Leaf Peepers

Hello Everyone,

Busy days here at Wilder's Last Resort.  I raked up all of my leaves and stitched them all together for my new "Leaf Peepers" pattern.  Borders will be the next order of business once I figure out what I'm going to do. 

The majority of the leaves are made with "October Morning" fabric by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass Fabrics.  The setting squares are from Kim's "Wit and Wisdom" fabric line.  I have the leaf part of the pattern written which was the hardest part.  Now I have to finish the rest of it.

I'm am so ready for Fall.  I just want to put up the Christmas tree and write this year off.

More bears!  While we were eating lunch on the deck yesterday, Mazey sounded the bear alarm.  We looked over at our neighbor's cabin, and there was a bear right by their front door.  I didn't have my phone, so I don't have a picture of that one......which was a BIG one.   While we were eating dinner, the furry bear alarm went off again. I know I'm a good cook, but dinner didn't smell THAT good! I was ready this time, and had my phone with me when this little guy walked by.

The number of bears in our area has made a huge impact on my walking routine. Now we drive down to the track at the elementary school to get in our walk and Mazey's run.  We feel a bit safer there.

What is so surprising about the bears is they can sneak up on you.  For something so big, they are so quiet. Without Mazey, we probably wouldn't know they were around.  We have to walk up to our detached garage to get to our car.  I just might be housebound, social distancing, and sheltering in place forever!

Soon,
Lynn

Crossing the Pond Journey

Hello Everyone,

Here's just a little teaser to show you a block from Crossing the Pond which I exported from the project in EQ8.

Here's that same block with the sashing added in EQ.  I've been in my sewing room making lots of quilting components and laying them on a block layout sheet.  This block contains 2 sizes of half square triangles, and Flying Geese.  Once I get a lot of components made and trimmed,  I sit back and play with the components to see what looks the best together.  Once I'm satisfied with my color combinations and placement, I'll stitch the block together.   The representation of the block in EQ, is a good indication of what the final block will look like.  Once I get it sewn together, I will show them side by side.

I have piles of components sitting on my cutting table.  The ceiling fan is right above the table.....needless to say, the components sometimes go sailing off the table onto the floor.

I'm working on the pattern writing a minimum of an hour a day so I don't have a huge, daunting chore upon completion of the quilt.

On a serious note, I cancelled my Sew'n Wild Oaks quilting retreat scheduled for August.  Snowflake Lodge hasn't been able to reopen yet, and they don't know when they will.  The Lodge was unable to accommodate my large group, and maintain the social distancing requirements mandated by the state.  I will miss seeing all of "my girls".  After I sent out the email, I received several calls and heartfelt responses about what the retreat means to them.

My October retreat is still hanging in the balance due to the spike of cases in California.  I guess we were all feeling a bit complacent about the virus.  We all want this virus to be in our rearview mirror, but it's not going to get there if we don't remain vigilant. 

I'll just sit in my sewing room and maintain my social distancing from everyone except Mazey and Mr. Joe.  I wish someone would inform the bears about distancing themselves!

Soon,

Lynn

Journey to America

 Hello Everyone,

Yesterday was a red letter kind of day.  A box arrived from Marcus Fabrics containing the entire Journey to America fabric line by Judie Rothermel.  The line commemorates the 400th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower, and the beginning of the Plymouth Colony.  The collection was created in a collaboration with the Old Sturbridge Village Museum.

When I saw the fabric on the Marcus website, I downloaded all of the images and started working on a new design in EQ8 software.  I have a good working history with Marcus Fabrics, so I felt very comfortable sending them my new design.  

This fabric will be the backing.  Since my background is Geography and Cartography, this is right in my quilting wheelhouse.  I'm going to name my new design "Crossing the Pond".

This sweet little notecard was included in the box.  Such a nice, personal touch.

I can't comprehend the courage of those intrepid 102 Pilgrims who set sail aboard the Mayflower.  Only 53 survived the trip.  Just four of the 53 were adult women.

This is going to be a special quilt, dedicated to those brave souls on the Mayflower.  This quilt is going to be a journey for me, and I'm bringing all of you along for the voyage.  If you read between the lines, you know that means it's going to be intricate, and a quilt filled with lots of little quilting components.  There might be times that I get stuck in the doldrums, and other times when it's smooth sailing along the journey.

The ship set sail yesterday with the first cutting of the cloth.  I'll be working on it in between several other projects.  Wish me luck with time management, and may the wind fill my sails.

Bon voyage,
Lynn

Leaves are Falling

Hello Everyone,

Now here is a nice pile of leaves that I didn't mind raking!

I love the way the rake matches the turquoise in the leaves.  How do you like the new shingles on the wishing well?  Maybe it will start a trend.

Mazey is our little helper when we are out in the yard.  She also acts as our "bear" early warning system.  She barks and acts differently when the scent of bear is in the air.  We've learned to pay attention, and heed her warning signal.

I'll start sewing the blocks together today once I trim them to 5-1/2".  They are small, yet mighty in numbers when grouped together.  The fabric is called October Morning by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass & Co.

It's going to be a hot day up here in the mountains.  I open up the doors and windows early to encourage the cooler air to come inside and stay for awhile.  We are so lucky that it cools off at night, and makes for good sleeping.

We will fill up Mazey's pool for her today so she can splash around like a little kid. Maybe I'll join her.....then again maybe not.

Soon,
Lynn

Raking Leaves

Hello Everyone,

I've been adding to my pile of leaves for my new Leaf Peeper quilt.

Now this is a pile of leaves that I wouldn't mind raking!  The fabric is October Morning by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass & Co.

Yet again, another visitor during dinner.  The bear walked up out of the woods and into our yard yesterday.  This is the second time this week we've been visited by a bear.  It was not afraid of us at all, but it didn't enjoy hearing Mazey's barking.

This bear is much darker than our usual cinnamon-colored bear.  Not 20 minutes before this one arrived, Mr. Joe and I were discussing the fact that there are so many vacationers, the bears have probably headed up to the high country.  We were both wrong.

Now if he or she had moved over two feet into the sunlight, this would have been a great picture.  After it headed back into the woods, it circled around and came back five minutes later.

As I sit here and write this post, three deer just strolled by.  Two out of the three were sporting quite a rack on them.  There are times when I feel as though we live in a game reserve.  We are always on the lookout for something with fur or hair moving across the lot.  We aren't afraid, but we are cautious.

Maybe I'll just stay indoors today and make more leaves.

Soon,
Game Warden Lynn

Leaf Peepers

Hello Everyone,

Are you wondering where I've been for the past week?  Well, I've been getting ready to spend some time with friends, while taking a quilting break.  It gets pretty intense during my Madam Ambassador months for Henry Glass & Co., and I need a few days to step back from the computer and the sewing machine.

But then I couldn't help myself when my fabric order arrived from In Between Stitches.  The fabric line is called, "October Morning" by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass & Co. This line is going to go fast!

The setting squares are from a different Kim Diehl line.  It gives this quilt a real homespun look.

I think this is going to make a nice quilt to wrap myself up in this Fall, on the couch with a good book, during a rainstorm in front of the fire.

Since I have Fall and Christmas on the brain, I just wanted to let you know that In Between Stitches in Livermore, CA is making more Christmas Ribbons kits.  Cloth and Quilts in Hilmar, CA has just a few kits left.  Once the fabric is gone.....that's it folks!

I forgot to let you know my Country Courthouse quilt arrived safely in France for her QuiltMania photo shoot.  She didn't do any extra sightseeing along the way.  She went directly to where she needed to be.

More time with friends today.  I'm sure the Social Distancing Police aren't happy with me right now.  Personally, I don't care!

Soon,
Lynn  

Mountain Musings

Hello Everyone,

My time at the long arm is over!  Christmas Ribbons is now quilted and I'm working on the binding.

I absolutely love the curved cross-hatching rulers that I bought from Linda, at The Quilted Pineapple. They are going to add a whole new dimension to my machine quilting.  I'm looking forward to experimenting with them.

The little pebbles took me a long, long time to quilt.

Now on another note.  Early last evening we took Mazey for her walk.  We stopped at our next door neighbors on our way home for a glass of wine and conversation.  Adele looked over at our cabin and saw Simone the Cinnamon Bear.  Adele grabbed her phone and started taking pictures.

We watched Simone drag herself up about 12 feet to get to the deck, and the bird feeder.  She looked like me when I try to hoist myself up and out of the pool! I could feel her pain.  I guess we could have told her to walk around to the end of the deck and take the stairs.  But we don't want to make this too easy for her.  (That blue thing in the picture is Mazey's wading pool/bathtub.)

Simone walked around on the deck and looked in the kitchen and dining room windows.  Mazey was with us on the deck, and we were so surprised that she didn't bark very much.  She seemed to be just as intrigued as we all were.  Simone knew we were there, and wasn't at all concerned with us.

She then prepared for her dismount. Doesn't she look like a little kid dressed in a bear suit?  She is pretty small to be on her own and fending for herself.

We had to give her low marks as she used a tree to help with the dismount.  She just latched her claws into the tree and shimmied down.

Then she scampered off into the forest.

Let me tell you, it wasn't a quiet walk back to our cabin in the dark.  We sang, and made a lot of noise just in case she was still around.  Hearing Mr. Joe sing would send anyone running!

Soon,
Lynn

Machine Quilting

Hello Everyone,

I'm almost done with machine quilting Christmas Ribbons. I'm down to the bottom row, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm quilting circles in each of the 36 sashing areas.  The circles are taking me FOREVER!  After quilting for several hours, I'm seeing polka dots before my eyes.  I can't wait to get this quilt off of the frame so I can see the overall look.  The throat space on my long arm is only 16", so I'm constantly rolling the quilt back and forth to quilt an entire block.  The 10" block is on point, so that takes up much more room in the quilting area.

I've been at the machine for only about four hours a day.  During the rest of the time, I'm pattern writing or piecing, or doing all of the daily chores around the house, filling Etsy orders, and working on accounting.  There is always something that needs to be done.

Today, I really need to spend some time cleaning my sewing room.  Overtime, it just gets to be so unorganized that I can't stand it.  I'm at that point where I need to stop creating, and start cleaning, so I can continue to create in a more organized environment.  So, if I don't get this quilt finished soon, it means that I have a very tidy sewing room.

Soon,
Lynn

Lovey Dovey Flimsy

Hello Everyone,

It's been a busy week here at Wilder's Last Resort.  Lovey Dovey is now a flimsy and reading to be loaded on my longarm.

I think this is a sweet, little wallhanging.  It's only 31" x 31" and fits out on my front porch perfectly. Anni Downs designed the fabric called, "On the 12th Day" for Henry Glass & Co.  Each triple Churn Dash block has a fussy cut center in the 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" block.  It's pretty tiny so you have to get up very close to see it.

 
I've been machine quilting Christmas Ribbons and should be able to finish it this weekend if I really work at it.  There is a lot of ruler work, and it takes me forever!  With all of the bears walking around our area, I've been quilting with the door closed instead of wide open.  This winter it was too cold to machine quilt out in my garage, now it's too hot to machine quilt.  It makes me sound like Goldilocks.  I would have loved to have the big door wide open, but I didn't want to invite any unwanted furry visitors inside to inspect my machine quilting.

Soon,
Lynn

Sew'n Wild Oaks Class Wasn't in Session

Hello Everyone,

Those of you who have been following my blog know that every month I post pictures from my Sew'n Wild Oaks class at In Between Stitches.  Well, we haven't been able to meet since the beginning of March.  I sent an email to the girls, and asked them to send me photos of what they been working on during their shelter in place.  My girls have been busy and productive.

Laurie has been pattern testing my Hucklerberry Hill pattern.  Her wall hanging is so beautiful that now I want to finish mine, and get the pattern completed.  Just give me 40 more hours in each week.

Barbara is calling her creation "Coronaquarium".  Great name for a wonderful quilt.

Susan has cut several hundred 5" squares for Lutheran World Relief.

This is Barbara's Welcome Wagon Yo-Yo quilt.  I have made this quilt and I know the level of effort this one takes!

Valery has been keeping herself very busy.

This is my Homemade Holidays table runner.

Feast your eyes on this beauty.  I can't wait to see this in person the next time we meet.

Kristi was working on this quilt at our last meeting.  So cheerful.

Suzanne has been working on her Sue Spargo circles.

Evelynne has been coloring her Crabapple witches.

Melody finished her Zinnie's Choice flimsy almost in time for Memorial Day.  She is honoring her, and her husband's military service.

This is a beautiful tribute, and so well done.

Melody took my pattern and personalized it, and made it so special.

I miss seeing my quilting sisterhood girls so much.  Hopefully we can be together again soon and share more good times, companionship and love.

In these unprecedented trying times, we all need to spread more love, and pray for our country which is tearing apart at the seams.  Stitch by deliberate stitch, let's all work hard to put it back together, stronger and more united than ever before.

Soon,
Lynn