What Happened to my Quilt?

I have made, and gifted, many quilts since I began the craft in 2016. Sometimes I wonder about a gifted quilt. Did the recipient like the gift? Did they use the gift? Did they appreciate the gift? Rarely does the sewist know. Rarely does one get any feedback. 

Several years ago my son approached me about making a quilt for him. He first asked if I could repair a quilt he received from a girl friend years ago - sadly, many of the fabrics had disintegrated, and repairing it would have required remaking the quilt.  

So, I began cutting and turning, twisting and trimming, and finally put together a quilt for my son. I do recall that the Mister and I FaceTimed when he went off on a foray for more fabrics for this quilt. 

A few months later I visited my friend and we used her long arm machine to quilt my son's quilt. 

So, that was 2019. Now....in 2025, my son tells me he has just purchased a new, synthetic blanket to replace the quilt I made him. He tells me that sadly, the quilt I made him has "bit the dust".  

The binding of the quilt has frayed. 

I told him that I could put new binding on the quilt.

Then he tells that some of the blocks are falling apart. 

Wow! It's amazing to see fabric really disintegrate!

Well, it tells me that the quilt I made was well thought of, well loved and used....every day/night! This makes me proud to be a quilt maker! 

Now...time to make another quilt for my dear son!

Concrete Pour

Yet another concrete truck arrived at our house today. When the block is being laid some of the concrete blocks have to be chipped so the County inspector can see that the steel rods go up through the walls. Then, the holes are blocked with pieces of plywood and concrete is poured down through the walls. 

As the concrete begins to harden metal stakes are pushed into the drying concrete along the 

top wall. The trusses will be attached to the stakes. The workers also brush extra concrete off of the walls. 

A short time later the lumber company delivered a stack of lumber and sheathing

for the roof. I wondered how he was going to get those long pieces of lumber 

though our gate; no problem - just pick it up and carry it above the fence! 

 

I Go Where I'm Towed to Go

We tow a Jeep when we travel. The Jeep is probably one of the easiest vehicles to tow, and there are very few vehicles, anymore, that can be towed flat. 

There are a number of steps that need to be completed to hook up the Jeep:

Like any pilot, I don't rely on memory. 

I have a laminated copy of this list in the car and 

I go down the list, item by item.

We have never had any surprises. That is, until we returned home from our recent NC trip. 

After pulling into the driveway, I proceeded back to unhook the Jeep.

(There is another list, on the back of the laminated 'Hook up" list

that I use to go through the required steps to get the car out of Neutral.)

I did not get past the first step: "Apply the electric park brake."

It would not engage.

Nothing would. There were no lights. There was no action.

Uh oh!

We unhooked the car from the RV and moved the RV into its new RV barn.

The next morning I crawled to the back of the Jeep, climbing over various things we had stashed in the back seat and into the far back. The battery for the car is located near the lift gate, under a full-size tire. Don't ask me why I know! I carried my cell phone, as a flashlight, and/or to recruit help if needed, and a small flat-bladed screw driver. The tool, I was told, that I needed to open the lift gate (which is usually controlled electronically.)

After crouching in the back, viewing a YouTube video, I felt so accomplished when I heard a "click" and the lift gate popped a bit so that I could push it open. 

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, the Mister was talking with Jeep/Chrysler. We had intended to either:

A. Jump the battery 

 or 

B. Put a charger on the battery to bring it back to life

or

C. Call AAA to come and help us get the car running.

However,  plan D was the recommendation of the Jeep/Chrysler dealer:

D. Call a wrecker* and have the car taken to the dealership.

We opted for Plan D!

*This Jeep is a plug-in hybrid with all manner of computers and monitoring systems. 

Jumping the car might cause problems with something electrical. 

Dealerships have equipment to "read" the systems and locate errors in the systems. 

Bye, bye car!

Today we received a call from the Dealer. We could come get the car. I was absolved of any crime! The battery had died as it was defective. Evidently it had nothing to do with our towing it, or my hook-up process. And, the best news? The battery was under warranty! Our Jeep had a free ride to the dealer, had a bath and received a jolt of new energy! 

Showy

While visiting in NC one of my sewing friends from the area mentioned that many ladies in the group were going to the quilt show in Rutherfordton. The Mister and I had to do some shopping anyway, and Rutherfordton, NC is one of the areas where we often shop, so......

There were many pretty quilts on display.

Many were very traditional. I loved the color choices in this one.

Here's a different take on a quilt. 

I have not tried making a quilt with large motifs,

nor one with so much negative space needing quilting!

This is a "Dear Jane" quilt. 

Jane Stickle created a quilt with many designs during the Civil War,

and quilters are still using her designs in modern day quilts!

This quilt is make up of 195 different block designs.

I was drawn to the quilt on the left. 

The fabric in the background has some iridescence to it.

Several of us examined the quilt, and never could

determine how the quilter accomplished the color variation 

from yellow to black.

The quilt on the right had one many awards at previous shows 

and was on display only. 

This quilt was created using needle turn appliqué designs.

Here is another needle-turn appliquéd quilt. 

I fell in love with the motifs along the border.

The dense quilting around the designs

really made the appliqués pouf.

I think the creator may also have added additional 

batting behind each appliqué design.

And, if visiting the quilt show wasn't enough creativity for the day, we stopped by the Lake Lure Arts and Crafts Festival for a quick walk through.

It was a beautiful day for a show.

We wandered around looking at the variety of crafts/arts on display.

The young gal who welded these items was a delight to talk to. 

She had some jewelry pieces made with copper.

The copper came from wires she found on the roads after Hurricane Helene.

She said she can't afford to buy much in the way of raw materials, 

but does repurpose a lot of found metal! 

The gal who made art out of the pages of books was busy,

so I didn't get a chance to chat with her about her art.

I caught a glimpse of this fun shirt at a tie-dye booth. 

I liked the flannel checked shirt with its fun colors! 

I didn't notice the quilt block design in the front until now.

I wonder what that was about?!

There was one thing I noticed at this show that I don't see at shows in our area:

Pretty fall leaves on the ground and decorating the trees!

And just like that, our time in NC has come to an end.

It's time to head back home and get on with our day-to-day lives there! 

 

Out of my Window....

Many years ago I used to sing a song at camp that began, "Out of my window, looking at the night, I can see the barges flickering light."

The song came to mind when I recorded the following image, captured from a camera looking 'out of my window' at home! 

While we were out of town, the cement block crew came to erect the walls of our garage. I was able to capture this picture of the men as they first arrived....and I am 550 miles from home! 

I thought I had saved a few more pics of the progress they were making, as seen by the camera in the window, but I can't seem to locate them. (That's technology for you!)

At the end of the day our builder sent us the following pictures: 

I can't wait to see the real thing when we pull into our driveway in a few days!

Lake Lure - Closed!

As you approach Lake Lure from the south, on State Route 9 in NC, you drive down a hillside and the grandeur of Lake Lure sweeps out ahead of you. Some of that grandeur is missing this year. 

In September 24, 2024 Hurricane Helene devastated this area. Over 20 inches of rain fell in a day (after days of rain) causing local rivers to rise to phenomenal heights, roaring down the gorges and sweeping trees, fences, cars, shops, restaurants and homes down river. There were harrowing stories of people who rode the raging waters on mattresses, the roof of a house or on other debris. There were horrific stories of people being swept away and drowning. Bridges were torn out, roads were undermined, power was out, sewer lines were torn apart, water sources were contaminated. Life as folks knew it was disrupted for months. For some, normalcy won't return for years - if ever. The lake was, and still is, closed to all recreational use: no swimming, boating, paddle boarding...nothing. Therefore, the tourist trade, the mainstay of economy in this area, is non-existent. Many restaurants, shops and hotels were swept away in the flood in nearby Chimney Rock, and many establishments in surrounding communities were flooded - some having 2 feet of mud left by the storm. 

Clean up began almost immediately after the storm. The water level of the lake was dropped and is now over 20 feet lower to help with access to the debris from the storm, which in some areas was over 50' in depth! Additionally tons of dirt and silt poured into the lake from various rivers. 

Buffalo Creek is in the foreground in this picture, where it enters Lake Lure at the northern end of the lake. The creek used to have water almost up to the trees on the right. In the middle of the picture you see Lake Lure...or what used to be the lake where you'd see water craft and the water extended to the trees on the far side of the picture.

When we visited the lake in June you would have seen earth moving equipment in the lake bed in this picture. Dump trucks were moving silt and dirt dug from the lake. At one point it was reported that 140 trucks were carrying over 25 tons of dirt making up to three trips each and every day! 

More recently heavy equipment was digging out the marina (just out of sight from this picture) and the beach and swimming area, pictured below. You can see the life guard chair sitting amongst a sea of sand and dirt! 

Continuing excavation of the lake was halted as of a few days ago. Government funding was pulled. As of that time a total of 1,254,230 tons of sand/silt and sediment had been removed from Lake Lure, as well a total of 100,374 cubic yards of debris has been removed from the waterway.  To put this in perspective, I read online that 1 million tons of sand/silt would fill 300 Olympic size swimming pools! 

The lake is being allowed to slowly fill. The rate at which it does so is dependent on the amount of rain. 

The white structure with one door showing (above) is a boat house. 

The owner previously would pull his boat into the structure.

In some areas you can see boats resting on the mud banks, 

some still in below their boathouses!

This is the Lake House Restaurant on Lake Lure.  

We have eaten here many times over the years.

Last year we would ride with friends, in their boat, from our end of the lake 

and tie up at the dock to enjoy a nice lunch.

It will be a while before the lake fills enough to be able to do that again.

Whether the lake will reopen for recreational use next season remains unanswered. If additional funding is procured then dredging will continue in an attempt to make the depth of the water in the lake match what it was originally, and it is likely the lake won't reopen. If there is no new funding, the lake will fill, and it will open for recreational use again. But it will not have the original depth of water. 

PS: Did you know that many of the scenes in the film 'Dirty Dancing' were filmed at Lake Lure? The film was taking so long to shoot that the leaves began turning. Film crew had to go out in some areas and spray paint the leaves green! 

PS 2: After I wrote this post we took a drive through Lake Lure, through Chimney Rock and up the gorge a bit. That area is almost unrecognizable. What used to be a steep-sided, narrow gorge with a road clinging to the hillside is now a wide open, boulder strewn expanse. And by boulder, I mean house-size boulders! No wonder Lake Lure was full of dirt and debris - the dirt from the gorge, the dirt that covered and surrounded all of the boulders, was what filled the lake. The road was washed away in areas and a new road has been constructed, some of which runs in the newly deepened, widened gorge. Pieces of the previous highway can be seen clinging to the hillsides here and there. The scene was out of this world. I couldn't even take pictures, as they'd never show the immensity of the damage and the unbelievable chance in the landforms. The images were are haunting. 

Holy Somethin' or Other

We have owned 12 acres on a hillside in NC for over 28 years now! We used to camp on it with the kids. Now it keeps the Mister busy when we are camped at the RV resort near Lake Lure. He went to check on the property and came back reporting on this: 

What you can't see are the wasps of some sort flying around.

I dared go no closer, but how intriguing to see the formation of their nest.

We will leave them be. 

According to Mr. A I-(nstein) the wasps will die out when winter comes.

The nest will be abandoned. 

We won't have to worry about them next year.

Hmmmm....might a bear decide to move in?!