Pattern of the Week - Christmas Ribbons

 Hello Everyone,

Since it's Sunday, it must be time to post my pattern of the week offered in my Etsy shop for a 10% discount!  This week I'm featuring Christmas Ribbons.

This was the first time I did curved crosshatching on my longarm.  

The flange in the border can be optional.  I think it sets the border off so nicely.

The quilt finishes at 62" x 62", and the blocks are 10" finished.

It also looks great in non-Christmas fabrics too.

You could just call it Ribbons!

Click HERE for the link to the pattern in my Etsy shop. 

I have a very busy week ahead and I'll tell you all about it when I can.

Soon,

Lynn

Quilts on Parade

 Hello Everyone,

My email inbox has been filled with beautiful pictures from quilters who've made my patterns.  Let me tell you I LOVE getting these pictures!  

First up is A Ribbon Runs Through It by Carol from the Chicago area.  She said she got carried away making pillow shams, throw pillows and a wool applique pillow.  I need to get this carried away and create a beautiful setting like this in one of my bedrooms!  I met Carol when I taught at the Pieceful Gathering Retreat a few years ago, and I hope to meet again.

Next up is a picture of Elena's quilt from Italy.  In her email, Elena said, "What you create makes us dream."  Elena's words were so touching, and I will always think about them while I'm designing patterns and fabric.  I virtually 'met' Elena through my Etsy shop in 2022 and she has been keeping me updated on her progress.  She is now working on my Laurel Ridge quilt through The Quilt Show.  Elena wants to come to the US so we can meet.  I need to learn Italian!

Next up is Teresa's Christmas Ribbons quilt.  Teresa was so kind to include a picture of her quilt in her review in my Etsy shop. This quilt is going to be a gift to a very special person. I look at the reviews and try to keep up responding to them.  I contacted Teresa and asked her if I could include the picture in my social media sites.  She graciously said yes.  I really appreciate her taking the time to make my design and post a review.  Positive reviews make a great deal of difference in Etsy's search algorithm. 

During the week I was contacted by Annette, who did a YouTube video HERE about her experience making her lovely Heritage.  The video is about 10 minutes long, and she even included a boo-boo.  Her boo-boo was one that I made too.  The video is so nicely done, and I really appreciate that she took the time to document her Heritage quilting journey which may help you on your journey.

Here is another gorgeous Heritage in an Autumn colorway, sent to me by Malgorzata from Poland.  We have been corresponding for the past 5 years.  Her words of inspiration inspired me and tugged at my heart. I complimented her on her work, and she said, "....your praise gives me wings and willingness to continue working on more quilts."  In addition to Italian, I need to learn the Polish language.  Thank goodness for Google Translator!

Here's a closeup of her precision.  So well done!

Whenever one of you send me pictures, I always show all of your images to Mr. Joe, and he is very complimentary.  He knows the level of effort that I put into my quilts, and he appreciates your hard work.

Your pictures and emails inspire me. I wish you could see my reaction when I open my email.  I'm gobsmasked! (I do love that word).  It's your kind words that keeps me doing what I do.  When I started designing in 2008, I never in my wildest dreams thought it would take me to this level of fond friendships around the world.  You, my dear quilters and blog readers are the BEST!

Humbly yours,

Lynn

Betsy's Blessing Blocks

Hello Everyone,

I put about 30 of these little blocks together last week.  It is a very simple Churn Dash block using only scraps from my bin full of Betsy Chutchian fabrics.

I'll put a tutorial together this week for the sashing section.  The sashing finishes at 1".  The little red stars are going to twinkle across the wall hanging or tabletopper.

I can see an entire bed quilt comprised of these cute blocks.....one of these days.  I have only 6 more blocks to put together to make this complete.  I like to occasionally make a small project to add to my collection of designs.  This one is going to be as sweet as it can be.

The blocks are on display on the island in our kitchen.  Mr. Joe made this from a tree that was harvested just down the street from us.  He spent weeks sanding and staining.  It is a huge slab of tree, and I love it!

Those of you who have been following my blog know that my twin granddaughters are involved in FFA.  This year, at the online FFA auction, we bought one of the pigs they raised. Since we bought an entire pig, we had to buy a freezer.  These are the most expensive pork chops EVER!  Who knew how hard it was going to be to buy a freezer.  Did you know they are in short supply due to the pandemic?  The earliest we could have one delivered was the middle of November.  So, we bought the floor model at a store about 45 minutes away from us.  I wanted an upright, but the one we found is a big, honkin' chest freezer.  The arrival of the freezer meant we had to clean the garage and make room for it.  We soon discovered that when you lean over the freezer to get something from the bottom, it would be easy to tip over and end up in it!  If you don't hear from me in a few days......check the freezer.

We drove out of the county last Friday to pick up the pig at the processing plant about 2 hours from the cabin.  This was the biggest outing for us since March.  We discovered there's a whole world out there that actually seemed quite normal.  On our journey, we stopped by Cloth and Quilts in Hilmar, CA.  Ann finished making the shop sample of my "Christmas Ribbons" quilt, and they have a couple of kits left HERE.  You could have this one made in time for the Holidays.

It has been insufferably hot here in the mountains as we are in the grip of a days-long heat wave with no end in the foreseeable future. Yesterday is was downright scary with the wind and the heat.  We are in the peak of fire season, and we are holding our breath until the rains come.  We don't have air conditioning, so we exist like two slugs sitting in front of the fan.  Luckily my sewing room is the coolest room in the house, so I tend to spend a lot of time in it. Mr. Joe visited me often. If it is as bad today as yesterday, I may be checking out spending some time in the freezer!

This week I'm setting sail on my "Crossing the Pond" design.  I made huge headway last week, and hope to again this week.

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

Christmas Ribbons Kits

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that two quilt shops have prepared kits for Christmas Ribbons.

Kits are available at In Between Stitches  and Cloth and Quilts. Check out both of the shops to see what other goodies they have available for you to purchase.  They are both great shops staffed by wonderful people.  They are my go to quilt shops.

My sister is here today, and I'll be putting her to work on Lovey Dovey.  She is going to work on the checkerboard border for me while she's here.  Now you know there will be a flange on the center section!  I can't make a quilt without a flange.

I did a lot of fussy cutting to center the little images in the 1" squares.  The fabric is called "On The 12th Day" by Anni Downs for Henry Glass & Co.

This morning I tracked my quilt heading to France.  She is in Indianapolis, Indiana this morning.  She has a long way to go before reaching her destination.

Soon,

Lynn

The Christmas Ribbons Flimsy

Hello Everyone,

Many long days went into the making of my Christmas Ribbons design.  I'm very happy with the final outcome.

Mazey is pleased too.  We took the design wall out on the deck to get a picture in the early evening light.  After I quilt this, we will drive up to the high country and take a picture of the quilt in the snow for the pattern cover.  Ebbetts Pass is a 1-1/2 lane road running northeast up and over the Sierras. The pass should be open in the next couple of weeks.  There will be lots of snow around the 9,000' level.  Mazey will have a ball playing in the snow in May.

No matter which way you place the borders, the stripes will never match up.  I had only one yard of each of the fabrics, and I made the most of each yard.  I literally only had scraps left from some of them.  My stack of fabric was running on fumes by the time I finished.  Note the flange.....I can't make a quilt without a flange.  I think that little flange really adds a nice, powerful pop to the border.  Yes, it takes a lot more time and effort, but it is worth every minute.

I'm going to take a quilting break today and attend to a messy quilting room.....before I start in on the next project for Henry Glass & Co.  The next project is going to be entirely different.

I would say have a great weekend, but every day feels like the weekend.  So I'll say, make the most of the days ahead.

Soon,
Lynn

Christmas Ribbons Update

Hello Everyone,

Here is my progress on Christmas Ribbons. What you can't see is the pattern is almost completed too!

Now that's the exciting part for me.  Every morning I spend a couple of hours at the computer working on the pattern, and that investment in time is paying off.

I just need to make a couple of more blocks, more sashings, and a couple of pinwheels, then I can start putting this quilt together.

I have to dust off my long arm and start the backlog of flimsy's that need to be quilted. I'm so glad the weather has warmed up so I won't freeze to death quilting in my garage. No fancy quilting studio here.  I have to make do with the space that I have. First up is Bountiful Blessings.  This pattern too, is almost done.

This imposed isolation has been good for my quilting mojo.  I've been making use of every minute of the day.

On another note, I was taken down by an ant the other night.  Yes, an ant.....a very, very big ant.  About 7pm, we headed out for a walk around the neighborhood with Mazey and our airhorn.  With fewer people in the area, the forest critters are taking back their territory.  The airhorn is our only protection except for a Golden Retriever who wants to play with anything furry.

Anyway, as I've said before, we live on a hill.  We have to walk up the cement stairs by the side of the garage, to get to the street. As I was walking,  I stopped on the stairs to squash a big carpenter ant.  When you live in a log cabin, carpenter ants can really give us problems.  Squashing that ant made me stutter-step and threw off my cadence going up the stairs.  I tripped and fell, and my right cheek made direct contact with the edge of the cement stair ahead of me.  (The cheek on my face, not my other, well-padded cheek that would have bounced!)  Luckily for me, I didn't have my hands in my pockets, and I was able to break the fall....somewhat. Mr. Joe immediately got me a bag of crushed ice, and I sat in the recliner nursing my wound, my pride, and contemplated my klutziness.  No swelling, but it does look like someone gave me a nice, left upper cut.  Luckily for me I can self-isolate and lick my wound.  It all happened so fast.  One minute you are upright, the next minute you are seeing stars.  I'm calling this ant karma.  That ant got the best of me, and I'll think twice before I step on another one again.

So watch your step today and avoid ants at all costs.

Soon,

Lynn

Christmas Ribbons

Hello Everyone,

Here is my progress on my new Christmas Ribbons design.  I've been wearing my Madam Ambassador hat for Henry Glass & Co while I work on this quilt.

The little posts in the sashing tie it all together.  The extra little "pop" of red in the center on the pinwheels is just stinkin' cute!  The fabric is called Holly Hill Christmas by Mary Jane Carey for Henry Glass Fabrics.

The block measures 10" finished.  The entire quilt/wall hanging will measure about 42" x 42".  I say about, because I'm not sure how wide I'm going to make the borders.

Normally when I make a new design, I take detailed notes and then decipher the notes, and put them in the computer.  This time, as I do a section, I'm writing the pattern as I go.  This pattern is now in great shape in my computer, and is almost finished.  It takes me forever to do all of the graphics and write the pattern.  I spend the first hour of my day, working on this pattern.  I'll be ready to hit the ground running when this fabric is released.

Over the past month I've been setting up a new computer.  It's a pain to get everything transferred over to the new one, and learn a new system.  One morning, I worked for several hours on this pattern.  I went back to it in the afternoon, and couldn't find the file!  I finally located it in "the cloud".  I didn't know I had an option of saving it directly to my computer, and in Never Never Land.  Crisis averted, but I had a few anxious moments.

On another note, I've discovered a dual use, and unexpected reason to wear the mask that I made and wear when I'm grocery shopping or at the post office.  It holds up my double chin.....both of them.

Soon,
Madam Ambassador

Christmas Ribbons

Hello Everyone,

Here's the latest fabric that arrived from Henry Glass & Co. The line is called Holly Hill Christmas by Mary Jane Carey.  The fabrics are a very nice mix of polka dots, plaids, and stripes in this traditional Christmas line. 

I studied the fabric for a day, and then it spoke to me.  I designed a block in EQ software one day and then concentrated on the sashing and border the next day.  I thought about it overnight, and in the morning I did some tweaking to the design.  The blocks are going to finish at 10".  The sashing is going to be 3" and it's a little different than my usual sashing.....which is a good thing.

So I switched from making a table topper for Fall and went right to Christmas.  This isn't the only line of fabric from Henry Glass....they sent TWO lines at the same time! I'll post the other line later on in the week.  I know someone who is going to be very busy!  Lord help me if I suddenly get designers block!

I pretty much can't adhere to the one month turn around for the completion of a project(s)....especially when I receive two lines in the same month.  Those of you who know me, know that I don't do simple.  I like complex, and interesting blocks, and that takes time, and considerable effort on my part.  My designs are a reflection of me, and I will not compromise my style to get a quilt in the finish column.  My design is also limited to the amount of fabric I receive.  I'm constantly calculating and re-calculating the fabric requirements.

If a design is going to have my name associated with it, I'm not going to slap something together and call it a finish.  It has to be thoughtful, well-planned, interesting, and something that I want to have on display in my home for years to come.  It has to be a pattern that is well-written, and something that quilters would enjoy making.  I think you will enjoy my new design called Christmas Ribbons.  The word ribbon should give you a clue to the sashing design.  Insert smile here....even Mr. Joe likes it.

On another note, Mr. Joe and I have also been working in the yard.  We have to maintain 2/3 of an acre in preparation for fire season.  It is a daunting task since we are on a hill.  We've been pecking away at it day by day.  Misery loves company, so we always work together in the yard.  It also is a safety concern in case one of us starts to roll down the hill!  We call this bowling for old people.  So far, neither one of us has had a strike!

So my days consist of sitting in front of my computer designing and pattern writing.  Or I'm in my sewing room happily quilting away while listening to podcasts or music.  Or I'm holding a pitch fork and rake while I'm tackling the enormous pine needle problem.  Please refrain from any pitch fork comments!  

Soon,

Madame Ambassador