Some Show Stoppers

 Hello Everyone,

I feel that I hit the jackpot this week!  I received many pictures of quilts that you've made using my patterns.  First up is a picture of my Crossing the Pond pattern that was beautifully made by Jane.

This is what Jane said in her email.

Hello, You will find attached pictures of a quilt I made using Di Ford's Windermere fabrics. I found the perfect pattern in Quiltmania issue #143, "Crossing the Pond" by Lynn Wilder. I used Ms Wilder's alternating central blocks to showcase the colors in the Windermere floral panel. Since I was using Di Ford fabrics, I thought it would be nice to incorporate a broderie perse border along with the fabric border print. I am very pleased with the way that it turned out.  I hope you like it too.
Cheers, Jane Waye 
P.S. The long arm quilting was done by my talented friend Debbie at Wynnspired Custom Quilting.

I love that Jane added her own very special and outstanding 'touches' to this quilt and made it her own.  It is so gorgeous and so well done!

Next up I received pictures from Ollie in Canada.  Here is what she said about the group of beauties.

The first quilt is mine and I taught this pattern in my quilting class and here are mine and two others made with this pattern. The teal one is not quite finished as she had to order the red batik in order to make the first border. 

Then Ollie goes on to say:

This is one of my students Heritage Quilt made with civil war fabrics.

But wait, there are some more!  My friend Sylvia started her Heritage quilt at one of my retreats.  She just got it back from her machine quilter. She said she keeps going into her bedroom to look at it and she can't believe she made it.

Then yesterday afternoon I received a text from Gretchen.  She just finished A Ribbon Runs Through It.

Gretchen brought her finished blocks to one of my retreats last Fall.  I showed her how to 'block' each of the blocks to get them all to be the same size.....and voila, here they are.

This has definitely been a week of happy emails, and texts.  I LOVE to get your pictures.  Both Mr. Joe and I look at all of them and marvel at your creativity and precision. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to send me your pictures.  It puts a smile on my face from ear to ear.

Now news on the Mazey front.  Our little girl has had a very rough week.  She's been pumped full of fluids, had blood drawn, injections, and x-rays.  So far, all of the tests have been unremarkable. Yesterday afternoon she finally ate something for the first time in 7 days!  7 days of not eating or drinking.  All she did was hide away from us and stay curled up in her bed.  We wanted to caress her, but she wasn't having any of it. We were shocked yesterday when she came out of the bedroom and curled up by Mr. Joe's chair.  We introduced little bits of chicken with rice and chicken broth, and she ate it.  She isn't out of the woods yet, but she can see the sunlight through the trees.  We were so afraid that this was the end, and we were both having trouble dealing with the potential loss of our baby.  We will slowly introduce more food today to rebuild her strength. The most heartening thing we saw yesterday in addition to eating, was when she wagged her tail.

I'm wagging my tail with joy today.

Soon,

Lynn

P.S.  All of the patterns are available in my Etsy shop HERE.  

Extra! Extra! Read All About It

 Hello Everyone,

The latest edition of QUILTmania is out, and I feel so honored to have my Crossing the Pond quilt featured in their magazine.  

I love the way they choose to photograph my quilt.  The ship on the nightstand is a very special touch, adding so much interest. The fabric line is called Journey to America by Judie Rothermel for Marcus Fabrics.  Click HERE, and you will go to Judie Rothermel's online shop.

I absolutely love the quilt on the cover of the magazine.  Click HERE for a link to QUILTmania.  This edition has many, many beautiful quilts included.  It is real eye candy, and is fun to read cover to cover.  The magazine also includes the directions for the featured quilts.

We treated ourselves to a picnic lunch at Lake Alpine yesterday.  It was a beautiful day to be outside, soaking up the sun, the beauty, and solitude of the lake.  We were quite alarmed at the low level of the lake.  Yes, there is still snow around, but we would be surprised if the snow melt is enough to raise the level of the lake a measurable amount.  The lake level is what we usually see in August.....not May.

Talk about tenacity, these trees are growing out of this huge boulder.  How do they get their nourishment?  How can their root system hold on for dear life during the hard winter up at this high elevation?  It's a mystery.

Where we go, Mazey goes.  She loved watching the ducks float by, and the birds flying overhead.  She's an outdoor girl like her mom.

It's back to work for me today on the BOM for Marcus Fabrics.  The borders are on, the backing is made, and I need to load it on my long arm.  I will do minimal marking on it today for my machine quilting.  I think I know what I'm going to do, but I may change my mind when it goes under the needle.

Soon,

Lynn

Happy Valentine's Day's

Hello Everyone,

Here is a picture of my Valentine's gift from Mr. Joe.  It's a big, red, enamel pot to hold some table runners.

It looks perfect on the dining room table on top of "Cute as a Button".  

I would love to know what is was used for, and who used it.  Mr. Joe decided it would make a good helmet for me to wear during a wind storm.  Isn't he a peach?

I found this baby bed from the 1900's at the one and only antique store in town.   I filled it full with quilts that have been tucked away in the armoire.  Now we get to enjoy looking at them, and the baby bed. The rocking chair belonged to my father-in-law.  It's an oldie but goodie.

So, bringing two new items into the cabin prompted me to rearrange, dust, and vacuum the great room.  When a new item comes in, an old item does not go out.  We are pretty much packed to the rafters.  It's a dusting nightmare.

My "Crossing the Pond" quilt, crossed the pond safely and arrived in France on Friday.  I always hold my breath until the quilts arrive.  Now I know she will be in the May/June edition of QuiltMania since she arrived in time for her photoshoot.  Would you believe I mailed it on a Monday via FedEx, and it arrived at the QuiltMania office on Friday.  I can't mail a first class letter and have it arrive on the East Coast that fast using the US post office!  

I mail many patterns out on a daily basis from my Etsy shop.  At least one or two patterns go astray on a weekly basis. What should take a few days, end up being a couple of weeks.....or not delivered at all. It's a constant frustration for me, and for my Etsy shoppers.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  I have to get back to my rearranging the entire great room.  Picture Mr. Joe rolling his eyes at me, not in lust, but in doesn't she ever stop!

Soon,

Lynn

Crossing the Pond is Finished

Hello Everyone,

I took the last stitch in the label last night....and she's done!

I really put my heart and soul into the designing and making of this quilt from beginning to end.

I was attaching the binding and thought what a nice picture this would make.

My contact at QuiltMania magazine sent me the FedEx paperwork, and this quilt will start her journey of crossing the pond today.  She will return back to me in a few months after her photoshoot for her appearance in the May/June edition of the magazine.  I really think I should deliver her in person....don't you?

My Handi Quilter is not computerized.  I call it my riding lawn mower, and I drive it around the quilt.

Of course Mazey wanted to get in on the action.  She sees the camera and jumps right in the picture!

This is what we were dealing with on a daily basis.  Our driveway is under all of that snow.  When we returned back to the cabin after getting our Covid (Fauci Ouchie) shots, this is what welcomed us. This is just two days worth of snowfall.

I had a bonding experience with my shovel.

If you look closely into the messy garage, you can see my long arm.  I basically lived in that chilly garage for days while I was machine quilting.  Mr. Joe was bringing me hot cups of cocoa in the afternoon.  What a guy!  He was going to put a healthy dose of Baileys in it, but thought better, and didn't want me to have crooked stitches.  We ran a heavy duty extension cord from the cabin which was powered by the generator, to the garage.

We were without power, Internet, phone, and TV for eight days.  This is the longest we have been so isolated.  When we walked around our neighborhood, we realized how lucky we were that we didn't have a tree go through the cabin or garage.  There were wires and trees down throughout the entire area.  Many roads were impassable, and many homes are still uninhabitable.

See how slippery that driveway looks?  Well it is terribly slippery.  The area off our front porch looks about the same.  Last Wednesday night I took a terrible fall right off the front porch.  I slipped sideways and hit my head on the asphalt. I seem to have left many eyebrow hairs and skin on the walkway along with quite a bit of blood.  Somehow, I managed to get myself up, and got back into the house without slipping again.  I had a brand new buffalo check fleece vest on and I didn't want to bleed on it.....and I didn't!  I have my priorities.  Mr. Joe immediately prepared an ice bag, while I counted my blessings that I didn't knock myself out, and someone was here to take care of me.  I probably should have had a few stitches above my left eye.  The scar will just give me more character.  Butterfly band aids to the rescue.  

I have a very purple eye lid.  I refer to it as a new shade of eye shadow.  Do people still wear eye shadow?  I have quite the shiner now which is very slowly fading away. Just as the saying goes, you should see the other guy!

We are supposed to have four days of snow again later on this week.  I'm am going to enjoy this snowfall in my overstuffed chair by the fire, with a good book, and an adult beverage a bit stronger than cocoa.

Soon,

Lynn

Down to the Sea in Ships

Hello Everyone,

I've quilted my way down to the ship - the halfway point in Crossing the Pond.....and then there are the borders.  Maybe I'm 1/3 of the way finished.

We had a hard freeze last night, and the garage where my long arm is located, was a balmy 37 degrees.  The garage reached heat wave status this afternoon at 42 degrees when the heater had been on for five hours.  In reality, I'm pretty warm.  I'm just like a little kid that needs to pee after I put on my snow bib, boots, and jacket.  I wear my fingerless mittens, and I'm good to go for a couple of hours at a time.

The morning was absolutely beautiful!  Crystal blue sky, and crisp mountain air.

By this afternoon, the biggest storm of the season started blowing in.  We are actually located in the blizzard zone on the weather map.  We have NEVER been in the blizzard zone for as long as I can remember.

When Mr. Joe heads out for firewood, I'm going to tie a rope around his waist just like Laura Ingalls Wilder did for her Pa.  We have a ton of fire wood on the front porch, so we should be good to go for a few days.

If you don't hear from me for a couple of days, I'm by the fire with my hot toddy and a good book.  We will have to dig our way out, and get to our vaccine appointment late Friday afternoon.  I pray the snow plows will be swarming the neighborhood.

Soon,

Lynn

Crossing the Pond Update

Hello Everyone,

   

Here's just a quick update on my machine quilting progress on Crossing the Pond.  Slowly but surely I'm working my way down the quilt.

This is the area that worried me the most, and had me completely stymied or flummoxed. I love the word flummoxed!  Now, I'm really happy with what I decided to quilt in this spot.  It's a very odd shape to fill with machine quilting.  I think this is really going to enhance the old-fashioned look of the quilt.  I had to draw this design until I was blue in the face, so I could cement the pattern and movement into my brain.  Everything you see is free motion, not computerized at all.

The snow is supposed to start in earnest this afternoon and throughout the night.  If I drop off the planet, it's because we've lost our power and Internet connection. 

Our power supplier, PG&E has set up camp in our one and only shopping area in town.  They are preparing for the worst, as we are also supposed to have 25 mile an hour winds along with 18" of snow on Wednesday.  Yikes! 

Keep sending your good vibes my way as I tipple while I stipple!

Soon,

Lynn

Machine Quilting Crossing the Pond

 Hello Everyone,

procrastination

[prəˌkrastəˈnāSH(ə)n]

NOUN

1. the action of delaying or postponing something.

So what have I been postponing?  I've been postponing machine quilting Crossing the Pond.  I had decided to send it out to a professional and have them quilt it......but I waited too long to make that decision, and the person I wanted to quilt it wasn't available in the timeframe that I needed it.

I've been machine quilting since 2006, the year I bought my no frills long arm.  For some reason, quilting this quilt scared the bejeebers out of me.  It's big, it's complicated, it has a lot of white space, and I couldn't figure out what to do.

I put on my big girl panties and tried to figure out something......because.....I have to ship this quilt to France for her photoshoot for QuiltMania magazine the 3rd week of February.

Snow day #1 - Friday, January 22nd.  I'm looking down at the house from the garage.

And, of course, I waited until the WORST possible time to start quilting it up in the garage.  This week is going to be a snowmageddon week here in the mountains.  The snow started yesterday, and should continue for 6 days!  I added up all of the potential inches of snow that we are supposed to receive, and it's almost up to 3 feet! Chances are we will loose power, and I'll have to run a heavy duty extension cord up to the garage to connect me to the generator.  Not to mention, it is supposed to drop into the low 20's tomorrow. 

So when you see this quilt in the May/June issue of QuiltMania magazine......think snow!  I'll try to post pictures of my progress throughout the week if we don't loose our Internet connection.

My goal this week is to discover if I can machine quilt with frostbitten fingers. My new mantra is, do not Procrastinate, do no Procrastinate, do not Procrastinate, do not Procrastinate.

Soon,

Lynn

Crossing the Pond

 Hello Everyone,

I have been so bad about posting anything this month.  I can't reveal the project that I'm working on yet, but I can share some good news.  My Crossing the Pond quilt is going to be in the May/June edition of QuiltMania magazine!

I still need to machine quilt this beauty, and I must admit I'm a little afraid to begin.  Now with my feet held to the fire, I'm going to have to decide how I'm going to quilt it.  I'll have to dig in after Christmas, put on my big girl panties, and just do it!  

Those of you who follow my blog know that my longarm is in the freezing garage.  I do have a heater I can use, but it is the equivalent of heating a barn.  I'll be like the little kid in A Christmas Story who got his tongue stuck to the light pole.  My hands will be stuck to the handlebars of my longarm.  I've thought about sending the quilt to a professional, but I want to take ownership of the entire, quilt-making process. Between wanting that, and my procrastination, I've managed to get myself into a pickle.

I wish, really wish, I could show you the gorgeous images of fabrics that are on the table right next to me.  I've been asked to design a block of the month for Marcus Fabrics using a new reproduction line designed by Judie Rothermel.  This is one of the prettiest lines I've seen!  You, my readers, are going to LOVE it as much as I do.

In my mind, the design had to be jaw-dropping gorgeous.  I've been working, and working, and working some more on it.  I designed three quilt in EQ8 software.  Three very different designs using different techniques.  I didn't think the quilts I designed had the "WOW" factor.

One afternoon this week, our main water line sprang a leak.  The whole time I was outside helping Mr. Joe dig, and repair the leak, I was thinking about the new design.  After the water line was fixed, and I got cleaned up, I sat down at the computer, and bingo, the break, away from the computer was just what I needed.  My jaw-dropping-wow-factor-quilt came to life before my eyes.  The next day I sent an image of the design to Marcus Fabrics, and received immediate validation that this was IT!

Now I'm pattern writing, and shop guide writing, which isn't a trivial undertaking.  I think, and hope this BOM is going to go big, and be in major quilting catalogs. Fingers crossed!

On another note, our son with Covid has finally turned the corner to feeling better.  It was such a worry!  He's a big, strapping 44-year-old man who goes to the gym daily, rides his mountain bike constantly, and goes hiking almost every weekend. He was reduced to total exhaustion for 16 days.  He called us the day he walked outside to the back yard and mowed the lawn.  That was a red-letter day!  Thank God for family, and his girlfriend delivering meals.  We spoke with him daily, but I got the real scoop from his girlfriend and daughter about how he was really feeling.  He put up a good front to us, but he was totally unconvincing.  

We knew he was feeling better when his sense of humor returned.  He said he lost his sense of smell and taste.  He prefaced that by saying he lost his sense of taste when he got married!  Insert grimacing face here.

Soon,

Lynn

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