Officially in summer mode

May 18, 2025

Cue the Pomp & Circumstance music.

This past week was a whirlwind of activities culminating with my youngest niece’s high school graduation on Friday night. Making it possible for my 80+ year old parents to see her graduate in person was totally worth all the four hours of driving I had to do in ATL traffic. Congrats to my niece and best of luck as she moves on to the next adventure – college.

Thank you to a kind neighbor who let me borrow a stadium seat. I highly recommend investing in one if you’ll be sitting in the bleachers during this busy graduation season and the venue doesn’t offer stadium seat rentals.

Summer mode is now officially engaged!

Time for quilting, travel, reading and a little cross-stitching.

And a pedicure.

Quilty Travel Planning

May 14, 2025

Today was catch up on email day. An announcement in one of the newsletters for a quilt show in Charleston, SC next March caught my eye. Misty Doan will be teaching at this event (Cobblestone 2026 Celebration of Quilts, Textiles & Fiber Arts Show), so this one is definitely on my radar. It’s also within driving distance of Atlanta. On the potential 2026 quilt show/retreat list it goes as I’m looking for events closer to home. I enjoyed my spring retreat in Boise with the JK Quilts girls, but the travel costs associated with attending the retreat were really expensive this year.

How much will it potentially cost to attend the Charleston show for 3 days and 2 nights? I’m going to base my travel budget on what I spent at similar events in TN and NC. Charleston is a 5 hour drive from Atlanta. Gas: $75.00 This event has classes and lectures along with the show, so I’ll allow for two nights of hotel based on current rates at hotels near the venue. Accommodations: $300.00 Food: $100.00 Quilt show attendance, classes, lectures and souvenir shopping (a/k/a hitting the vendor booths): $150.00. My cost: $625.00 max for a 3 day/2 night quilting adventure. Costs can easily be lowered by not taking classes, bringing a friend and/or using credit card reward points to put towards gas, meals and hotel. Mind you, $625.00 is totally in line with fees for a lot of quilt retreats lasting 3-5 days.

Prefer an escorted tour?

Some of the quilt tour companies offer escorted tours of the low country focusing on Georgia and South Carolina. Yep, there’s already a tour advertised to take you to the Charleston show and shop hopping around the Palmetto state. The advertised cost is $1595 double occupancy or $1895 single occupancy. There’s a discount if you book by a certain date. Of course, I downloaded the trip brochure and checked out the quilt shops listed on the itinerary. This is a good way to discover quilt shops you might want to visit on your travels. I added one shop to my list to visit the next time I’m in upstate South Carolina.

Someone asked if I’m planning to attend QuiltCon 2026. No, as I attended the event in Raleigh in 2024

Photo by Sara Free on Pexels.com

Reflecting on a Busy Season: Family, Friends, and Fun

May 11, 2025

Three years after retiring, I still look forward to the end of the school year. This week will be a busy one.

It’s the final hurrah for therapy dog activities this school year. We have the R.E.A.D.er awards ceremony at Park Street Elementary. Once the audience leaves, the four kids we’ve worked with will have brunch with Sadie. They’ll enjoy CFA biscuits while her highness has chicken nuggets.

My niece’s high school graduation is Friday evening. My parents don’t drive at night, so I’ll be their chauffeur. They live an hour east of me. The graduation ceremony is an hour south of them. On a Friday. In Atlanta traffic. Oh joy.

It’s also my turn to host our monthly Book Club. Technically, it should be next week, but May’s calendar is such that stuff that normally happens on 3rd Thursday (book club) also happens to fall the same week as the 2nd Wednesday (library READ). Right now, I have RSVPs for 8 (could be up to 12).

Not much sewing or quilting happening this week. That’s okay. One week from now, we’ll be officially in summer mode. For the first time in five years, it’s shaping up to be a normal summer with a planned vacation, quilt retreat, Quilt Camp @ SQTM, quilt classes I’m taking, plus a couple of really special therapy dog events.

Photo by Ali Kazal on Pexels.com