Upcoming Quilt Show

I've been terrible posting things this year. My year has been hectic and I have done some sewing but not as much as I normally do. 

I do have an upcoming quilt show that I am planning to submit a quit into. Mom and I were browsing a random local magazine and found out about an Arts & Music Festival happening next weekend. It's called the Louie Bluie Festival, and they are going to have a quilt show there. Entries need to be submitted on 9/21 at the Quilt Patch in La Follette, TN. We are prepping out entries as we speak. The actual festival will be on 9/24. I am submitting the Fish Bowl quilt to the show, now if I can keep my cat off it. If you live in the area come by.

Tea Time!

I have several photos I've saved for my next tea entry. I am still picking just one. Last October I went to Ikea for the first time. It's about a 5-hour drive to the nearest Ikea so this was a special trip. I got one of their teas while I was there. I went through it so fast. I was terribly sad I only picked up one box. In my defense, I thought it was a cup at first, but wasn't mad. I have got back since and got this cute pot and more tea. The first tea I got was a rooibos. This time I got a green citrus tea. Both are really good and I do suggest picking some up. The last time I went they only had the green citrus tea and no other flavors. I also had to go to the food market area at the exit to find it.

I also bought a second basket while I was there because my cat took over the first one I got.

Smokey Mountain Quilters Ruby Jubilee Quilt Show for 2021

This year I decided to also participate in the Smokey Mountain Quilters Ruby Jubilee Quilt Show. This was actually my first time at this show. The show is a fundraiser for the quilt guild. Mom said she had been a member of the guild in the past but neither of us is currently a member. There is a fee to enter a quilt but we do get into the show for free for one of the two days it is held. It is a bit smaller show than the Mountainfest one held in Pigeon Forge but there were several quilts that had been in that show in this one. 

I did not win anything this time, but I do know the person who won in my category and also won viewers' choice! Hunter from Mountain Creek did a fabulous job with all the quilts he entered. I am so proud of him. It was good to see him and Sam since I can't get to that shop much. Overall I enjoyed the show a lot and am glad I got to visit. The show was held at the end of July and will probably be next year around the same time for anyone interested. I also have a photo gallery here of some of the quilts I took pictures of. 

Knit in Public day June 13th

I do not knit. I have tried and I suck at it. I do cross-stitch and small had stitching projects. I normally go to Sit N Stitch with my local quilt shop and work on a Harry Potter SYOA cross stitch. Recently on Knit in Public Day, I decided to join the shop in their social distance gathering. It was nice and fun. I got to talk to people I've not seen in a long time. Meet new people. There was a food truck with yummy food and drinks. I don't know how much progress I really got on my cross stitching but it was relaxing. I know a few other people in other locations who do knit and did knit in public.

I got tea and mini quiches from the food truck. I also got a mango smoothie cause I couldn't make up my mind on what I wanted to drink. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the food truck right now. I can see myself coming back later to add them.

The shop is going to throw another day similar to this in Jackson Square on July 24th. She's calling it Crafters Night Out. The Crazy Cuban Food Truck will be there and we can just sit outside and enjoy a summer evening ran or shine. Thanks to covered walkways we can still go out. I just hope it's not 100 degrees outside.

East Tennessee Shop Hop 2020

East Tennesse Shop Hop Shop list

This year's shop hop got delayed a little. It had 10 shops participating. Two of the shops did double blocks instead of one so they can have a total of 12 blocks for the hop. One of the shops from last year decided not to participate and one of last year's shops closed. That did keep me from having to drive all the way out to Jamestown, but I did make the trip to Johnson City.

Downtown Johnson City

We split this up into three days. We were going to do more on day two but were a little tight on the budget so that trip was rescheduled.

The hop was originally scheduled for June but was rescheduled and extended due to COVID. This year's theme was "Blooming Blue in Tennesse" featuring the Leah collection by the Beginning Fabrics. The blocks were designed by Marti Michell. It looks like an exclusive pattern for the shop hop because I was trying to see if the overall sampler had a name but I couldn't find one. The individual blocks do have names.

Outdoor Gallery in Johnson City

Sat July 12tn

• Little Blessings - Crossville - 4 Curtain Call & 7 Center Stage
• Loose Threads -Harriman - 2 Blowing in the Wind
• Gina's Bernina - Knoxville  - 8 Folsom Favorite

Mon July 13tn

• Twisted Sisters - Maryville - 9 Crossed Tower



Mural and Flowers at Cafe in
Johnson City

• Dizzy Diva - Knoxville - 6 Tempest in a Teapot

Sat July 18th

• Bernina in Stitches - Johnson City - 5 Sukey's Corners
• Sewing Bee- Jonesborough - 11 This kit is being mailed to me so I don't have the name.
• Tennessee Quilts- Jonesborough - 12 Junior Rockets & 3 Big Top
• Cherry Pitt- Sevierville - 1 Rolling Along
• Mountain Stitches by Susan- Gatlinburg - 10 Hearts Among the Stars

Mom's Haul

Overall I got to explore some of the areas I didn't stop to look at last year and had a fun road trip with mom. Both of us ended up with a massive haul. I can't say I'll ever have as massive a haul as I did from Quiltcon Last year but this was fantastic.

I was going to turn my passport in at Gina's but since that shop is the closest to mom I decided to have her turn hers in there and I turned mine into Susan's.

My fabric haul

2020 Mountain Quiltfest

I wanted to go to Quiltcon this year but it just wasn't in the cards. There is always next year. I did get to go to Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge. It's in my own backyard so it doesn't make sense to not go. Unfortunately, I only got to go the last day. I was unable to make it to any of the special events or classes but I did enjoy seeing the show.

Mom and I got there a little after 1. That meant we had 4 hours and we had missed all the antique quilt bed turnings. We did get recognized by some of the ladies from our area shops that we visit. I am on a budget this year because I'm planning a trip to Florida in May, so I have a small haul. I got three mystery charm packs from Missouri Star and three fat quarters from Mountian Creek Quilt Shop.

One of the fun things was a lady brought her pet monkey. It was cute as can be. She said he was a baby and could not be left alone. I didn't try to pet him because he was very agitated by the crowds. Of course, the quilts are a major highlight. It's always fun to see what people have done. One year I'm going to submit one of my quilts. I just need to get the guts to do it.

I have more photos available to see on my google photos album. I took over 50 photos, so there is no way to include them all here.

I'm going to do a double tea today. Normally just one tea spotlight a day but since I didn't post much I've got a few extra photos. I have a holiday tea to share. It's the Harney & Sons 2020 Lunar New Year Tea. It's got a toasted rice and coconut flavor to it. I would say it's not something I want all the time but it was a nice specialty tea. I did buy it and the Birthday Party tea because they had a special of two for $15 going on. I also recently found a vintage storage jar at a thrift shop. I reorganized my tea area upstairs so that I would have more space and store things better.

First Saturday Fiber Review

I went to the normal first Saturday fiber review at Fiberology Labs. It's been fun to go to this. She handles it like a club meeting. She talks about all the new stuff coming in and gives us a project for the month. We then have a show and tell of what we did last month and if we finished the project last month. There's also a schedule of what is going to happen for the month with special events and classes. Since she sells both fabric and yarn she does a different session for yarn a couple of weeks into the month. It's gotten so popular she's got to have two sessions for each.

For this month I had the heart coster I made from last month's project. I also had 6 months done on my temperature quilt and almost all my Homely Houseplants done. I have one left and it's ready to frame. We were given a panel fabric as our free fabric sample and a pattern. There were three different patterns of a drawstring bag, apron or placemats. I got the placemats. I'm thinking of using different fabric for the placemats and make a baby quilt out of the panels. I don't know if I will give it to my cousin who is about to have a baby or give it to Project Linus. I need to do it before I decide that.

For tea today I've got one from January. I had taken several photos of different places and teas and I haven't gotten to use them because of not posting enough. There is a new boba tea place near work. It's Tealicious and I love the place. I can get as much sweetener or as little as you like. Also, you can get as much ice as you like. The menu has a lot of choices. They have a few small snacks but mostly focus on the tea.

November First Saturday Fiberology Visit

I went to the fiber review for Fiberology Lab's first Saturday this month. I turned in last month's block and we decided the blocks are going into a charity quilt. I don't think I'm going to get a chance to get a photo of that finished quilt but I loved seeing everyone's blocks. This month we previewed a chocolate scented fabric by Lewis & Irene Fabrics. We got a sample of Chocolate Box Mint.

I also got an easy quilt pattern called Tumblebug. I have since given this to my mom but not before making a quick lap quilt out of it. I used a half jelly roll that I purchased last month from Joann's that was of cute forest critter themed fabric focusing on foxes, owls, and butterflies. I used almost the entire thing to create the front. I'm planning on using the few scraps I have to make a pieced backing. I also found tags mom made for me that I plan to put on the quilt. I put this one together in a day.

Then I had to look at the project I'm going to use my chocolate fabric sample for. I had picked up two other fabrics in the line and had debated on the idea of a mug rug. I found a designer on Instagram Ellis & Higgs that had a cute Christmas pattern line out. One block was a candy piece and it was perfect for this idea. She also pointed me to a blog called Polkadot Chair that had a neat potholder tutorial. I decided to make that with the block and a mug rug. Now binding round things is something I haven't done yet. So the potholder didn't come out perfect, but I did make extra blocks to practice with.

The Knoxville area has a new Boba Tea cafe. It's called Hey Bear Cafe. They have a lot of options to customize your drink, and they sell some prepackaged snacks. It was a nice place to hang out for a few hours. I sat there and cross-stitched because I didn't want to go home yet. I got a jasmine milk tea with egg custard. It was so good.

First Saturday Fiber Review and Challenge

Fabric and my new ruler

One of my local quilt shops does a fiber review every first Saturday of the month. My first Saturdays are usually full up anyway but I decided to add going to this. It's conveniently early in the morning which gives me time to go and then do the next regularly scheduled group activity I do for first Saturdays.

Fiberology Lab is a quilt/yarn shop so they review and introduce brand new products and talk about upcoming events and classes. This was my first time going but she gives away a free item and gives us a challenge. Last first Saturday she gave away a mini charm pack and gave everyone a challenge to make something with it. When you bring the item back the next first Saturday you get $5 off whatever you purchase that day.

This month's challenge was to make a square out of a free fabric she gave us. We were given a fat eighth of a new fabric she got and she encouraged us to use more of the line if we could. She did say she wanted to use the blocks as part of a shop sample if we don't mind. I did purchase a few more of the fabric in the collection to make my challenge block. I also picked up the ruler she demoed. It's a 45-degree Kalidescope & Dresden plate ruler from creative grids. I ended up using the ruler to make my challenge blocks. I wanted the ruler to help make a Halloween quilt I had an idea for. I figure this was a good test for it. I like my blocks and I can't wait to show them off next first Saturday.

The shop also does a sit n stitch 3 times a week.  I can only go to the one on Tuesday nights because the other times are while I'm at work. It's a nice time to be social and if I need any help with a project I can ask the shop owner's advice.

Tonight's sit and stitch was quiet since there were only 4 people. It's handwork only. Most of the people that go, crochet or knit. I can't do those but I have enough handwork with my million hexies project to keel myself busy. I usually grab dinner before I get there and tonight's tea came from dinner. I stopped at McAlister's Deli and got a tea to go with my sandwich. I like their tea. It's not something that stands out as very different, but it's still a good tea to have with lemon.

East Tennessee Quilt Shop Hop 2019 Part 3

Day 3 Loot

So I managed to hit the final two shops in the hop this morning. I've been to both before. I live close to Atomic Fibers in Oak Ridge but I wanted to make it my last shop so I could turn my card in there.  Plus Oak Ridge had the Lavender Festival going on so I got a chance to visit the festival after I hit the quilt shop.

I stopped at Dizzy Diva's in Knoxville first. It is not in my normal path. It's on the northeast side of town and I have a tendency to go to west Knoxville. So it's been over a year since I've been to the shop. Last time I was there I was collecting 2017's row by row pattern. Since then they have moved to a better location. It's probably a couple of blocks away from their old location but it's easier to find and had more parking. Mom got the ruler they were demoing and we'll most likely share it. It was a 60 Degree Diamond Ruler. She got two patterns that use the ruler. One was a Hot Air Balloon pattern that I want to borrow.

Since I have spent a lot at the other 10 shops I've been to I didn't buy as much at these two. I did get some nice gifts from them and I plan to go back to Atomic Fibers for the ruler they were demoing for the hop. It was the Straight Out of Line Ruler by Creative Grids. They also had some cute Cut Loose Press patterns using the tool I thought would be cute to get.

Final Shops:

• Dizzy Diva's in Knoxville - March
• Atomic Fibers in Oak Ridge - January 

Overall the hop was fun. I got to see some new shops in areas I wouldn't normally go to. I got to save a life and spend way too much money. 12 shops for 3 days. I'm kinda sorry I forgot to get a picture of my punch card before I turned it in.

I did start working on putting the blocks together that I have been collecting. I have 5 of the 12 done. The current one which is September's block I just need to applique everything down. I did add extras to it because it was just a basket by itself. Little Blessings had put flowers in theirs so I found some cute oversized flowers to fussy cut and add to the block. I've very happy with it. I'm going to use the orange thread I got today to applique it down. I want the thread to stick out a little against the yellow basket.

Today's tea was a Raspberry Limeade Herbal Tea. I didn't get a photo but I got it from a vendor at the Lavender Festival. I love the stuff and have purchased it every year at the festival. It turns a dark ruby color and has such a nice fruity flavor. I normally get a bag of loose tea to take home but I didn't get one this year. I did just hit 12 quilt shops. I did get a pretty photo of some sweet peas I passed when going to the Lavender Festival.

East Tennessee Quilt Shop Hop 2019 Part two

Bathroom signs for quilters

Since there were so many shops and I didn't think we'd get the trip done on Saturday since they close at 3, we decided to take Tuesday off and go on the second leg of our shop hopping trip. This has been a popular hop with the locals because all of the stores have been pretty busy with other people doing the hop. It's usually funny when you see some of the same people at one store and then the next. A lot of "Hi! again," goes on with that.

Tuesday was a good day because we got lucky with local traffic levels and the shops were open till 5. We left mom's at 8 and got to our first shop in Johnson City a little after 10. During the two hour drive, we passed 5 halves of double wide mobile homes in transport. I don't think they all went together for the same building cause the last one was really old but man that would be a huge building for a mobile home.

The first shop we got to was Bernina in Stitches. It was a cute shop in the downtown business district. The building it was in was one of the older ones with a lot of fun artsy shops. There was a cool reclaimed furniture place, a vape shop some restaurants and a lawyers office called Legal Ladies.

When we were leaving the shop we didn't make it out of the parking lot before a little grey kitten crossed our path. It had just bounced across a 4 lane road into the shopping center. We don't know where it came from but the poor baby was dirty, hungry, and scared. This started the adventure of finding a humane society. Neither of us could keep a kitten. I'm not allowed a pet and the pet fees at mom's place are so exorbitantly high it's ridiculous. We did finally turn it into the Washington County Humane Society. So if you would like a new fur-baby please go over there and adopt. They're overloaded with animals right now.

Day 2 Loot

After that, we hit two more shops, The Sewing Bee and Tennessee Quilts. Both I have to say took advice from Dr. Who because they were bigger on the inside. The second shop was just rooms and rooms of fabric. It looked like it had been an office suite turned into the shop. The second was the entire two-story building near historic downtown Jonesborough. The downstairs was nothing but batiks and upstairs they had a small saleroom and a large open area for classes and more fabrics.

After that our path home took us past Sevierville and we hit the Gatlinburg shop in the area also. We got to The Cherry Pit about 3:20 and to Mountain Stitches by Susan about 4:00. There was no making it back to Knoxville before the next shop closed so we called it a day. I was pretty wiped out after that but it was a good day altogether. 

I did find this TV Spot done for the Shop Hop online. It's done from the Cherry Pit's shop and has a good introduction to the hop. It was neat to see something like this on local TV.

Our stops in order were:

• Bernina in Stitches in Johnson City, TN - February
• The Sewing Bee in Jonesborough, TN -  October
• Tennessee Quilts in Jonesborough, TN - November
• The Cherry Pit in Sevierville, TN - December
• Mountain Stitches by Susan in Gatlinburg, TN - September

Lunch had been a stop at Panera before we left the Johnson City area, so of course my go to drink there is the Iced Green Tea. It's actually a Passion Papaya Green Tea. I don't get it that often because it's got 34 grams of sugar and I need to watch that, but man do I love this stuff.

First Shop Hop - Whistlestop Shop Hop 2015

So way back machine post here. I wanted to go over my first ever shop hop. It's from the year I discovered row by row and it's the reason I discovered row by row. It was before I even started my blog.

In 2015 I had started going to Atomic Fibers as my home quilt shop. I had a friend working there and I hadn't really had a home shop before. I would stop in random shops but I never considered one a home shop. Atomic Fibers opened close to where I worked and I could stop in on my lunch break no problem. The owner introduced me to the concept of a shop hop and I was intrigued. Mom and I got our passports and decided to go for it on a Saturday.

There were 10 shops participating from the Knoxville area to Chattanooga, TN. Right now I can only find 9 of my patterns, so I think I missed one but I did enjoy going on a day trip. I had only been to one of the shops on the list. It was fun to explore new shops and see new things. I fell in love with every one of the shops I went to, even the smallest and most remote shops. I've not seen this particular shop hop repeated, and I still haven't finished the blocks I gathered.  I really need to put that in the WIP file since they are a bit of a UFO right now.

One of the more prominent memories of the trip was driving by the McKee Foods factory in Cleveland, TN. This is the company that makes Little Debbie snack cakes. We stopped by the store and got tons of snack cakes and I picked up a mini duffel in the shape of a Swiss Miss Roll.

During this trip everyone kept asking are you doing Row by Row.  Of course, my question was what is that? I got a crash course and had decided yes I'm doing this. Of course, that meant going back to all these shops the next month.

East Tennessee Quilt Shop Hop 2019

Quilt Sample of blocks from Little Blessings

This is actually the first time I've participated in this particular hop. There is another one I've participated in the past with a similar name but this is a new shop hop for me. The East Tennessee Quilt Shop Hop has been going on for several years.

This year's theme was quilting throughout the year. They had 12 shops that wanted to participate so each one designed a block based on a monthly theme. They originally had 13 shops and would have done a row banner with it but one was unable to join them this year. Each shop had a demonstration and a special tool they were highlighting and a small free goody to go along with the block. I ended up getting the kits for all the blocks.

Mom and I took Saturday to travel to as many of the shops we could set out bright and early. We had planned 5 and would see if we could squeeze in more depending on the time since shops close at 3. Our path for the first day of travel took us all the way to Jamestown as the furthest shop. We started in Maryville with Twisted sisters because we were aiming to get there as the shop opened. I finished the day at 4:30 when I got home and crashed.

Loot from the first day of Hopping

Our stops in order were:

• Twisted Sister's in Maryville, TN - May
• Gina's Bernina in Farragut, TN - June
• Loose Threads in Harriman, TN - August
• Little Blessings in Crossville, TN - July
• Fabrics N Quilts in Jamestown, TN - April

After that, we had a late lunch and came home. I was hoping to squeeze in Atomic Fibers in Oak Ridge, TN but due to the time change and trying to make sure we hit the further out shops that did not happen. We're already planning on a day two of the trip this week, and we have until June 14th to finish the hop.

Old truck graveyard in Florida

One of the fun things I saw on this drive was passing a riding lawnmower graveyard in Clarkrange, TN. I did not stop to get a photo because it was on private property behind a fence, but it was a funny sight. The yard had several dozen mowers clustered together in groups of 8 to ten and it was very grown up in spots. The grass was as high as the top of the mowers. Several were very old and rusted. There was a neat path mowed in the grass around the clusters though. I have seen something like it on the side of the road in Florida before as an old pickup truck graveyard. Both locations were remote countryside areas. 

That is always the fun of shop hops like this. I get to go to areas that I've never been and see things I would not have seen anywhere else.

Mountain Quiltfest 2019 Pigeon Forge, TN

So this week was the Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge TN. This is actually my third time coming to this convention. It's been several years and this is actually my first time going to it's the newer location. The convention has been held at this location for the last several years I just hadn't been able to go for one reason or another. I think the last time I went was 2013. It was in two hotels at that time and both hotels were at different ends of the main parkway.  The current location is a large event space called the Leconte Center. It shares a parking lot with a location called the Island which has restaurants, arcades, shops, and a huge Ferris wheel.

The Quilt show this year went for March 20th to March 23rd. They had lots of classes but several of
they filled up fast. Next year's show will be March 4th to the 7th. My original plan was to go one day to the show on Thursday and Friday we were going to Nashville for a concert. I had won tickets to through the local radio station. We left the show Thursday night and were heading home for some sleep and the station I got my tickets from no longer existed. It had been sold and changed hands while I was at the show. I called the venue for the concert and no one had turned in the list for the will call tickets. So my Friday plans fell apart and so we went back to the quilt show.

They had a passport/ scavenger hunt game going on that we didn't notice on Thursday so we did that and went to several of the demos and antique quilt turnings. I will do a separate entry on the antique quilts but I am glad I went back. We got a lot of things on our first day and the second day but I did pick up some thread.

Thread from Friday

Loot from Thursday

I have part of the photos taken on my google photos album. My battery had died halfway through the show and I had given my extra batteries to mom. Once I get a chance I will get a copy of her photos to put in my album also.

The tea for today was a Pomegranate Green Tea. We had stayed at a hotel weds night so we could get to the show early Thursday. Breakfast was left overs from dinner the night before and I grabbed the hot tea in hotel breakfast area. We also ended the night at the Apple Barn for a fired pie and hot cider for dinner. It had gotten cold so that hit the spot.