Beautiful Quilts

 Hello Everyone,

I always encourage you to make the quilt your own—add your unique touch, reinterpret the pattern, and let it reflect your creativity. A pattern is just a starting point, not a rulebook! I was thrilled to receive these photos: one from a wonderful follower and another from a dear friend. Both quilts are beautiful reflections of their personal style and thoughtful craftsmanship.

This is my Calico Cottages pattern made by my friend, Judy.  She named the quilt English Cottages since she used the English Garden line by Laundry Basket Quilts. I'm so glad she's coming to my November retreat so I can see this quilt in person!

I love the backing fabric! It's like having a 2-sided quilt.

The following images are from Joan who made turned my Country Sampler pattern from 9" blocks to 18" blocks using her AccuQuilt dies. The ribbon border is striking and frames the blocks so nicely.

Look at those perfect points!

It brings me so much joy to receive pictures of your quilts. I truly understand the time, heart, and effort that each quilt demands, and I absolutely love seeing the beautiful work you’ve created.

Both patterns can be purchased HERE in my Etsy shop. 

A dear friend from high school and her partner are coming for dinner tonight, so today’s agenda is all about cooking and giving the cabin a good tidy-up. Honestly, if it weren’t for company, I’m not sure I’d ever bother to clean—nothing like a visit to spark some motivation!

Have a great weekend.

Soon,

Lynn

Catch Up Time

 Hello Everyone,

It may feel like I’ve vanished from the map, but summer has swept me up in a flurry of projects. Between prepping fabric for upcoming retreats, assembling kits, volunteering, writing patterns, and starting each morning with a swim, the days have flown by.

One recent delight: Marcus Fabrics released a beautiful new line by Dolores Smith called Franklin House. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to audition those prints for my upcoming design, Cozy Country Christmas. I'm in the midst of writing the pattern now, and the fabric is adding an entirely different look to the pattern.  

I sent the image to a friend to get her thoughts.  She suggested it would be a quilt that you could put on display all through the entire Winter season. I may have to change the name of the pattern to Cozy Winter.  Are there any thoughts out in blogland for a pattern name?

I think the quilt and fabric radiate a quiet, low-volume elegance that’s both subtle and striking. My cuts from the Franklin House line are already on their way from Marcus Fabrics in New York—can’t wait to get my hands on them. I may not have the time to stitch the full quilt just yet, but I’m eager to piece together a few blocks and start exploring how it all comes together. It’s like a gentle whisper of the full story taking shape, one block at a time.

On another note, as if I don't have enough to do, I started volunteering at Independence Hall on Tuesday and Thursday to help with the organization of the upcoming flea market the first weekend in August.  This is the hall where my guild meets every Monday throughout the year.  The hall is the old Hazel Fischer School which was given to the community of Arnold.  The hall is in desperate need of a new roof to the tune of $100,000.  Every year the Hall holds a HUGE flea market, and the monies collected sustain the Hall through the year.

This is the most organized flea market I've ever seen!  The Hall has quite a few rooms which are going to be filled with children's toys and clothing, women's clothing, men's clothing, collectibles, books and games, furniture, Christmas items, tools.....you name it.  Different people are in charge of each room.  I've been volunteering in the craft/sewing, home goods room.  My superpower is folding fabric, so that's what I do.  I'll take a picture of my progress today.  This is a picture of Karen's area showcasing sets of dishes.  Great care is taken in each area showcasing the items for sale.

A dear friend from high school is in town, and she and her partner are joining us for dinner tomorrow evening, along with another longtime friend Kathy, from Livermore who has a cabin nearby. We went to dinner last night at Lake Alpine Lodge with Kathy and it felt like no time had passed. We never run out of things to talk about. Our sons grew up together and our friendship spans more than 40 years. This week promises to be rich with stories, laughter, and plenty of reminiscing, I guess like a verbal scrapbook of memories.

Soon,

Lynn

Gentry's Mill Month #4 Tutorial

 Hello Everyone,

I just posted the tutorial for Month #4 in Google Docs.  You can download and print the tutorial HERE.

My Gentry's Mill quilt has been traveling around the country and it's down at the post office waiting to be picked up and return home.

The quilt has been gone forever!

I can't believe I quilted around every cameo on the borders.

On another note, we attended our grandson's high school graduation last Friday in Livermore.  In the blink of an eye, Jess traveled from pre-school graduation........

.....to High School graduation.  He once had an angelic glow, but while that has faded, his warmth and kindness remain. He's still an incredible kid/young man and is a wonderful human, now with a playful, mischievous streak that keeps the whole family on their toes.  

This August, he’s heading to Feather River Junior College, where he plans to earn a degree in Ag Mechanics, followed by a degree in Ranch Management. With his passion for welding, he’s spending the summer working as a welder, gaining valuable hands-on experience. He also has his sights set on joining the college’s rodeo team. His hard work and dedication have earned him two scholarships—one from the Livermore Rodeo Association and another from the Alameda County Farm Bureau. Exciting times ahead!

His mom—our daughter-in-law—put together an incredible slideshow for the graduation party on Saturday. Kicking things off with the first song "Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" set the perfect tone—what a fun and fitting choice!  Livermore High is known as 'Cowboy Nation'. 

At just three years old, he earned his first—and only—belt buckle as the fastest stick pony rider in the West. All these years later, he still wears it proudly, and now, it finally fits.

The college is small, and the dorms filled up in just two days. Luckily, there's an RV park half a mile from campus, so he bought a trailer and will be moving it there soon. Whether or not he knows how to cook is still up for debate, but one thing's for sure—life is about to get interesting!

We couldn't be prouder of him and are excited to see the incredible journey life has in store for him.

Soon,

Lynn

Christmas in June

 Hello Everyone,

I've been sequestering myself in front on my computer and in my sewing room working on projects.  At my request, Marcus Fabrics sent me sample yardage of Cozy Christmas by Katie Solberg from Pieceful Gathering Designs. I sat down with my EQ software and came up with a design that I am calling Cozy Country Christmas.

I LOVE the plaid in the line and wanted to showcase it throughout the design. 

The entire line is just so attractive!

I started making blocks and I'm getting a nice little pile of them done while listening to Audible books while testing out my pattern.  I'm really happy with these cute blocks!

This throw quilt will be a nice addition to the couch, bringing a festive touch of Christmas cheer to the great room.

I'll be placing an order for this line so I can make kits available for my retreats.  Whatever kits are leftover will go into my Etsy shop.

On another note, it's Prom season around the country.  Our grandson Kade, and his sweet girlfriend went together. 

What's a boy to do when his girlfriend didn't want to get her heels dirty?  You just scoop her up and carry her to the car of course!

Our other grandson, Jess, went to the prom stag with a group of his FFA friends.  A man/boy and his truck form a very tight bond.

I love this picture of the FFA boys on the boat out in San Francisco Bay.  Did you read the book Boys in the Boat?  I highly recommend it.

I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial weekend.  We celebrated with a little dinner party with some friends.  

Our small mountain community has now been invaded by the Summer People.  The grocery store runs out of food, and we know to shop early in the week.

Memorial weekend also means our HOA pool opens up for the season.  My morning routine of lap swimming for an hour followed by 45 minutes of water aerobics started on Tuesday. The 7:15am early bird gets the pool all to themselves.  These old muscles didn't know what happened to them yesterday!

Soon,

Lynn

Prairie Flower

 Hello Everyone,

My friend Sharon sent me pictures of her fabulous Prairie Flower quilt which won Best of Show at the Glenn County Fair in California!

Sharon also sent me pictures of her quilt label which made me laugh!

I first met Sharon in November 2017 while working as a vendor at a quilt show in Chico, CA. She and her daughter Kate stopped by my booth, and Sharon joked that she just wanted to pull up an armchair and stay there all day. That moment sparked a wonderful friendship that has lasted ever since! Here are some pictures of my booth from the show in Chico.

Now, Sharon and her two amazing and talented daughters attend my retreats every Fall.  What fun we've had together with Sharon and the girls.  I'll get to see them again this November.

Sharon's Best of Show award is well deserved as I know the level of effort it takes to make this quilt with the 300 leaves and petals! 

I'm truly grateful that Sharon and her daughters have become part of the Sew'n Wild Oaks family. Their presence brings such warmth, happiness and joy wherever they go.

Soon,

Lynn   

The pattern for Prairie Flower is available HERE in my Etsy shop.

My Happy Place

 Hello Everyone,

Yesterday I put all quilting aside and we headed to Yosemite for the day which is only 2 hours away from us.  The view of Bridal Veil Falls with Half Dome in the distance is always spectacular from the Tunnel View location.

El Capitan is always impressive.  For the life of me, I will never understand how or why climbers want to spend the night perched on the face of it suspended by a few cables then climb to the top. 

The road to Glacier Point just opened up for the season for a spectacular view of Half Dome and two the waterfalls.  This is where we stopped to enjoy our bagged lunch.  It was a very quiet lunch while we absorbed the beauty of our spot. 

Yosemite Falls was roaring its way down to the Merced River.  Mazey is such a good little traveler, and we are constantly stopping so she can sniff her way through the park.  She made so many new friends yesterday as many people asked if they could give her some love. 

The closer we walked to the fall, the louder the roar of the water and the temperature dropped significantly.

Then we took a slight detour and drove to Hetch Hetchy reservoir and saw the O'Shaughnessy dam.  This is an engineering marvel to transport this water to the San Francisco area. 

It was on one of those little side trips when you experience serendipity and we ended up at Evergreen Lodge for a gourmet dinner.......out in the middle of nowhere!

Today it's back to quilting and designing.  I've been working on my newest design called Simply Elegant Red. The design features the large floral print in Gentry's Mill.  It is only 9 blocks so it's a nice size for a lap quilt. I have enough bolts of the fabric lined up in my hallway to make kits.  Simply Elegant Blue is next.

There are times when Mr. Joe knows that I've been working too hard and he needs to get me out of the cabin so I can focus my view farther away than my sewing machine at the end of my nose.  Yesterday was a much-needed break.

Soon,

Lynn

My Hearthstone Room

 Hello Everyone,

Today was the day I decided it was time to remove the flannel sheets.  Before I knew it, one thing led to another, and the entire bedroom was cleaned and the quilts changed around.  I'm calling it my Hearthstone room as everything you see has been made using my Hearthstone fabric line.   

SPRING FROLIC is at the foot of the bed.  LAUREL RIDGE, the 2025 BOM for The Quilt Show is on the wall along with the little DOUBLE DUTCH TREAT table topper.  EMILIE ELIZABETH is over the bed, made and gifted to me by my dear, dear friend Deborah from Michigan. BRIDLE PATH is on the bed.  

This is the first time I've had them all in the same room together and they are getting along nicely!

When I first started quilting which seems as though it was back in the Stone Age, I wanted to learn how to make quilts so I could decorate my home in beautiful quilts. After all of these years, I making my dream come alive.

Every room in the cabin is filled with quilts which I rotate on a regular basis. I wanted our bedroom to be more 'Spring-like' so that started this entire cleaning process today.  I wish I could say it feels like Spring, but it's a bit chilly and dripping outside and we have a fire going in the great room to take the chill off.  

Speaking of fabric lines, I just sent off a presentation for a new line to Marcus Fabrics this morning.  Will it work in my Heathstone room......inquiring minds want to know?  Stay tuned and find out.

Soon,

Lynn

Gentry's Mill Tutorial Month #3

 Hello Everyone,

I'm a couple of days late in posting.....sorry.....the retreat took high priority.  The tutorial for Month #3 is now available for download HERE.

This is an attractive and easy block to make, and you will zip right through making four of them.

Make sure you starch your fabrics first, as you will be cutting the center section on the bias.  I know, it's a cardinal no-no, but you do what you have to do to make the block look good.

I'm knee deep in the design of a new fabric line.  If all goes well, it should be rolled out to the Marcus sales staff in the Fall of 2025.  I really have to get my act together and totally focus on the designs for the fabric and the quilt.  There is a lot of back and forth between the graphic artists at Marcus and me to make sure the new line is the bees knees or the cat's pajamas.  No, there aren't any insects or cats in my next design!  How did those phrases every get started? 

Two large boxes and 14 bolts of fabric were delivered to the cabin yesterday.  I have an idea for a new design using Gentry's Mill fabrics. I want to showcase the large floral.  I think it is going to be an easy and classic design. 

I hope you have an enjoyable weekend. 

Soon,

Lynn