A NOTE FROM ME
Hey Caroline. Tomorrow is forecast to hit 90 degrees on the second of October, and then Saturday shows up in a sweater with a bad attitude. Dig out the rain jacket. This too shall pass.
THIS WEEKEND'S WEATHER
A hot Friday, then a real change of seasons.
Friday | High 90, Low 61. Partly sunny and hot, with a couple of showers possible.
Saturday | High 64, Low 59. Cooler, with showers early and steadier rain later.
Sunday | High 66, Low 57. Cloudy and rainy.
GOOD NEWS: A QUILT, A BIG MACHINE, AND 100,000 VIEWS
Two years ago this September, a former scientist named Kathie Belrose-Ramey opened a quilting studio in Milford. Now she's celebrating the anniversary of Stitch It Together, plus one video that 100,000 people watched.
Photo courtesy of Stitch It Together.
She came to quilting by accident. She picked it up to have something in common with her mother-in-law, and it turned out she loved it. Now she rents out time on longarm machines, and says she's one of a handful of businesses in all of Virginia that does. If you're new to this, a longarm is a big sewing machine on a frame seven to twelve feet long that holds a quilt's three layers flat, so you glide the machine over the quilt instead of shoving a heavy one through a home machine. Add automation and it stitches out feathers and geometric patterns. A setup like that runs $20,000 or more and needs a room of its own, so a lot of quilters hand their finished tops to someone else for the last step. At Stitch It Together, three 12 foot frames mean makers can finish the whole quilt themselves, with lessons, group classes, and hands on rentals to get them there.
The video that took off was simple: a renter rolling her quilt off the frame and seeing it finished for the first time. "That mix of excitement, pride, and surprise," Kathie says. It brought in more than 300 new Facebook followers. "Being seen is the hardest part."
Photo courtesy of Stitch It Together.
The studio itself used to be a dark concrete storage and machine shop. She and her husband, Ken, spent about six months last summer and fall turning it into a bright space with new floors, heating and air conditioning, a kitchen area, and an office.
Stitch It Together, LLC, 16739 New Baltimore Rd., Milford. Phone 540 840 2884. By appointment only. (Facebook)
Photo courtesy of Stitch It Together.
THIS WEEKEND IN CAROLINE
Sat., 9am to 1pm: Bowling Green Farmers' Market, Main St. This Saturday and Oct. 10 are the last two of the season. (link)
Fri., 3 to 7pm: Rich Earth Farm Farmers' Market, 17013 New Baltimore Rd., Milford. Best bet for the hottest, driest day. (link)
Sat., 10am to 2pm: Historic Port Royal Museum & School open, Port Royal. A good rainy-day hour with little ones. (link)
Sat.: Port Royal Pirate Festival, Port Royal Town Green. No schedule is posted yet, so check the town's page before you load the car. (link)
Through Sun., Oct. 4: Final day of the State Fair of Virginia, 13191 Dawn Blvd., Doswell. Sunday looks wet, so plan around the showers. (link)
Next Thu., Oct. 8, 6:30 to 8pm (doors at 6): Community meeting and public discussion on data centers, with regional groups tabling information, at St. John's Baptist Church, 17080 South River Rd., Woodford. Per the Rappahannock Group Sierra Club's Facebook post and event page, speakers include Tim Cywinski, communications director for the Virginia Sierra Club, Elena Schlossberg, director of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, and regional and local experts. Free and open to the public, with refreshments. Questions: Rappahannock Group Sierra Club, [email protected]. This starts at the same time as the Reedy Church District community meeting that evening (see At the County).
SCHOOL & LIBRARY
Deadline Sunday, Oct. 4, 11:59pm: Parks & Rec winter youth basketball registration closes for the two youngest divisions, Little Ballers (ages 5 to 7) and Girls Little Ballers (ages 7 to 9). It's $45, and the season runs Nov. 7 to Dec. 19 at the Community Services Center gym in Milford. Older divisions have until Nov. 23. (register)
Heads up for your calendar: Oct. 9 is a teacher workday and Oct. 12 is a holiday, so students get a four-day weekend. The first quarter ends Oct. 8. All library branches are closed Oct. 12. (CCPS calendar)
Story times keep rolling next week: Mother Goose Tuesday at 10am in Ladysmith, and story time Wednesday at 10am at Dawn. The Banned Books Silent Read-In is Tuesday, Oct. 6, 4 to 5:30pm at the Bowling Green branch. (carolinelibrary.org)
AT THE COUNTY
The Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 6pm in the Community Services Center Auditorium in Milford. Before that, Supervisor Reginald Underwood hosts a Reedy Church District community meeting Thursday, Oct. 8 at 6:30pm at Second Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 31220 Old Dawn Rd. The agenda is an update on the Dawn Community Center, plus questions. Note that it starts at the same time as the Woodford community meeting listed under This Weekend in Caroline. (county news flash, meetings calendar)
HELP & NEEDS
Sat., Oct. 3, 9am to 2pm: Upper Caroline Volunteer Fire Department community yard sale, Woodford. Vendor tables are $25 while they last. (link)
Fri., Oct. 9, 3 to 7pm, and Sat., Oct. 10, 9am: Caroline County Garden Club Native Plant Sale, a scholarship fundraiser, 17013 New Baltimore Rd., Milford. (link)
ON THE BALLOT
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls open 6am to 7pm. Voter registration and mail ballot request deadlines are both Friday, Oct. 23. Early voting is underway in the Annex behind the Administration Building, 212 N. Main St., Bowling Green: weekdays 9 to 5 through Oct. 31, plus Sundays Oct. 18 and 25 (11 to 4) and Saturdays Oct. 24 and 31 (9 to 5). Caroline's ballot has the U.S. Senate, U.S. House (7th District), three state constitutional amendments, and town council seats in Bowling Green and Port Royal. Sample ballots and candidate lists: Caroline General Registrar and Virginia Department of Elections.
ONE FUN FACT ABOUT CAROLINE
Caroline County was established in 1728 and named for Caroline of Ansbach, queen consort of King George II. It was carved out of parts of Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties, which makes us one of Virginia's older localities.
That's all for this week. Thanks for reading.
Did we miss something, or is there an event, a person, or a bit of good news you think belongs in the next issue? Email [email protected] or send a message to our Facebook page, The Caroline Ledger. I read everything, even when I can't fit it all in.