Visit to Tennessee Quilts

On vacation last week, we made a stop at Tennessee Quilts in Jonesboro, Tennessee.  I asked my hubby if it was on the way to Asheville, and he said it was even though we took some back roads that did a lot of twists and turns.  I am sure I was only in the store for 8 or 10 minutes, but he said it was an hour and a half.  I couldn't imagine how I could lose track of time in a quilt shop.  I have ordered from Tennessee Quilts on line before, so I knew they had some Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  I wasn't prepared for the number of bolts I saw.  They told me that they were pretty sure that they had every Kaffe fabric.  I can believe it.  I did do a bit of shopping (VBG).   I'll show you photos in my next post. 

This wall is all Kaffe.....and this isn't all of it.

Here is a closer look.  Notice up above the bolts there are groupings of 6 or 8 fabrics.  Those are bundles that they sell.  I picked up several bundles, but when it was all said and done I just bought yardage.  It was a bit like Hancocks of Paducah - kind of overwhelming.  I wanted one of everything. 

More Kaffe with some Paula Nadelstern to the left.  Over on the display at the right there is a pillow made from Kaffe fabric. 

This wasn't all Kaffe, but some of it was.  Notice the umbrella made from Kaffe fabric hanging from the ceiling.  It was a gorgeous shop, and I wish I had taken more photos. 

The bathroom was decorated in a pink flamingo theme.  The bathroom mirror had pink flamingo lights draped across it. 

There was even a pink flamingo wall hanging in the stall. 

This is the beautiful brick building that houses Tennessee Quilts.  Jonesboro was a pretty town.  I wish I could have spent more time there. 

The rockers on the front porch made you feel welcome even before entering.

More views of the mountains on the drive to the quilt shop.

The photo above was taken from the elevation of 2,966 feet.  We were a lot higher than that on the drive back through the Smoky Mountains.  I wasn't the only tourist taking photos of the signs.  There were even people posing beside different signs having their photo taken.  Yep, guilty! 

Happy Fall to everyone!!!!!!

I am working on my center of the Kim McLean Hearts and Flowers quilt that is in the Kaffe Fassett book Quilt Romance, and I will post it over on the Glorious Applique' blog after I get more of it stitched.  Hope you are all stitching today, too. 

Finished Table Runners and Small Quilt

When we went to North Carolina, I took enough hand sewing and knitting along that it looked I was going to attend a month long retreat.  Somehow in my mind I always think I will be able to sew and get so much more done than I actually do.  Maybe that is just the way a quilter thinks???   I was really too tired at night to do anything that I had to concentrate on a lot.  I did the machine quilting on these two table runners the week before we left, and while I was gone I sewed the bindings down.  I posted these two runners in a previous post as just tops.  One of the runners had a brown background.  I asked for input on which background you preferred, and the black background won hands down.  After seeing them side by side, I agreed that the black made the other colors pop.  So I took one apart and replaced the brown with black.  This runner pattern is in a book called Let's Do Lunch by Atkinson Designs.

This quilt was in my guest room upstairs.  Once in awhile I refold my quilts, and when I opened this one up the binding was sewn on by machine, but the handwork wasn't done.  No wonder it was folded with the binding where you couldn't see it.  So I took it along with me and finished sewing the binding on it, too.  The flowers on the corners are appliqued by hand, and I machine quilted this one. 

This photo was probably 2 1/2 or 3 feet wide.  As the elevator doors opened at the hotel in North Carolina, there were these two eyes glaring at you.   It was always good for a laugh. 

Hope you are finding time to stitch!!!!    

Beautiful Color

The gardens on Biltmore are just filled with beautiful color. You aren't going to believe this, but from Monday night until Tuesday morning, Biltmore House lifted the ban on taking photos in the house.  No, it wasn't because I asked about it and probably looked a bit cross at the guard.  They had changed their no photo policy overnight.  So before I toured the gardens, I went on another tour of the house and took some photos. 

This is my very favorite place in the house and the one I wanted you to see.  This is the winter conservatory.  This area is to the right of the main entryway. 

Here is my second favorite.  This is the loggia....the what?   I would call this a wonderful porch or veranda with a fantastic view. 

The grand staircase. 

Vanderbilt was a great collector of art.  The ceiling of his library was painted by Giovanni. 

I took a specialized tour yesterday that showed rooms that are not on the regular tour.  There were many Jan van Eyck sketches and works by Raphael.  Downstairs there are two Renoirs.  It was like touring a museum.

Here are some of the outdoor photos. 

When you reach the bottom of the trail, there is the Conservatory beyond the gardens.

There seemed to be a lot of red and purple used together.

Part of the water gardens.

I never get tired of the gorgeous view.  When Vanderbilt bought the land his estate is built on, he owned 125,000 acres. 

 Hope you are taking some time to stitch.  Oh, and there was a quilt shop stop on this trip.  More next time. 

My House

Since I posted photos of my friend's house last time, I thought I would post some photos of my house:

OK.  Well this isn't really my house.  Hubby and I are on vacation this week in Ashville, North Carolina.  Today we visited Biltmore House.  We spent about 2 hours or a little more inside there, and I'm going back again tomorrow.  There are 255 rooms with 43 bathrooms.  I know we are all thinking how long it would take to clean that place up.  That wouldn't leave much time for quilting, right?

This is the sentry that guards the door.

Another part of the front of the house.

This is the fountain on the esplanade. 

This is the view from one of the upper balconies.  And, as Miss Elizabeth Bennett said, "I don't think I've ever seen a place so happily situated." 

A view of the house from the water gardens.

If you notice, there are no photos of the inside of the house.  Photography of any kind - even with a cell phone - is forbidden.  And, those of you who know me probably expect that I found someone in charge and asked them why.  Well, yes I did.  One reason is that the flash photography would damage some of the artifacts (I already figured that one out, but there are ways around using your flash).  Then the guy said something about not wanting anyone to case the joint.  I must have given him a look when he said that because then he said, "And, we sell a book with photographs of every room for $12.50."  I just kept looking at him, and he finally said "That's probably the real reason."   So I have no photographs of the inside. 

Hubby is golfing tomorrow, and I'm going back to Biltmore again.  I'll probably wander the gardens and maybe go back inside the house.  There is one area inside that I would really like to have a photo of.  I would hate to end up on the NC most wanted list.  Hope you are all having a good day and doing some stitching. 

A Day of Quilting

Today I spent the day quilting and visiting with friends that I used to sew with once a month at one of our favorite quilt stores.  The store closed almost a year ago now, and some of us hadn't seen each other since then.  We did a little quilting, some eating and a lot of talking.  Our leader invited us to her home today.  Here are some photos of just a very few of her quilts.  She really knows how to use them to decorate, and they are just gorgeous. 
     This beautiful autumn quilt was hanging right inside the front door.  This is a Judy Martin quilt.  I have one that is very similar to this one.   I believe that Judy came here to do a workshop on this quilt. 

This quilt is hanging above the fireplace.  This is in one of Sally Collins' books, and it is just striking. 

This one was on the wall of the familly room. 

More beautiful quilts.

A display with a miniature quilt on the doll bed.

The view going up the stairs. 

We really did do some sewing and had show and tell.  I'll save the show and tell for next time.   Happy stitching!!!!  

Grandmother's Flower Garden Blocks from My Mom

My Mom passed away in August of 1996.  I woke up yesterday morning missing her more than I have in awhile, and I'm not sure why.  It was Labor Day weekend - not her birthday or a major holiday or the day she and my Dad got married.  It was just one of those days.   I started wondering where the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks were that she left me.  She made enough blocks to make a quilt for my son and daughter-in-law.  She put their top together and paid someone to hand quilt it for them, and they have it on their bed.  She became too ill to finish a quilt for my daughter, so she left me the blocks and asked that someday I put the top together for her and see that it was finished.  

These are some of the blocks that she made.  At one time I started sewing the white around some of the blocks.

These are all the blocks.  I counted over 100.  I found a note she had stuck in a bag that said 55 full blocks and 10 half blocks so there are more than enough here for two quilts. 

And, if I run short of blocks, she had cut out block kits and put them together.  There were several cardboard templates in one of the bags.  Each hexagon was traced and cut out with scissors.

And, I had forgotten that I also have my Grandma Halterman's flower garden blocks and block kits.  She was born in 1888 and died in 1980.  She made flower garden quilts for her 7 children, and one for me since I was her youngest Granddaughter.  The quilt she made me is the one in my blog banner.   I don't believe she bought much fabric.  Her fabrics were cut from her old print dresses or "housecoats". 

I have a feeling that this little cardboard box of hexagons and block kits was her entire "stash". 

This is the last in a long line of fleece blankets I've crocheted around to donate to Project Linus.

Hope you are busy stitching!!!!!!