Decking the Halls

Hello Everyone,

I have been decorating for days here at Wilder's Last Resort.

The dining room is the highlight of the Christmas season.  A lot of furniture moving is involved to get the tree here.  I love the reflection of the tree in the seven windows.  It is so pretty at night from the outside.  I'm sure the bears, and other forest animals love it too.

All of the Christmas ornaments and "stuff" is stored under the house in the basement area, or under the garage in a space where you can't stand up.  It's a two person operation moving furniture, and then carrying in all of the boxes and totes full of Christmas treasures.  It's exhausting!

We have a new, young family that moved in across the street from us.  I asked them if they were going to put up a tree, and did they need any "cabiny" ornaments.  They said yes, so it was a good time for me to sort through my ornaments, and give some away.  They were thrilled to receive them, and I was thrilled to cut down on the number of boxes we have to carry.  I also put together a large box for the local Humane Society.  

Every afternoon, you will find me in one of the chairs next to the tree.  It is the gift I give to myself everyday.  A chance to put up my feet, rest, read, or just look at the tree.  And yes, more often than not, I close my eyes and take a short nap to recharge for the rest of the day.

Don't forget to "recharge" and take care of yourself.  Just sit back and enjoy the beauty around you.  If you get too busy doing things, you can't enjoy the importance of the season.

Soon,

Lynn

 

Harvest of Hope

Hello Everyone,

Here are pictures from my Harvest of Hope photoshoot from several years ago.

I love to have this quilt on display each and every Fall.  It makes me so happy to see all of the colors of Fall incorporated into the quilt.

We were so lucky to have this horse and carriage stop by while we were photographing.

It's almost time for those grapes to be harvested.

I'm not quite sure what this piece of farm equipment does, but if must have something to do with the harvest.

The quilt has been on display on my $3.00 wooden rake (I can never pass up a bargain!) in our bedroom for several months now.  After Thanksgiving, I'll hang up a Christmas quilt to honor that season.

If you had told me in March that we would still be held captive by this virus for the rest of the year, I wouldn't have believed you.  It's just amazing how quickly the days, weeks, and months have flown by.  Yes, I have virus fatigue like many of you, but we just need to hold on a bit longer.

I do feel there is HOPE on the horizon with the development of the vaccine.  I feel that we will be able to get together soon in our quilting groups.   Quilters sow the seeds of hope, love, friendship, and gratitude. Then they harvest that love, and fill their hearts to overflowing every time they gather together.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Soon,

Lynn

 

Buttonwood Tablerunner

 Hello Everyone,

I'm wearing my Henry Glass Madam Ambassador hat while working on a table runner for Spring.

The fabric is called Garden Inspirations by Jane Alison for Henry Glass.  I made 9 little yo-yo's to make little groupings of flowers.  They will be attached with buttons after this is quilted.

The table runner measures 15" x 44" - just the perfect size.  It is going to be a nice addition to the dining room table at Easter, and I can use it throughout the Spring and Summer months.

It would also look good in Christmas fabric.  Hint, hint, wink, wink.

The runner is just one row from my Buttonwood Pattern. I've made this pattern so many times, I think I could make it in my sleep.

It is going to be a delightful, rainy day here in the mountains of Northern California.  I declare the fire season officially OVER!  At this writing, I have a nice fire going in the wood burning stove.  I can hear the rain on the roof.....music to my ears.

Soon,

Madam Ambassador

P.S.  I still need to have Joanne get in touch with me about the contest.  Joanne's comment was:  As always a beautiful quilt and now the fabrics to go with it.  Joanne, you were are no-reply status, so I can't contact you directly.  Please email me - sewnwildoaks@gmail.com - with your address, so I can send you the fat quarter bundle that you won.

Drumroll Please!!!

 Hello Everyone,

As written through the paws of Mazey.

Boy, did I have to work hard today.  My forever parents held the drawing for the fat quarter bundles of "Journey to America" fabric.  I've been the very impartial judge before, so I know the routine by now.

First of all Mom wrote numbers on my doggie cookies.  I'm wondering if it is safe for me to ingest cookies marked with a Sharpie.  Oh well, if I can eat decaying mystery meat from the forest, I guess a little Sharpie won't hurt me.

I know that I have to wait patiently while Mom and Dad get their act together to take pictures of me while judging.  I'm only 6, so do you know how much self restraint this takes?

I decided I would execute a sneak attack around the perimeter of the doggie cookies.

Then I walked around to the other side.  During this entire judging time, I was pelted with pine needles from the incoming storm.  Luckily for me, the pine needles match my natural hair color.

I can't forget this side too.  I selected 8 winners, and yippee, skippy I ate all eight of the winning numbers.  My Dad tried to get them away from me......not a chance Dad!  My Mom is giving away 4 bundles on this blog, 2 bundles on Facebook, and 2 bundles on Instagram.

So they had to put out all of the cookies in numerical order to find the winning numbers.  I'm so young, I guess I didn't like selecting the higher numbers.  I can't read past three digits you know.

So the winners of this fabulous fabric line graciously donated by Marcus Fabrics to kick off the release of my newest "Crossing the Pond" pattern are:

Joanne wrote:  As always a beautiful quilt and now the fabrics to go with it.

Joyful Quilter wrote:  Bribe?  How about I offer to let Maisie chase my cat?  The pattern and fabrics are lovely.  

Linda C wrote: Beautiful fabrics and a lovely quilt.

Jan Hutchinson wrote:  You are such a talented designer.  I enjoy seeing your new designs.

So you lucky winners, please email your address to me - sewnwildoaks@gmail.com   I will get your box of loveliness in the mail to you.

  

Lynn here now, I wrestled the keyboard away from Mazey.  I want to thank everyone who entered the contest.  You have all been so supportive of me in my quilting journey, and wrote such kind words.  I also want to thank Marcus Fabrics for making this giveaway possible. Mr. Joe and I read each and every comment over breakfast.  I have to tell you, when I read the comment from the Joyful Quilter, I almost choked on my oatmeal!  We howled with laughter....pun intended.  Don't we all need more laughter in our lives?  

This was so much fun, I'm going to have to do this again.....

Soon,

Lynn

Crossing the Pond Contest

 Hello Everyone,

My "Crossing the Pond" pattern is now available in my Etsy shop. To kick off the roll out of this quilt, Marcus Fabrics, generously and graciously sent me a box of Journey to America fabric to offer as a giveaway to my readers.

As soon as the box arrived, I immediately started in cutting it up into fat quarter bundles.

I will give away three of the bundles here on my blog next Tuesday, November 17th.

To enter the contest, just leave a comment on this post.  My beautiful Golden Retriever Mazey, will be the impartial judge, and the decision of the judge is final.  Mazey has been known to be bribed with tummy tickles, belly rubs, and treats.  

You can triple your odds of winning if you also make a comment on my sewnwildoaksdesigns Instagram page or my Sew'n Wild Oaks Facebook page.  This contest is only open to quilters in the United States.

Good luck!  Mazey is anxious to pick all of the winners.

Soon,

Lynn

Buttonwood Table Runner

 Hello Everyone,

I've been busy making baskets from my Buttonwood pattern.

I received my last shipment of the year from Henry Glass Fabrics last week.  The package contained 1/2 yard cuts of Garden Inspirations by Jane Alison.  I decided to make a table runner for Spring by making just one row from my Buttonwood pattern.

I began by making 12, half-square triangles and placed them on my block layout sheet.  Once you have them made, the block goes together very quickly.

I've made this quilt three times in three very different colorways.  Here's a Christmas colorway. This was a project that I offered during one of my retreats quite a few years ago.

The following two quilts are both scrappy.

I always hang this quilt out on the front porch during Summer.

Then I wanted to change things up, and made blocks for Fall.

My plan for the new fabric is to make only one row of blocks.  This way I can make a project quickly, and have something to show for it at the end of the day.  It's just the perfect size for a table runner.

I'll be making more baskets today while enjoying the leftover snow, and the few remaining colorful leaves hanging on for dear life.  When I have so much going on, I feel like I'm hanging on for dear life!

Soon,

Lynn

A Change of Seasons

Hello Everyone,

The first snow of the season provided the perfect backdrop for my newest version of Leaf Peepers.

I'll get the borders on her this week.  But by the time I do, the snow will be long gone.  We are heading into a long spell of rain.....glorious rain.  We can breathe a sign of relief that fire season will be over soon.  

For the second making of Leaf Peepers, I wanted to create a vision of leaves in the forest with a gradation of color from the light tree tops in the canopy, to the darker depths of the forest floor.

Here's my first Leaf Peepers which has a setting square between the blocks for an entirely different look.  I like this version too, and it was much easier to make.  It took me longer to get the shading just right in the batik version.

We received a bit more snow throughout the day on Sunday.  This morning, that snow has turned to a solid sheet of ice as the temperature dropped to 25 degrees.  I'll have to put on my ice skates to navigate a path outside.

It's probably a good thing I had a dull blade in my rotary cutter when I decided to roll over my index finger.  Two Band-Aids, a finger cot, and a lot of pressure later finally stopped the bleeding.  I was so lucky I didn't damage the quilt. Today is the first day I can type on the computer without hitting three keys at the same time with one finger.

There were a lot of "firsts" this weekend.  We had the first fire of the season, and the first snow of the season.  We had our first walk through the forest in the snow to the lake.  Our country has selected the first woman Vice President.  As the leaves change with the season, our country is turning over a new leaf, with a change in leadership.  I welcome this new change, as I welcome each change of the seasons.

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”    Lewis Carroll.  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Soon,

Lynn 

VOTE

 Hello Everyone,

VOTE today to honor all of those before us who never had that privilege. 

Soon,

Lynn