The last couple of weeks has seemed to be crammed full of things to do. Some fun, some not so much like getting my teeth cleaned. Three car club events were lots of fun, and I had a blast doing two presentations – one on card design for the Heritage Hills Stampers, and the other, my Decisions Decisions program for the UpCountry Quilt Guild in Pickens, South Carolina. We begin at a local park where the MINIs club gathered for a drive to Chimney Rock.

We had a huge group this time, 30 MINIs.

And off we went!

I took the opportunity to get a shot in the mirror of the other half of the cars. We were serving as “rocker”, which is a radio relay between the lead and sweep cars.

You know how we love our mountain roads. Right now they are lush and green.

Here is our final destination, Chimney Rock. We went to the pavilion near the lower parking area first for a catered lunch of burgers and sides.

Up top, the views were marvelous. This is Lake Lure.

Between the rock faces, the near mountains were a bit hazy in the humid heat.

A nice railing around the top of the chimney keeps people safe.

I have such fun presenting to quilt guilds, and had that opportunity this past Tuesday. I presented Decisions Decisions to the Upcountry Quilt Guild in Pickens, SC at their evening meeting. The ladies were so welcoming and fun to chat with before the presentation. Their screen was high on the wall behind the stage, and I had to apologize for twirling so much during the talk. As I went through my presentation, I had samples to pass and slides to show.

I talked for almost an hour, then the trunk show began that puts all the concepts together – thread, batting, quilt design. This is Sakura Tsuki, meaning Cherry Blossom Moon. Click the link to read about how I constructed this one.

I showed how I freehand quilted the petals on the Hoffman Dahlia panel, and encouraged the ladies to give it a try. The small panel is ideal for free motion practice, and getting comfortable doing custom work on a domestic machine.

The last quilt in the trunk show was my award winning Scrap Dance Quadrille, which won a First Place at the Mountain State Fair, and a Second Place at our guild’s Garden of Quilts Show in May. It is the perfect quilt to be last in the trunk show as it is the most custom and heavily quilted.

Then the next day, we were off again to do a run with the British Car Club assembled for a drive to a special exhibit on the history of MINIs in Greer, SC. Some of our friends have loaned their cars for the exhibit, so we were eager to see it. Naturally, most of the participants this day were MINI owners, but we did have a couple of older British cars other than MINs.

Off we went, taking a long route down to South Carolina on nice back roads. We were headed down to flatter land, so no mountain views on this day.

We stopped for a barbeque lunch, then continued to the museum in Greer, SC. That’s our Mocha on the left. All MINIs have names. Next to us is MINIHulk.

Inside, a selection of around 26 MINIs showed a progression of the history in models, beginning with the oldest ones in the exhibit. Marvelous photography on banners hang behind the start of the show.

Many of the MINIs have interesting customizing jobs, like this one called Spitfire owned our friend Jeff. Right behind it is the “KISS car” painted with a large star over one headlight and a fun history. The mirror caps are signed by the four Kiss members.

The black convertible is owned by our friend Steven, and is named Twila. Right next to it is a tiny remote controlled MINI loaned by friends Crystal and Mike. The tiny one is called Rosie’s car, and they have trained their bulldog to ride in it. She loves putting on her goggles and riding around gatherings.

If you are interested in stopping by, the museum is in Greer, SC, see their website – Ultimate Driving Museum. There is a lot to see here, with each car having a plaque to read on its owner and history, along with how it fits into the show. Walls are covered with MINI memorbilia and large banners hang from the ceiling.

Display cases around the perimeter are stuffed with small things, and interesting art work on bonnet covers hang on a wall.

Last Saturday, we were in charge of a picnic, which made for a long day. We were there early to set up tables for food and registration, manage the catered box lunches, and run the photo scavenger hunt. That was a fun day, in spite of the work involved, but I didn’t have a single moment to see the car show of member cars or take a single photo. Ah well.

Thankfully, we have a bit of time off now with the holiday weekend coming up. A couple of days in the basement sewing room have sparked some ideas for some fun next month. I also have a quilt for Safelight made by my friend, Diana, loaded on the longarm to work on over the weekend. Sewing time coming up!

What have you been doing this week?

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Impression Obsession’s Big Summer Sale is on! 30% off all regularly-priced clear stamp sets, steel dies, patterned paper packs, ink pads, and stencils. Some items have very low inventory and many will not be restocked so that we make room for new products, so hurry if there are things you have your eye on! The sale runs through Friday, July 5 at midnight EST!

Check out Today’s Flash Sale at Fat Quarter Shop. Last chance to take advantage of the June Sale 20% off the Basic of the Month Grunge Basics from Moda, 30% Off the Notions of the Month from Sewline, Patterns of the Month from V and Co, and Rose in Bloom Block of the Month Quilt Book by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique for It’s Sew Emma is the featured Book of the Month. Don’t forget to see the Precuts of the Week, too!