Projects for a Snowy Day

Hello Everyone,

 

The devil is in the details and the bow is done.

 

Once I finish the applique, I'll sew the basket section to the handle section.

I constructed another house for Kim Diehl's Journey's End BOM.  Details about this program at the shop are HERE.

The neighborhood is going to be so colorful!  I love them.

Now what is this going to be you ask?

It goes with this block and I'm going to keep you in suspense on the new design. I'm so proud of myself.  I forced myself to write the directions during construction. I'm also doing machine applique on the leaves.  The process is much quicker than I thought it would be. The red leaves are finished, the green leaves are next.

Yesterday was a perfect day.  I quilted. I played with Mazey in the snow. Then I fixed a nice pot of chili.  We also shoveled the driveway several times.  The family who shovels together, stays together. Note to self....make sure there is gas in the gas can next time for the snowblower.

Mazey is smiling!

Mazey is just like a 2-year-old when it comes to snow.  Wait a minute, she is a 2-year-old! She whines at the door to go out for most of the day.  Her hair is so fine, and the snow sticks to it like crazy.  When she comes insides, she has little dingleballs of snow hanging off her tummy, and the hairy feathers on her legs. 

Our snow turned to rain during the night and it's still raining.  Insert sad face here.  I don't think we will be snowed in again this trip.  Company is coming for the next two days, so the projects will be packed up.  It's play time.  Wait a minute.....I have been playing!

Soon,
Lynn 

Why the "Y" Square???

Hello Everyone,

Listen my quilters and you shall hear, the tale of the "Y" square, so gather round near.

"I know what you are thinking.....she's lost it.  She's suffering from cabin fever. She's been snowed in for too long. Her elevator doesn't go all the way to the top."

Let me show you the power of this little quilting component. On its own, it's cute but it isn't saying Wowzer!

Now let me hear you say WOWZER!  My friend Jeanne sent me this picture this morning of her version of Kim Diehl's Walk in the Park quilt.  Jeanne didn't want to make the appliqued border, so she made oodles of "Y" squares and created this fabulous border.

 

She is working on the side borders this week, then it's heading off to the quilter by the end of the month.  What a glorious first finish this quilt is going to be for 2017!

 

Here's another example of stringing "Y" squares together.  Tiny, baby "Y" squares.  Looks familiar doesn't it?

 

 

Here's exhibit #3 from my quilting components sampler quilt which still remains unquilted.

 





So now that you've gathered round and heard the story, how do you make them?  How do you calculate the size? I'm not going to sign off and leave you hanging.  I'm going to direct you to my video on The Quilt Show.com which you can watch for FREE!  All of my Patchwork Math classes are free on TQS.  Click HERE and watch me in person.  Also, the link to my Patchwork Math book is HERE.  I'm teaching Patchwork Math AKA Finessing the Figures at In Between Stitches on Saturday, January 14th.  I'm also teaching it in Turlock at Cloth and Quilts on April 17th. (Just after we've finessed the figures for tax day!)  Only kidding.  My tax accountant is now rolling his eyes out loud at me.

If you ever need help calculating the figures for your "Y" squares.......I'm just an email away.  Or you can email my friend Jeanne!  Well not really, but she figured out the calculations on her own.

A snow shovel is calling my name right now.  The plow just went through and our driveway has a huge berm that needs to be removed so we can leave the cabin should be decide we want to leave. NOT!

Soon,
Lynn
 

New Year = New Projects

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope you all had a Happy New Year.   We had a very quiet New Year celebration at the cabin.  After the days of company, cooking for the masses, and packing Christmas away for another year, it is time to settle in, buckle down and attack my to-do list.

 

Usually when the snow starts to fall, the power goes out.  So if I'm off the grid this week, just picture me working on this little cutie.  I prepared all of the pieces and got them ready for stitching during the daylight hours just in case.

 

I will prepare the bow for the top of the basket today, then I'll be able to finish this block.  This is going to be a wall hanging with four baskets, two red and two blue.  I think it has a real Pennsylvania Dutch feel to it.  I'm going to call this quilt Huckleberry Hill. Most of the fabrics are from Pam Buda's Star Spangled Liberty line from Marcus Fabrics.

I'm also writing the pattern directions for Spoken For.  I had to test out all of the templates that I drew for the pattern, so I made another block.  The Dresden templates are small and unique, and you won't find them in any fabric shop.  I had to draw them on the computer and make sure they were EXACT.  After some scanning and futzing, they are now perfect and ready for the pattern.
 

When I get bored writing pattern directions, I slap on my tool belt and start constructing houses for the Journey's End BOM by Kim Diehl.  In Between Stitches is offering this as a 6-month BOM HERE.  The houses are so much fun to make!  If the power continues to stay on today, I just may put another one of these beauties together and watch my neighborhood grow.

In addition to all of the fun projects, I'm working on my guild lecture next Monday evening for the Delta Quilters Guild in Brentwood, CA.  The talk is my standard "Geography of a Quilt" talk.  But I always make changes for each guild.

On Wednesday I'm speaking at the Northern California Quilt Council All Star Review meeting.  My topic is taking the mystery out of quilting math.  I will present the same information every 15 minutes for two hours.  There will be 9 teachers and a whole host of quilt guild members rotating through each session.  I have to have my ducks in a row for this one.  The whole purpose is for guild members to meet the teachers, hear what we have to say, observe our teaching technique, and schedule us for workshops and guild lectures for 2017/2018.  I wasn't nervous about it until I just wrote this paragraph!!  I'd better drop everything and get to work on my 15 minutes of fame.

Soon,
Lynn