Sunday, January 31, 2016

Country Charmer Finish

Hello Everyone,
 
I love to receive emails and pictures of quilts finished by you, my readers.  I adore seeing what changes you've made to patterns and how you interpret my designs.
 
Sharon, sent me a picture of her outstanding Country Charmer.  If you look closely, you will see lots of plaid!!!
 


It makes my day when I get emails like this. 

"Well here it is... as you can see I enlarged it slightly as I want to hang it during the Christmas season and want it to fill a large wall area.  Thank you so much for this lovely pattern and the fabulous detailed instructions and perfect page of block piece placement.  You make the construction of this quilt so much easier than could otherwise be"



Sharon, I LOVE your quilt.  Well done from the fabric selection to the final borders.  Thank you so much for making my pattern and sending me pictures of your gorgeous quilt.

Soon,
Lynn

P.S.  I have an extensive tutorial on my blog showing you step by step how to make this quilt.  Click HERE for the tutorial.  Click HERE if you are interested in purchasing the pattern.  I am also teaching a Country Charmer class at Cloth and Quilts in Turlock on February 16, 2016.  There are a few openings available.  Check out the class HERE.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Sew'n Wild Oaks Class Was in Session

Hello Everyone,
 
Here is a mini quilt show this morning brought to you by "my girls" the finishers.  Nancy brought in her quilted Country Corners quilt.  This quilt is outstanding!
 

Flashback to last October to the last night of my retreat at Snowflake Lodge.  Nancy just took the last stitch, and pressed the last seam of this beauty.  She was so done and tired at this point in time. The free directions for the Country Corner blocks are located HERE.  Well done!


Another outstanding creation is Mary's block of the month beauty by Pam Buda for Marcus Fabrics.  The next time you see this one, it will be beautifully quilted and bound.  Gorgeous!


Another flash back to October when Mary was only this far along on her quilt.

 
Patty finished her adorable, cuddly little snowman quilt.  She also worked on this quilt at the retreat.


Pat created an adorable Halloween treasure by Vern Mosquera.  Love the fabric in the broom.

 
Continuing with our Halloween theme, Patty brought in a small, embroidered wall hanging.
 


Nancy loves her Strip 'n Sew made by Mr. Joe.  She keeps all of her strips organized while making my Heartfire quilt.



Marti has been doing some grape stomping.  She is almost finished with Once Upon a Vine.


Isabelle's cornucopia is filled with her colorful fruits, grapes and leaves for Harvest of Hope.


Barbara is working on a dramatic Bargello quilt.

 
 Here is her key to keep her on track.


The pattern is in this book which is available HERE at the shop.


Now we have a parade of Lil' Orphan Scrappy blocks.  This beautiful grouping belongs to Wendy.


This block belongs to Doris.


Mary is making the blocks from my BOM program.


Gail is having a great time selecting her fabrics for her personalized blocks.  Great combinations.


We also have Paula working on her Lucy Boston block.  I learned a whole new way to assemble the pieces together.  Once I refine the technique, I will share it with you.


I'll leave today with this caption on Barbara's shirt.


My girls are the BEST!

Soon,
Lynn

Thursday, January 28, 2016

The New Heritage Quilt

 
Hello Everyone,
 
It's good to be back to blogging.  Thank you all so much for your out pouring of sympathy for my sisters loss of her husband.  It's been a very busy time over the past few weeks, and now it's time to get back to quilting.
 
Boxes of fabrics have been arriving on my doorstep.  I only had time to stare at them wistfully until this week, when I dug in and started creating.
 


For those of you who are Judie Rothermel fans, you are going to love the new Macie's Journal line by Marcus Fabrics which will start arriving in quilt shops in March.

 
I have always told you that I'm a scrappy quilter.  For the most part that is true.  But, this time I'm focusing on only part of the line.  My focus is going to be this selection below.
 


I started making some Log Cabins.  I've always loved Log Cabin blocks yet I haven't used them in any of my designs.  They are going to be prominently featured in this quilt.


 If you look closely at the next two blocks, they should look familiar to you.


They are Country Charmer blocks.  I set them on point in the quilt for an entirely different look.


This is what was tacked on my design wall by the end of the day.  I really like what I'm seeing so far.  Just look at all of the wonderful space I can fill with beautiful machine quilting!  I'm going to call this quilt Heritage.  I put my list of fabric requirements together, and we are placing our order for this fabric today. 


Two of my least favorite aspects of quilting are sewing the individual blocks together into rows and putting on the border.  With this quilt, I'm going to assemble the rows together diagonally as I go so I don't have that mundane task left for the end. That is going to make me a happy camper.
 
Again thank you all so much for helping Gail through this tough time in her life.  Last Sunday, we had an outpouring of love from the quilting community gathered here at our home. We had food, laughter, and hugs. We have never entertained so many people in our home at the same time.  Quilters poured into our house in droves. We will be forever grateful to all of you.
 
Soon,
Lynn




Monday, January 18, 2016

Checkerberry Class Was In Session....Twice

Hello Everyone,
 
We've been building snowmen in the meadow......I mean classroom at In Between Stitches.  It all begins with a cute little block set in the tummy.
 


 
This is a collage of just some of the miniature blocks made during my two Checkerberry classes this week.  All so different and all just "stinkin" cute!
 

 
This is a good example of all the components that go into the making of this block.  Double flying geese, regular flying geese, HST and squares.  Don't go running from the room when I tell you the finished size of the double flying geese is 3/4" x 1-1/2".  The girls were learning precision quilting.  Everyone survived the class and no one threw a snowball at the teacher.
 

 
Mary is going to make her little snowman out of wool and attach the parts and pieces with a blanket stitch. Excellent idea!  He is going to be so warm and toasty he will melt our hearts.
 

 
We put some of the girl's applique parts and pieces out on the background to see what they looked like.
 

Then we selected fabrics for the flange, checkerboard, and outer border.



Carol's stripe will make the perfect flange!


Donna Jo is making a wall hanging for Winter with her "Frozen" color scheme.

 

Jollyne picked the pattern up at the shop along with her kit on Thursday.  She brought her assembled pillow top to class on Saturday! 

 
Kathy brought her finished Checkerberry into the shop for me to see last Monday.  Just look at her snowman throwing a snowball.  Such a nice touch to her wall hanging.
 

In passing.......Gail's husband Bill passed away at home early Sunday morning.  Please continue to send prayers her way as she begins a new chapter in her life.  She will have an enormous amount of support and love of family and friends.  She also loves her "quilting" family and hopes to see everyone soon.

I will be gone from the blog for about a week as I will be helping Gail make preparations for Bill's funeral and gathering of friends and family. Then look out world, both of us will be returning with many projects and fun things to inspire you.

Soon,
Lynn

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Put on Your Sunday Best

Hello Everyone,
 
Just a quick post before I head out of the door to my Checkerberry class this morning.  I wanted to show you my progress on Walk in the Park by Kim Diehl.
 

I stitched more frames to the blocks after this picture was taken.  Now my design wall doesn't look quite so wonky.  If I had a brain in my head, I would stop making blocks right about now and call it a wrap in the block department.  But, the blocks are so easy and so much fun, I want to keep going.  Plus, this quilt would look wonderful in one of my guest rooms.

 
This is a picture of the download for this FREE pattern by Kim Diehl HERE.  I'm using Sunday Best fabric for my quilt.  The original quilt uses an older line which is very similar in color.  At night I've been working on the applique portion.  The pieces are large and it goes quickly except for all of the little berries!
 



On another note, Gail's husband is leaving the hospital today under Hospice Care.  He will be much more comfortable at home with Gail and the kitties.  She has been so devoted sitting by his bedside in the hospital day after day for weeks.  You couldn't have a better friend, sister or wife. 

Soon,
Lynn

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Sew'n Wild Oaks Class was in Session

Hello Everyone,
 
Yesterday my "girls" gathered in the classroom at In Between Stitches to share our love of quilting.
Carol is taking my Checkerberry class tomorrow.  In preparation for the class, she decided to make his tummy.  After seeing the perfection in this 5" block, I think she could teach the class! 
 


Jeanne added to her pile of blocks for Lil' Orphan Scrappy.


Here are the blocks she stitched together yesterday.  I have a bell that I ring in class when someone finishes a block, or something significant.  My arm is sore from ringing the bell for everyone!


Suzanne has all of her blocks completed for Once Upon a Vine.  My guess is the next time you see this quilt, it will all be together, and the bell will be ringing off the hook.

 
Lynette is totally hooked on Lucy Boston blocks.


She is making seasonal table runners.  Fall is almost done, Christmas is almost done.....now she's looking to Easter for her next set of three blocks.


Jan made a beautiful block for Grammy Squares.  She finds the blocks addicting too.


Great way to organize her strips.


Barbara combined some leftover blocks from Country Corners, and machine quilted a table runner during class.  This is a perfect example of what to do with leftover blocks.  Never give up on them.  Turn them into something beautiful to decorate your home.


Kaye is working on her little cuties for, For the Love of Baskets. She has little piles of pieces ready to be sewn together.  She makes HST 8 at a time, enough for two baskets.  This is a great use of all your leftover scraps.  It is fun to make up the basket combinations.

 
What more can I say about my girls that I haven't already said?  They are the most supportive group of women that I feel privileged to call friends.  Time spent with you is golden.
 
Soon,
Lynn