I'm on a Rocky Mountain High.....like the song, not the herb.....

Greetings Quilting Friends!

I am literally on a Rocky Mountain High!

The Colorado kind!

I love seeing those beautiful

purple mountain majesties in the distance.

Come along with me as I share

my wonderful visit with the

Pieceable Friends Quilt Guild

of Greeley, Colorado.

A day or so before I left I was invited to spend 

some time with these amazing quilters.

I am so pleased I can call them friends!

Pictured from left to right:

Jan of The Colorful Fabriholic,

Julie aka "Quilt Diva Julie" of Me and my Quilts - Exploring the Possibilities,

and

Cherie of Quilted Jonquil,

along with me.

Jan, Cherie, and myself were treated to Juile's trunk show

of 40 quilts

at the Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild

in St. Louis.  What a wonderful time we all had together......

and, what a wonderful way to start off my trip to Colorado.

Thanks to Julie for sharing with me some of her scraps!

My first day of travel saw me driving through the plains

of Nebraska......

I was able to visit with my friend, Miss Nebraska 199?, Michelle

and her wonderful family at their lake house in central Nebraska.

We had a great time on the lake in their boat, and Michelle's husband

can grill a mean steak!  This was the first time I was able to meet

Michelle's family, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them.

Thanks for the hospitality!

The following photos show you some of the places I was

able to see as I made my way across Nebraska.

I loved visiting this quilt shop!

If ever you are in or travelling through Cozad, NE

make sure you stop by!

Barn Quilt siting in the city!

The Grain Bins in North Platte, Nebraska.

Each original grain bin contains antiques!

So cool!

Hi little friend!

Many miles equaled many stops at various quilt shops

and antique malls.  I LOVED being able to take a road

trip instead of flying for once.

My second day of travel took me to Colorful Colorado!

I made it safely to Colorado where I was

spoiled by my good friend

Alycia of Alycia Quilts

along with her incredible family.

I have said it before, and I will say it again......

Alycia, her husband, and children are some of the best

peeps on this earth!

Truly they are!

I can't thank her and her family enough for housing me, feeding me yummy food,

and letting me play with their animals!

Ole' Uncle Kevin the Quilter had hair appointments

with these beautiful and majestic creatures.

I love horses!

What a blessing it was to spend time with Alycia

and her horses to view some amazing scenery.

Smokey was my ride for the morning.

Wrangler Man let me help him with some chores....

and some training!

This is the life!

Ahhhhhhhhh...........

See....I told you there were some beautiful views!

As much fun as it was playing with the horses.....

it was then time to share with

The Pieceable Friends Quilt Guild

of Greeley, Colorado!

I greatly appreciate their invitation for me to share with them,

in particular Marsha, my guild contact,

and their president LeeAnn.(sp?)

They have a lovely venue in which to hold their meetings.

Before the meeting started, Audrey came to me

and introduced herself.  I LOVE meeting you all

that read my blog!  It was a pleasure meeting her...

and she shared with me a little gift.....

Isn't this towel amazing????

LOLOLOLOL

My FAVORITE saying!

This towel is proudly being displayed and used

in my kitchen!

Thank you so much Audrey!

Of course Huffman's Hotties made an appearance

during the trunk show....

These gals were an absolute hoot!!!!!

Thanks so much for having some fun with me

and for helping me out ladies!

I was truly showered with love after my trunk show.

These quilters were so welcoming.

By the way, I am somewhere in this photo!

LOLOLOL

In our downtime, Alycia and I made some #flagsforsue.

What a wonderful way to honor the memory of

a quilter who did so much

for our U.S. military veterans.

You can learn more about how you can make this

wonderful QOV block to honor Sue's memory

HERE.

You all know I had to make my blocks really scrappy!

The next day, I was pleased to be able to share

my "String Star" workshop.

This workshop shares ways of string piecing that

can be incorporated into other quilt making

adventures.

The facility we met in was new, spacious, and beautiful!

Start by making some diamond templates using telephone pages

or children's scribble pads.

Then go to town string piecing diamonds.....and cut them out

following the template.

Oh what fun we all had!

Of course.......all that string piecing works up an appetite!

A delicious potluck was made by all of the quilters!

Thanks to Sheree on the left who helped organize the workshop

and was my hostess with the mostest!

Sheree even shared some of her delicious

homemade Blueberry Jam with me!!!

Thanks Sheree!!!!!!

And not too long after lunch.......

Stars were appearing!!!!!

This quilter was very strategic about the 

placement of her strings.....click to enlarge so you

can see some words on her star!

Very clever.......and BEAUTIFUL!

Alycia is twinkling along with her star!

These quilters worked so hard, and I was so proud of

each and every one of them!

Thank you to all who made my visit to Greeley, Colorado

so memorable!  I appreciate your friendships so much!

The End!

Thanks for your continued support!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

A very busy life......

Hey Quilting Friends!

As you all know......

We all have busy lives! 
I truly feel I cannot get things done I was able to get done a few years ago!
Surely, getting older has NOTHING to do with this????
Flying is really taking it's toll on me as of late.  It's depressing.

The recent blogger woes of not being able to correspond with those who are directly
responsible for me being where I am today in the quilting world is really......well.....
aggravating!  I am trying to fix the problem as prescribed by other bloggers.  Please be patient with me as I enjoy communicating with you all.

UPCOMING EVENTS!!!!

Tuesday, July 17, 2018 7PM

Lecture / Trunk Show

Pieceable Friends Quilt Guild

Evans Recreation Center

1100 37th Street

Evans, CO  80620

Wednesday, July 18, 2018 

String Star Workshop

Pieceable Friends Quilt Guild

Eaton Recreation Center

1675 3rd Street

Eaton, CO  80615

SO, what HAS been going on besides being on an airplane way too much as of late?

2018 Summer Session of 

Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter

started.......

We are having a scrap block lotto each month

making a simple block that goes with that month's

birthstone color along with neutrals.

Above is a sampling of the double four patch blocks 

quilters brought in for June.

This session of Scrap Club is focusing on the Lonestar Quilt.

 It is time for me to play with some Kaffe Fassett

scraps and stash.  Above and below

are some of my strips for making some

smaller Jelly Roll Lonestars.

We are using the free tutorials

from Jordan Fabrics as our inspiration.

The Jelly Roll Lonestar tutorial can be found

HERE.

The regular Lonestar tutorial can be found

HERE.

Father's Day with my Dad!

The entire Hee Haw gang came to the

Quilt Cave to celebrate Father's Day this year.

I made dinner for everyone, and we all had

a really nice visit.  My niece is moving in order to

attend college, so a lot of shopping was dedicated to

buying her furnishings for her apartment.

A String Star Workshop with the Stitch'N'Time Quilt Guild

in Warrenton, Missouri.

These quilters worked really hard during this workshop.

It was a lot of fun getting to know them!

Thanks for hosting me!

I was also able to share my lecture/trunk show with the

Piecemaker's Quilt Club in St. Clair, Missouri.

What a crowd!

My friends Roxann and Mary Lee served as

Huffman's Hotties.

Thanks gals!

I have to share this photo with you all.

During my lecture, I ask those quilters who

don't like or care to make scrap quilts, and this

quilter was adamant about that remark.

After I was finished speaking, she came up to me

and told me she couldn't wait to go home and make 

a scrap quilt!  Another convert! LOLOLOL

My friend, Priscilla in Connecticut has sent me many

friendship stars using chicken fabric!

I LOVE THESE!

Thanks Priscilla!

Now, how shall I incorporate them into something?

HMMMM.....

I was able to visit briefly with my friend

Bonnie Hunter

as she visited the Kansas City area in June.

It is ALWAYS inspiring to see her work in person.

Talk about a busy person......I haven't a clue how she 

gets done what she gets done! 

AMAZING!

Isn't this a lovely mess?

Sewing with abandon in the neutral strings....

ahhhhh.....how I wish I could just do this all day long

EVERY DAY!

Scrap enhancements have come in from my friends

Linda and Cindy!

Lilly Mae and I thank you very much!

Lilly Mae was able to finish her first marathon with

my friend Mike.  This was really special for him and her!

(For those of you who would actually think Lilly Mae

ran the entire marathon in the heat.....please understand she 

only ran the last 50 yards across the finish line. LOL)

Mr. Valentino gave me the scare of my life recently.

As you may know, Valentino is at least 16 years old

and is diabetic.

His blood sugar is checked regularly.

However, the best made efforts for treatment don't always

ensure a crisis may not occur.

I had to rush him to the vet due to a

hypoglycemic seizure.

I can't thank my vet enough for taking

this situation under control, and helping

Valentino out so quickly.

Diabetes is so unpredictable at times.....especially in animals.

More monitored feedings and a different type of

insulin has made a wonderful difference for

my handsome boy.

My garden is doing well!

My tomato plants are almost as tall as me!

I am 6'1"!

I will be harvesting beans soon.

I have already been getting zucchini, squash,

and cucumbers.

These 2 beauties were pleasant surprises the other day

as I was tending to the garden.

I love Cherokee Purple tomatoes (on the left).

If you have never tried this variety, I encourage you to

do so.  They have such a wonderful flavor, and the deep

purple color is enchanting!

Some new arrivals here at the Quilt Cave!

This little chick is so cute!

It stormed the day he/she hatched, so thus

it's name is Stormy.  I hope it is a hen!

He/she has 5 brothers/sisters.

And here is the Chicken Pic for this post.....

Meet Lucky!

Lucky is an Americauna mix rooster.

Look at his jaunty comb flounced over his head.

He sure is handsome, and is very......well.....Lucky!

He escaped the coop, and was gone for a few days.

I figured the worst......but, he reappeared!

It was quite a site recapturing him, but, all is well now.

He is very popular with the hens.

So now you know how he got his name!

LOLOLOL

Sorry again for the long time in between posts.....

Thanks for understanding......and...

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter