Back home and upcoming stuff
I made it safely back home from my summer travels. We spent a week in Austin, Texas, with my daughter and her family, and then a few days later I was off to Franklin, Tennessee to present a lecture and workshop to the Cumberland Valley Quilter’s Association. Both trips were a big success and so much fun!
My grand daughter, Amelia, celebrated her second birthday while we were there, and we got to babysit for three whole days. She is the sweetest, most fun little girl, and we did our best to spoil her completely. No meltdowns on either side!
When we came home, we had an explosion of heirloom tomatoes (Brandywine) and other vegetables to harvest. There’s nothing like fresh veggies for dinner!
My trip to Tennessee was awesome, and I can’t thank the ladies of the CVQA enough for having me. They were all very kind and treated me like royalty. Thanks to Eileen and her husband, Steve, for making sure my PowerPoint presentation worked seamlessly. I talked about Christmas Ideas from your Sewing Room, and I had no trouble filling up an entire hour with gifts and decor projects to make. One of my blog followers, Diane S., drove two hours to see my lecture – thanks, Diane! It was a pleasure to meet you.
A special thank you to Sandy C. and her husband, Dan, for hosting me and showing me the true meaning of southern hospitality. Sandy thought of everything to make my stay comfortable, she cooked for me, and she introduced me to some lovely ladies at the guild. We even saw some live music and did a little sightseeing in Nashville, too!
Dare I forget to mention that we visited a few quilt shops in the area. The Quilting Squares Quilt Shop is a cute little spot in Franklin with lots of quilt samples to drool over, and I took the opportunity to pick up some adorable Christmas fabric. I practically got lost in Stitcher’s Garden (though I did manage to find a few pieces of fabric to purchase). We also visited the local Bernina dealer, Sewing Machine Station, and I couldn’t resist a layer cake and a few charm square packs to take home.
All in all, it was a successful, first-time, lecture and workshop. I was a little nervous, but not as much as I thought I would be. Everyone was very gracious and made me feel right at home.
On Monday, I’ll be sharing my block for the I Love Home Block of the Month by Jacquelynne Steves. Have you signed up yet? It’s going to be lots of fun with giveaways, too!
Sew Thankful Sunday might be a little late as I’m still working on it. I’ve added a few Christmas projects to my lineup for the upcoming months, so expect tutorials for those this fall. Before I start anything else, though, I have to clean out my sewing room. I can’t find anything in that mess!
Have a wonderful weekend!
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What beautiful vegetables, Julie – you must get rain once in a while …. not like Southern California! Two years ago I started working with the starch method appliqué (hand). I’ve been going to Pearl Pereira’s workshops once a year and having a wonderful time. (It agrees with my personality better than the needle turn method.)
Love your idea for sewing the border strips together first . I am going to do that for sure. Although I do both kinds of applique, I will be doing machine applique for this. As soon as my had heals that is.
I love hand turned applique!
Your granddaughter is so adorable! I’m glad you had a great trip!
What a great adventure, Julie. And babysitting…I am envious.
Julie, It was a delightful time having you here in middle TN for a few days. The ladies in CVQA enjoyed both your lecture and workshop. Sew many inspirational Christmas projects. Wow! Time for us to get started!! I’ve enjoyed your blog, it was fun to actually get to meet the sweet lady with sew many creative ideas. Come back any time…….❤️
Welcome home Julie. I know I missed getting your emails and reading the blog. Glad you had a good visit with family and your workshop was successful. Looking forward to seeing some new projects to do
Beautiful family!!! Love the Christmas fabric. What is the name of the line for the animal panel? It’s a must have!
Loved seeing your family in photos. Your blog is always so uplifting. Motivating too!
So glad you had a fun and successful trip! Your granddaughter is absolutely adorable!
family time sounds lovely what a cutie your GD is. Good to read the lecture went so well and you had such a good time. All ready for Jacquelynne`s new BOM fabric sorted so looking forward to it
Amelia is a real cutie. Glad you had a good experience in Tenn.
Glad to see you home safe and had a fun time. Amelia get cuter every time I see her. I’m ready to see that block.
Beautiful granddaughter!
Oh what a beautiful little Granddaughter Amelia is!! She reminds me of my own first grandchild, Madison who is now almost 22 and will be graduating from Vanderbilt University this December. Grands are just that, GRAND!! I know all the places you visited in Franklin and especially Sewing Machine Station which is where my two friends and I have taken many classes and I purchased my Bernina 440QE many years ago. Enjoyed reading all about it.
Amelia is so cute! I’m sure you got in tons of snuggles! I, too, like the new Blue Sky line, and I’m looking forward to how you will use it. The Christmas panel and coordinating fabrics are pretty, especially the cardinal one. I’m taking the plunge and moving to Driftwood, just outside of Austin next month. I just loved the area from my visits there, and now I’ll be close to my daughter and granddaughter too!
Welcome home, Julie! What a great harvest from your garden, so colorful and beautiful! And your granddaughter, she is getting so big! Loved seeing the pictures of her. Also loved the blue fabrics you featured. When is your next workshop? I need to plan ahead. One of these days I want to make it to the Missouri Star Quilt store.