Petals and Text Quilted – OMG It’s a Masterpiece!

Judy Egan quilted my Petals and Text quilt and what a wonderful job she did!  Judy is a professional, reserved lady so I was amused to receive a voicemail from her being so excited, almost singing in her New Jersey accent – “ OMG I am soooo excited about this, I think it is one of my masterpieeccesss !”   I would agree, it is a masterpiece of longarm quilting!  She made my quilt top into more than I ever dreamed it could be.  I found her at the Village Quilt show last fall.  There were so many examples of her work in the show that just stood out from all the others.  I  just knew I had to get something of mine quilted by Judy and am I ever glad I did.  She does custom quilting, her quilting is not computerized, she just has a God-given talent to create a design and then uses her hands to guide her Gammill. 

Berry Hill Bees Honey

 

Introducing the first jar of Berry Hill Bees honey

 

 

Geff just filled his first jar of honey from his own beehives.  How exciting and isn’t it pretty honey?  Okay, so it is only 4 ounces, just a little to see how the honey is coming along.  He thinks we will have several gallons in July.  It’s real thick honey from pure capped nectar.  He didn’t use pesticides or antibiotics in the hives.  I can’t wait for July and hopefully we'll have enough to share.  I found these cute glass Muth jars in 3 sizes ( 1 lb, 8 oz and 4 oz)   You know I just couldn’t go with plain ole plastic bears...    He is working on his own custom label and decided to name it Berry Hill Bees.  



Jars patiently waiting for honey
 

2015 Quilting Shop Hops in Tennessee

There are two quilting shop hops in the East Tennessee this June 4 to June 13 (2015) – The East Tennessee Shop Hop and the Whistlestop Shop Hop.  They are both during the same couple weeks and span a large distance. The shops are as far north as Jonesborough TN and as far south as Chattanooga (218 miles apart) not counting the farthest west Little Blessings in Crossville, another 58 miles west.   

Whistlestop Quilt Retreat

There is a lovely quilt retreat in Sweetwater Tennessee Whistlestop run by Jodi Savage.  She hosts quilt retreats and teaches sewing classes. Whistlestop is a 150 year old farmhouse that Jodi has renovated. She has excellent taste and had quilts made for all the bedrooms.   I highly recommend making the trip to one of her retreats or classes.  You can read more about it at the website http://www.whistlestopquiltretreat.com/

Here are a few pictures I took of the quilts on the retreat beds:



LOVE this idea Jodi had for displaying quilt tops, she draped them on a quilt hoop and added a plaque with the pattern name and then hung along the hall.

   

Here’s a picture from Whistestop’s facebook page of  an appliqué class I took.  Jodi teaches an appliqué technique that makes it bearable for even me.   (Yes, that is Cindy Blackberg taking class with us)

 

 

Some of Jodi’s appliqué, she is a real pro!

 

Funny, I saw the little wheelbarrow on Jodi’s shelf that inspired my yardstick wheelbarrow.  (you can see the wheelbarrow post here)  I forgot that it was so small.

Jodi’s “inspiration” ruler wheelbarrow

My “big imagination” yardstick wheelbarrow