirrels remind me of Edgar and Stella chasing and jumping. 

Block 7. Wow that door looks crooked now that I see it online.  Let's pretend it's straight ok?

I Can't Think of a Title Tuesday

I'm feeling under the weather this week so I don't have much to say.  Here's what I've been working on:

 Gomez helped me finish the Simple Times Quilt Along Quilt .  I'll be posting the completed top with the rest of the parade on August 4th.  I doubt I'll get it quilted and bound by then but I might.

 Barbara Brackman's Civil War block of the week. Peterson's Flag and

 Railroad Crossing.

 FWQAL Big Dipper (left) and Broken Dishes (right)

FWQAL Box (right) and Bat Wing (left)

Master of Disguises

My Thoughts are with Norway

I am so deeply saddened by the senseless, horrific events in Norway today. 

My heart goes out to you.

More from NC Trip--Places to Stop

On the way to Snowbird, we always stop in Franklin, North Carolina, to have lunch and do some shopping in the historic downtown. Franklin is a great little town.  We were very sad to see that our favorite restaurant, The Frog and Owl, had closed and a sandwich shop and gift shop called Rosebud Cottage replaced it.  We ate there and the sandwiches were good. We also found out that the owners of the Frog and Owl had opened an Italian restaurant (Rana Rinata) just outside of downtown so we'll have to try that next time. Some of the antique stores had closed.  The wonderful yarn shop, Silver Threads & Golden Needles, was still on Main Street.  There is a great bookstore called Books Unlimited with new and used books and a bookshop cat.  I picked up a Dr. Seuss book for Mackenzie there.

 Franklin also has a great quilt shop called Deb's Cats n Quilts.  The shop had expanded and added an addition since I was there in March 2010. 

In the lower level addition, there was a huge selection of reproduction and Moda fabrics, lots of samples, and a huge classroom space.

 The shop also is a participant in the western NC quilt trail program. We saw lots of other quilt blocks on barns as we traveled to Snowbird. 


I highly recommend a stop by the shop if you are in the area.  The staff is friendly and they have a large selection of cat (and dog) fabric. 








Of course I *had* to help out a local business.  Here are my purchases--on the left, all of this was from the sale area (bonus!) and on the right, some Civil War reproductions for the FWQAL & CW BOW I'm working on.

 On the way home, we stopped by a great big farm stand north of Gainesville, Georgia, called Jaemor's Farm. I loaded up a cart full of peaches, blueberries, blackberries, lady peas, cantaloupe, and mayhaw jelly.  Some peach fried pies to take home and some of the most super awesome peach ice cream rounded out the trip.   

Glorious Weekend at Snowbird

 My favorite place to escape to is definitely Snowbird Mountain Lodge in the North Carolina mountains.

Here is why:  I love the historic inn (built 1940) with its cozy exterior and gorgeous chestnut paneled interior; all the rooms have beautiful views with big beds, lots of pillows, and layers of blankets; the fabulous, seasonal, locally sourced food--breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided;  the no TV/no kids/quiet/peaceful/contemplative-ness; the cookies and coffee in the lobby in the afternoons; the wonderful library of books for browsing; the grounds and nearby National Forest for hiking; and the views for just looking.

 I loved the overcast, cool weather after blazing hot summer weather in Atlanta.












 The Smokey Mountains are always hazy. 

 View from the lobby/library from a comfy leather couch..  We spent some time rocking in the chairs watching clouds go by too.

A funny spot to rest in the garden. 

A Weekend Away

S. and I escaped the heat & humidity of Atlanta for the cooler mountains of North Carolina. We stayed at our favorite place, Snowbird Mountain Lodge and had a great time. A report with more photos soon.

A Saturday Post

We may be taking the day off here at Stella Bella Quilts :)

Recommendation: We Love French Knots

In case you haven't found this website yet, visit

http://www.welovefrenchknots.com/

for a wonderful series of videos on how to do embroidery stitches. 

I have always had problems with French knots.  I will learn how to do it, make one or two then forget again. Although, I may not "love" them yet, Bari J's video really  helped me figure out how to do these (again!) and I went back to a stitchery UFO and added all the French knots.  I also learned how to do a chain stitch and finished some more of this UFO. Only one block left to stitch.  Woo hoo! 

In the Works

Lots of projects in the works.

Working with the soothing colors of Sherbet Pips offsets the horrible heat & humidity of this summer.


(Aside:  I made up a new word:  SMOGMIDITY-- a meteorological term meaning the combination of smog & high humidity in Atlanta that makes it feel like you are walking through dirty bath water).

I prepped some more Hocuspocusville blocks to stitch.

A new step for the Simple Times Quilt Along was posted today so I'll work on that too.


More FWQAL blocks to do.

I better get busy

One of the Best Things about Summer in Georgia

Peach cobbler.

Stealth Stella & Some Blocks

 So happy that I caught this photo just before she pounced.

That's my Civil War block of the week quilt she is hiding behind.

And yes, she wrinkled it all up but that's OK.






Here's last week's Civil War block called Irish Chain.
I used a poison green fabric with shamrocks to reflect the name.














This week's block is called Next Door Neighbor.  I'm not entirely happy with my fabric selection but that's OK.

 Another FWQAL block.  Block #4 Basket Weave. Love these fabrics together and I'll probably use this combination in another block.

Resistance is Futile

I caved.  I really did.  I tried but I couldn't resist. Not when Carol, Michelle, and Thelma and a gazillion other bloggers and non-bloggers (like Sarah No-Blog) have these little six-inch blocks everywhere.

It's like the plague.
A quilter's plague. 

Yes it's the Farmer's Wife Sample Quilt Along.

I have the book.

I printed out the templates from a wonderful quilter named Liz Arbaugh who put them on Scribd and they print out grouped on pages. 

I did some maths and measuring and penciling in the book and on the templates while watching movies.

I told myself "Self, you do not need to start another project."

I asked Karen at sewprimitive to help me resist starting this.
And I talked with Kristie, who reminded me I still have all the info to make a Dear Jane quilt.

 I made Block 1 Attic Windows

 And Block 2 Autumn Tints

And decided that I just can't resist a quilt along. 

Recent Reads & Simple Times Quilt Along

Gomez as Library Sphinx

I didn't get much sewing done over the long holiday weekend as I thought I would. The weather was intolerable with high heat and high humidity so I stayed inside in the air conditioning and succeeded in not being very productive.  Although I did read two books so I guess that's something.  I read Marie Bostwick's latest book Threading the Needle and Tina Fey's Bossypants.  Both were enjoyable and perfect for long holiday weekend couch reading.

 This week I did get caught up on the Simple Times Quilt Along. 

1930s fabrics just make me smile.

Having a short week at work also makes me smile.  One more day and it's the weekend again woo hoo!

Happy 4th of July!

Holiday Weekend

Everyone here at Stella Bella Quilts is enjoying a long three-day holiday weekend.
 
Happy belated Canada Day to all my Canadian readers!


And I hope everyone in the US is having a great 4th of July weekend.

Morpheus is resting up from taking lots of naps, I think.

 It has been horribly hot and humid here in Georgia so my original plans to scrape and paint porch posts is canceled. 

I have been sewing and watching DVDs.  I caught up on my Henrietta Whiskers blocks.

 And caught up on reading blogs.


And am working on a couple of other projects.

Love lazy holiday weekends :)