It was such a delight to get dressed to see friends yesterday! Getting to put on a pair of cute shoes and spring clothes, get some takeout and have a meal outside was such a lift to the spirit. I had to wear a spring hat too. Three of my friends and I got takeout food and met at a local winery to enjoy some fresh air and chat time. They do not have a restaurant, only a small tasting room, but they were happy to have us come by and have our meal on their outdoor tables, have a glass of wine with our lunch and shop in the store. The Saint Paul Mountain Winery is east of Hendersonville, out where there are lots of apple orchards.
The apple trees are lush and green, and loaded with apples.
I’m not sure if these are Jonagolds or Honey Crisp, but they are well on their way to ripening. Our county is a big producer of many varieties of apples.
So, we all came in our own cars, wearing our masks to get settled. Then we sat far enough apart for safety, and had our lunches, chatting nonstop for 2 hours.
We all got food from my favorite place, Champa. Here’s mine, a wonderful Perfect Roll with fresh mango on top, and an Alaska roll.
The other sushi lover in our group got a Sweetheart Roll, with tuna and avocado. The other ladies had vegetable tempura and a chicken dish with rice.
Then it was time for show and tell. By now there was one other table with two ladies enjoying a glass of wine, and they enjoyed our show as much as we did. This is a Quilt of Valor with fussy cut hearts in the center of each star, and a wavy border or red, white and blue. She calls it her Pepsi quilt for that border.
Next, a completed top for QOV, to be quilted and given away when we can begin doing presentations again.
I brought my Jolly Bar Row Along Quilt. I am almost done with binding it. The Row Along was postponed to June 29, so you still have time to get the book, Jolly Bar Book Vol 2 for the block patterns, and a Jolly Bar (or use up your stash), and join in. A Jolly Bar is a precut of 5×10 inches, essentially half of a layer cake. I used the Harper’s Garden Jolly Bar to do this quilt, with the solid color Porcelain in Bella Solids.
The Jolly Bar Book Vol 2 is available at FQS, and you still have time to get one and quilt along. Isn’t this cute, the book is the same size as a Jolly Bar.
Anyway, after our lunch and chat time, I took a stroll to see the vineyards. The vines are just turning green, and these appear to be young ones.
Lovely view with pretty roses at the edge.
As I was leaving, I noticed I wasn’t the only one putting the top down this day. The weather was perfect, a sunny day with puffy clouds here and there, not too hot, not too humid, just enough of a gentle breeze to make our time pleasant. I really needed this, and I was happy we could find a day and time that worked.
Are you venturing out to see friends in a safe way?
Sharing – Best of the Month
From My Carolina Home 
Carole,
I’m glad you had a chance to get out and enjoy the nice weather. I enjoyed lunch at a favorite seafood restaurant with a dear friend followed by a trip to an area shopping mall whose management has offered their large community room for our Quilts of Valor award ceremonies. Here’s to fair weather and good health!
Looks like you had a wonderful day and love the show and tell!
Love the mini quilt show! I also thought it was cute that your mini coupers were social distancing too! Glad you enjoyed your time out.
What a fabulous way to meet up!! One of my groups is doing a Zoom meeting next week…..not quite the same but signs of being able to connect with pals again. Tx’s for the winery tip….I wasn’t familiar with this establishment.
How fun! A great way to see friends and the beautiful scenery.
Quilts to be shared, and others there to enjoy as well, hats, what a wonderful spring outing for you together.
Here in NY we are just starting to open up retail shops, hair salons, etc. I am not venturing out yet. I’m waiting to see whether there are flair ups of the virus due to the loosening of restrictions and the increasing number of people refusing to wear masks.
That looks like it was so fun! I’ve been meeting friends on the golf course – that’s a great place to get exercise and fresh air and visit with them. Mike and I love taking a picnic lunch up to our favorite winery in the mountains and having a glass of wine with lunch – planning to do that tomorrow!
sounds like you had fun – we have not ventured out yet – we really don’t have a place like that near by to go to although I would love that
Sounds like a fun day out with friends! All except that sushi anyway!! Our pastor’s son graduated this year and they had a home graduation with a “drive by parade” for those who wanted to come. A couple of weeks ago, we popped the top on our lime green mustang and decided to let Chloe (66 lb part Aussie) ride along. Of course she had to ride in her daddy’s lap!! I haven’t driven that car in at least three years because I had to give it up as shifting that six-speed hurt my knees too much. Once I got reoriented we were rolling along in the parade!! It was fun to let my hair fly in the breeze again. I think I scared Gary (he is always the pilot and I the navigator!!) a little but his undies were still clean when we got home, so it was all good fun!! LOL Our church is meeting for the first time this Sunday. We meet in a school auditorium so social distancing is easily accomplished. Looking forward to meeting with my church family and rocking out in the band again! People don’t realize how much they miss things like get togethers with friends and family until it’s gone.
It was soooooo much fun! It felt like a huge glass of ice water 1/2 way across the desert! I did not know I was so thirsty. The show and tell was great!
So glad you were able to get out and meet up with friends. I really the show and tell with the quilts. You ladies are awesome! and the quilts gorgeous! Enjoyed the tour of the winery grounds, and I would have brought sushi too 🙂
Beautiful quilts! And what a lovely way to spend time with friends.
What a great idea! So very happy you were able to visit with friends!
How wonderful to get out in the world! Here in NJ, things are slowly opening up and I think outdoor dining opens up next week. I cannot wait but I am also a little nervous. Hope you are well and I am happy you got to spend some time with friends!
Shelley
I don’t know where to start! So many wonderful pictures and happy to see the girls out and about! Lunch looks absolutely wonderful! The quilts are so beautiful – love the addition of the yellow and the hearts and the others – someone is a very lucky soldier. Jolly Bars – must order that book. Vineyards! Apple trees, such a glorious view! Out and about. Well, we are on lock down – again. Stores are proactively boarding windows. We live in the suburbs of Chicago and the malls and strip malls in surrounding areas are just not safe.
But my husband got his first haircut since March! Long line, but “his” girl came out and snatched him in right away. So thanks so much for sharing the sunshine (we also haven’t had a truly sunny day in weeks.)
Oh, what a fun time to visit with friends and such a lovely place. Where I live we are just starting to come out of lockdown, with a few restaurants opening up. As we also have had some violent protests, I’m not yet comfortable going out. But, hopefully, by the end of the month, it will be safe for such opportunities.
I enjoyed your day out.
How nice to get out and socialize in person. Great place to visit. Our restaurants are opening up very slowing starting on the first of the month. 30 % occupancy allowed. We are sticking to home for now to keep our “bubble” tight with our grandkids. If we go out exploring then we will have left the “bubble”. I did manage a bike ride with one of the grands this week. Quilting will get me through it.
My next outing may have to be a trip to a winery with girlfriends. Looked like fun. My husband and I took one of his fun sports cars for a drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Packed a lunch and sat in an overlook that has views that we never get tired of. Dropped off the Parkway and took back roads home. Looks like this summer will be more day trips and less road trips for us. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful area of the country!
Hello Carole, I am glad that you were able to have such a pleasant outing with friends! Plus, it was really kind of you to share it with us. Here in Oregon, we are still on a very restricted policy, I am not sure at this time what is and what is not allowed. Therefore, Mom and I, we mainly stay at home and let everyone else do what they want to. LOL.
Each and every one of the quilts that you showed us are lovely! It took me several times to find the hearts, who knows where my thoughts were, because as soon as I did see them it was duh and they are so perfect! They really become a special focal point and read as a wonderful message! The next QOV photo is also a fabulous quilt. It is a pattern on my to do list. I especially like the way in which she did the borders. Adding such a large section of piano keys at the top and bottom is something, again, I would not have thought of doing myself. Yet, they make such a great impact on the design. Just another reason why I love to spend hours browsing and looking/learning about the way quilters make their quilts unique and special treasures!! Your Jolly Bar Quilt looks amazing and surely was fun and challenging to make. The Row of Hearts and Flying Geese are my favorite. Who ever gets this quilt is going to love snuggling with it!
Thank you for sharing your lovely fun day with us! With everything going on in our world, it was nice to stop and just smile and enjoy some of the beauty in our world! Have a marvelous day!
How wonderful and refreshing that looks😍 glad you were able to get out and enjoy…. love the show too.
How fun, Carole! Glad you got out and about. All the quilts look great. Which car is yours???
Good for you Carole, so glad you had a good time with your friends, I know you needed this!
What a lovely time you all had together. Good friends, lovely food, perfect weather, and quilty show and tell! Wish I could have been there too, it’s cold winter weather here today where I live.
We were able to get out last night to an outdoor dinner with our two best friends. So nice to see each other! And tomorrow we go ride on my sister’s boat in a safe way. Michigan is loosening up but still no salons, gyms, etc for awhile. Your wine idea is excellent!
Thanks for taking us along! Outdoor dining just got the green light here, might be able to get out too.
Love this post 💕
Looks like a perfect outing and a lovely sharing of quilts. Always enjoy your blog stories, Carole. You look adorable in your spring hat! :o)
That is a lovely way to spend time with friends. And a gorgeous location, too.
Sushi!!!
How good it is that you were able to get out and spend some time with friends. It looks lovely around that winery.
What a special day with friends. Thanks for the show and tell. I would like to know the name of the block used in the Pepsi quilt.
Look up Blackford’s Beauty. I took a class and that was the pattern but everybody’s looked different. There are ways to vary the block and I fussy cut hearts for the center. By using sashing it allowed an accent block where the 3 squares met at the corners. Lots of potential. Enjoy
Thanks! For anyone wanting the pattern, here’s a link to a free Blackford’s Beauty
W h at a wonderful day out for you and your friends, the quilts you all mad are wonderful. Nice to see the green and the apples. Perfect day for the top to be down on the car. I am slow in venturing out but have caught up with a couple of quilting friends either at home here or at their houses.
Looks like it was a lovely outing! And so great that the other wine tasters enjoyed your quilty show and tell!!