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We are back from Jacksonville, FL.  It was a slow trip home due to traffic, accidents and rain.

The fall colors have started.  The Sumac, Virginia Creeper, Dogwood, and Sweet Buckeye have started showing their reds.  I love the warm colors of fall.  All I want to do and ride around looking for leaves and eating those candy pumpkins!

Come join us in our great classroom for a class this fall.  I have been adding classes to our online class list. You can sign up online, too.  I’m showcasing the three fabric bowl/basket classes we have coming up.  Very fun, fast – great presents.

Fabric Coiled Vessels by Sylvia Richardson will be a blast.  It is Saturday, October 2, 9:30am – 4:30pm.

Sylvia will embellish anything that stands still long enough and is so creative.  Sylvia wraps her cord with fabric strips and adds embellishments as she goes.

I think they look like an invitation to play.   Sylvia has a room of these great baskets.

Sylvia made this basket for me!!!  I am so lucky and Sylvia is so generous.

Patsy Goodin is teaching the Bali Bowl Class.

This method uses jelly rolls strips and there are no raw edges.

You can make a bowl, basket, tote, or more.  Saturday, Oct. 30, 9:30am – 4:30pm.  These baskets are habit forming!

I have been demoing them in our booth at shows.  Each show is another Christmas present off the list.

Much faster than you would think and so much fun.

No Sew Fabric Bowl will be taught by Anna Jones on Thursday, December 2, 6 – 9pm.

Really – no sewing.  You wrap and weave the basket with thick cording.  Very fast and beautiful.

Anna remembers making these years ago with macrame cord.  This was much more fun and kind to your hands.  Make several in time for Christmas.

This sample was made by Kendall Price.

Pfaff 18.8 Long Arm Quilting Machine

Pfaff Hobby Grand Quilter Mid Arm Quilter

We had a grand time at Quilt Those Quilts.  We enjoyed seeing everyone and sharing our love of machine quilting.

As usual with machine quilting we had our bugaboos.  They seemed to travel around the room.  I kept forgetting to change my tension to the proper setting.  Robin had tension issues, too.  Anna was breaking thread.  Patsy and Blake had their share of what-is-going-ons.  But all issues were smoothed out and our visitors learned from our issues.

Anna with Quilting Halo

Carol with quilting gloves

We demoed Golden Threads paper, the Halo Quilting tool, Quilting Gloves, the adhesive dot stamper for sticking the Golden Threads Paper in place, and the Sewline markers.

Blake and Patsy showed the Pfaff Hobby Grand Quilter and the Pfaff 18.8 Long Arm Quilter.  They ran through several quilts during the 3 days.  We will bind these quilts and give them to various charities we support.  We couldn’t get a picture of Blake from the front.  He kept turning away.  So you get to see him from the back – playing away!

Patsy at the Pfaff Hobby Grand Quilter

Blake at the Pfaff 18.8 Long Arm Quilter

Lots of fun!  Our winner of the Hobby Grand Quilter machine is from Fancy Gap, Virginia.  She is most excited.

It was in the 40′s last night here in the Virginia mountains.  Gorgeous.  Just 58 in the bedroom when I woke with all the windows open of course.  I love cool weather.  It’s been warm during the days and cool at night – perfect.

The hibiscus is on our front stoop in a pot.  It was a house warming present from our friend Laura.  We keep it in the greenhouse during the winter and it has graced the porch with blossoms all summer.  The coral color looks great.

Fall brings the turkeys into our yard and into the woods next door to sleep.  We wake with gobbles echoing through the trees.  Turkeys sleep in trees!!  Who knew?  Not me!

There are usually 14 – 18 turkeys in a group.  There are usually 2-3 hens and the rest are youngsters.  One or two hens are “guard turkeys”.  They are very vigilant watching for threats.

One time I watched them cross our driveway.  The guards crossed and then went halfway back.  The youngsters then crossed the driveway while the crossing guards watched.  It cracked me up.

The youngsters are all over the place and still look a little scruffy.  But they are big birds!  And they can fly in short, fast bursts.

This is probably our last big moth to see since it’s getting cooler.  They fascinate me.

I still haven’t figured out what type it is.  It was 2 -3″ long and I never saw it all spread out.  There are two “eyes” – one on each under wing.  The top wings are very intricately mottled.

It really was beautiful and fluttered noisily on the screen around midnight a week ago.  It then trembled but wouldn’t spread its wings so we could get a full picture.  Marty was out there in his pjs taking the pictures and I was adjusting the window.

Anyone know the type??