Quilt Week 2024

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“In the quilt of life, friends are the stitches that hold it together.”

If you read any of my books, my blogs, or my posts, you know that next to creating sweet historical romance, quilting is near and dear to my heart. With that being said, I’m taking you on a virtual tour of Quilt Week 2024.

Since 2000, 6 or 8 or 10 friends get together to quilt, shop, eat, and share lots of laughs. It first started out as a long weekend, then a week, and now has morphed into a ten-day getaway from household chores, husbands, children, grandchildren (although we love them all, girl time is important, too!).

In recent years we’ve rented a 5-bedroom house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Here is what my husband jokingly calls the “sweat shop”!

…and, of course, we require sustenance at home and at Lapp’s Creamery twice a week!

   

Then there was the fabric shopping…a real feast for the eyes! So many choices!

   

I can’t forget the Amish foods at Bird-in-Hand Bakery, Stolzfus meats, Dienner’s Restaurant, and Kitchen Kettle shops!

      

Now, you might be thinking all we did was eat and shop…but you’d be wrong. We worked very hard until 9:00 p.m. Here is a breakdown of the items created and the results of ten days of sewing.

  • 32 quilts
  • 3 table runners
  • 5 wall hangings
  • 1 Christmas tree skirt
  • 1 table topper
  • 3 Diamond Dot decorations
  • 3 pillowcases
  • 3 cosmetic bags

 

 

Every year, prior to quilt week, we have a “challenge” in which we utilize a different theme and donate to hospitals, veterans’ groups, homeless shelters, NICUs, etc. This year we made 17 quilts and a fleece blanket that are being donated to an organization called My Very Own Blanket that will be given to foster children.  https://www.myveryownblanket.org/ 

There you have it…10 days full of sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, ice cream, laughs with women whose friendships span fifty years…I’m one very blessed quilter!

      

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What is your favorite vacation spot to share with family or friends?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author at JMV Creative Enterprise | jrobertsauthor@yahoo.com | Website |  + posts

Born and raised in western Massachusetts, Jo-Ann Roberts was fascinated by America’s Old West and always felt she was destined to travel on a wagon train following the Oregon Trail. With her love of history and reading, she began reading historical romance during high school and college. Victoria Holt, Jude Deveraux, and Roseanne Bittner were among her favorites. Influenced by her father, she fell in love with John Wayne, James Garner, and her all-time favorite, James Stewart and grew up watching Wagon Train, Bonanza and Rawhide.
A firm believer in HEA with a healthy dose of realism, Jo-Ann strives to give her readers a sweet historical romance while imparting carefully researched historical facts, personalities, and experiences relative to the time period. Her romances take her readers back to a simpler time to escape the stress of modern life by living in a small town where families and friends help one another find love and happiness.
When she isn’t creating believable plots and relatable heroes and heroines, Jo-Ann enjoys spending time with her husband, children and grandson. She also enjoys baking, quilting and eating way too much chocolate.
After 38 years in public education in Connecticut and Maryland, she’s now calls North Carolina home.

29 thoughts on “Quilt Week 2024”

  1. What a beautiful purpose for your Quilt Week. I love Lancaster–my mom’s family is from there. She was raised Plain.

    I’ve been going to the mountains of Northeast Tennessee my whole life. That’s where my dad is from and where my parents retired.

    denise

  2. My mom grew up in the coal region of PA but her parents died young (her mom before she married my father and her dad when I was about 6 months old). Our visits to grandparents meant trips to Jamaica Plains (south Boston). Now I’m happy to visit anywhere I can visit a sibling or cousin (mine or my husband’s).

    Those quilts are gorgeous! Good on you for donating some of them to people in need. Foster children need all the support we can give them.

    • Welcome, Mary. Having gone to college in Boston, I definitely know about Jamaica Plains! Visiting family and reliving memories is always fun. Thanks for your comments about the quilts.

    • Welcome, and thanks for commenting. In addition to our group challenge, I make two quilts every year for the NICU at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem. My older grandson was born there…he was a preemie. So, to thank the nurses and doctors for their amazing dedication to the babies and families, the quilts are placed on the incubators then when the babies go home, the quilts go with them.

  5. I love that you take time to cherish your hobby of quilting, cherish your girlfriends, spoil yourself, and then give back of your talent. My favorite place to be is Wyoming. I dearly love the Big Horn Mountains.

    • Welcome, Kathy. Our time together is always so special. This year, for the first time in a long while, there were 10 of us. Lots of fun and laughter. Thanks for commenting. I hope you get a chance to go to Wyoming soon.

  6. Hey Jo-Ann! Love those quilts! And a beautiful place for a retreat! I’ve mentioned I’m from a family of quilters many times here! LOL And I’ve done a few quilting retreats with aunts, mom, and friends. Mainly on their farms or on the river! My mom has a nice two story house her and Dad built back in the ‘70s. And a friend of my aunt’s has a place down from Mom’s on the Suwannee River. They have retreats there ever January. My aunt is now doing retreats up in Sky Valley, GA. She has a group of ladies that get together a few times a year.

    Love hearing your stories about quilts! Many blessings!

  7. I enjoyed the Outer Banks last summer with my children and their cousins (all adults and one little). I would love to do that again. We rented a house and did several things together but also went our separate ways on some things. We stayed in Nags Head, NC.

    • Welcome, Naomi! We’ve been to the Outer Banks a few times since we live in North Carolina, and my daughter goes every year with a houseful of friends. It is so beautiful on the beach, and so family-friendly. Thanks for commenting.

    • Welcome, Debby! Thanks for your kind words. Giving back is something we’ve always done. When my grandson was born, he was a preemie. So, to honor him, the nurses, and the doctors, I make two quilts for the incubators at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem. When the babies leave, they bring the quilts with them. Thanks for commenting.

  9. What a great thing to do!! I love visiting family and friends on my vacations! I also like to go exploring and visiting museums. Actually, I’m up for anything, almost, just no malls!!

    • Welcome, Trudy. Thanks for your kind words. We do the same thing, visiting family and friends, and historic living museums (Williamsburg, Greenfield, Old Sturbridge Village). And I agree…no malls!

  10. How fun. I love that your week has a theme. I am a quilter also. It is one of my passions. Thanks for sharing about your week.

    • Welcome, Lori. Always happy to meet a fellow quilter. It’s amazing how many people come forward when I say “I’m a quilter.” So happy the craft is still going strong. Thanks for your comments.

  13. Wow how very generous and giving of you all and what Beautiful organizations you all do your Beautiful work for, you al are so Very Inspirational , that is so sweet of you. And you all have fun and enjoy it all. God Bless you all. My favorite place to go is to go spend some time in a cabin on the mountains of NM a nice little town called Cloudcroft it is really very pretty and very peaceful there. Have a great day and a great weekend. What a Beautiful and giving way to spend with your friends, God Bless you all.

    • Welcome, Alicia! Thanks for your kind comments about the quilts. It’s always a joy to spend time with these special women and do what we love. Your favorite place in NM sounds lovely and peaceful. I hope you get to enjoy it soon.

  14. What a wonderful way to spend your time. It is amazing how much you all accomplished in such a short period of time. You are lucky to have such a great group of friends.
    We don’t really have a favorite family acation spot. When the children were young, we explored as many places as we could taking advantage of where we were living at the time. Now that they are married and have their own families and jobs, we can’t manage vacations together. My husband and I still explore as much of the country/world as we can. On occasion, we do manage to travel with one of our children and their family. We enjoy going out West and will be heading that way again this Fall. There is so much to see.

    • Welcome, Patricia. I am very lucky indeed to have this very special group of friends. We always are surprised when we total up the number of projects at the end of the 10 days. P.S. Some years are more productive than others. Thanks for your comments.

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