A Lavender Madrigal

Hello Everyone,

 

My friend Shelley stopped by the shop on Monday to show me her Madrigal quilt that is ready for the quilter.  It is beautiful!  Her fabric selection was spot on.

 

Her appliqued basket of flowers couldn't have been prettier.

The thin containment border and outside border fabrics enhance Shelley's creation which she enlarged from the original.  Well done.

On another note, I told you a few weeks ago that I was applying to be a vendor in a prestigious show in Northern California.  I just received my 'congratulations' letter yesterday.  I don't know yet what size my booth is going to be, but I have my foot in the door.  Now it's up to me to knock their socks off with the most attractive booth ever.  The 3-day show is in Folsom, CA sponsored by the Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild.  I had to submit pictures of my past booths along with a detailed description.  I can finally uncross my fingers.

On another positive note, I had a request from the Ridge Quilter's Guild yesterday.  They asked permission to make my Heritage pattern as their opportunity quilt for 2018.  This request is very special to me since the Ridge Quilters are located in my hometown of Paradise, CA.  My quilting has come full circle.

 I've been on a tear getting ready for my quilting retreats, one in Sept. and one in October.  Yes, I'm offering two retreats this year at Snowflake Lodge in Arnold.  I'll do an entire post about my retreats soon.  Thanks to word of mouth, and a waiting list from last year, the retreats are filling up quickly. 

It's all good.....busy but good.

Soon,
Lynn
 

It's Never Too Early......

Hello Everyone,

 

Yes, it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas and a new design.

 

 

I'm working on a new creation called Handmade Holidays.  I'm a traditional red and green gal when I decorate and lean toward an old fashioned Christmas theme.  Click HERE to see a link to my post in 2014 when I first made a table runner with just the ornament.  I ended up giving it away to my friends for Christmas.

I don't usually purchase fabrics with gold running through it, but this fabric was perfect to decorate my little homespun tree with the green plaid.  I think every Christmas tree should be plaid.

I'm off to the shop this morning.  This is my last full month of working every Monday.  As my life gets busier, it is time to cut back the days that I spend at the shop.  I will now be there only the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month.  This is a gift I'm giving to myself and Mr. Joe.  I think he actually misses me when I'm gone.  He would never admit to that if you ask him.  Now, we don't have to come back from the mountains every Sunday.  We can stay up there and I can quilt, quilt, quilt.  But on the other hand, we have two grandkids playing soccer and one playing traveling softball......so this means we'll be their head cheerleaders on the weekends and travel to their games.  We don't want to miss a thing. 

Be in the moment today.  Eyes wide open and don't miss a thing! It will keep us young. (So she says while drinking her coffee trying to prop her eyelids open!)

Soon,
Lynn



 

Quilting at Cloth and Quilts

Hello Everyone,

 

It has been a busy week of teaching for me at Sew'n Wild Oaks.  On Wednesday, I spent the day at Cloth and Quilts in Turlock teaching Butterscotch Baskets.  Susan, one of my students from previous classes brought in her version of Country Charmer.  It is incredibly beautiful.

 



Such talent.  In fact, Susan is being recognized for her talent as she was selected to be the featured artist at the Sierra Quilt Guild Show in Sonora Sept. 17th and 18th.

Susan is also making my Grammy Squares pattern.  I love her clear, solid colors and the gray separator strips.  I can't wait to see this one completed!

The girls in the class got right to work on their Butterscotch Baskets quilts.  Some of them purchased kits which are available by calling Cloth and Quilts at 209-632-3225.  The gals at the shop put kits together which are identical to my original.  If you call and order a kit, tell them Lynn sent you.

 

A couple of the girls are selecting their own fabrics for the blocks.  Bravo!!  I love to see my patterns changed to reflect the quilters own style.

Sandra purchased a kit, but she's changing up the look of the blocks her own way.  She cut and made the parts and pieces for the little basket block, and placed the pieces on the block layout sheet.  Once she had everything just the way she wanted it.....

She stitched the block together.

I love the touch of blue in the fabric line.

I feel so lucky to be able to spend the day surrounded by beautiful quilts and beautiful people.  Yes Judy, that means YOU!  But Cindy is smarter.  Wink, Wink.  You girls are so funny and made me laugh.

 

Soon,

Lynn

P.S.  If you don't want to purchase an entire Butterscotch Basket kit all at once, Stitchin' Heaven is offering it as a BOM beginning in November.  Click HERE for more information.

 

Sew'n Wild Oaks Class Was In Session

Hello Everyone,

 

This post is a double dose of inspiration to start your day.  Karen is building an entire neighborhood of little houses.  These foundation pieced little homes are so addictive!

 

Kathy took the last stitch in the binding in her Harvest of Hope quilt just in time to have this beauty on display in her home for Autumn.

Every stitch Kathy takes is exquisite.  The quilt was machine quilted by Lora Zmak.

Kathy is also finishing up her Country Corners quilt.  Kathy used my Patchwork Math book in conjunction with my Country Corners tutorial located HERE to make a sampler quilt.  It's going to be a real beauty.

Barbara B. has "Tex" all appliqued.  Isn't he something!  Perfect fabric combinations while Tex wanders the across the prairie.

Barbara B. is also working on her elephants.  Look at the little pink one in the bottom corner.  This is Barbara's special touch that she added.

Mary has all of her Lil' Orphan Scrappy blocks finished and she's sewing on the setting triangle.  This pile was ready to topple over.

Lots of Walk in the Park blocks decorated the walls of the classroom at In Between Stitches.

Jan's is so Fall-like......love it.

Nancy is making Heartfire.  I absolutely LOVE her selection of black and white fabrics for my design.  This is going to be a very dramatic, and stunning quilt.

Irene is moving right along on her Heritage quilt.  She is one determined quilter!

Pat is working on the borders for October Magic.  Great combinations of color. 

This group of phenomenal women inspire, encourage, and bring out the best in all of us.  I love the time we spend together.

Soon,
Lynn

Butterscotch Baskets Tutorial

 Hello Everyone,

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth......I've been spending time with the kids before they head off to school this week.  In between my 'kid' time, I was working on an online tutorial for Butterscotch Baskets.  The tutorial is a companion to your pattern. 

You can find the link at the top of my blog called Butterscotch Baskets Tutorial.  I took pictures and documented the process the entire step of the way.  I'm actually going to use it as a teaching tool this week while I lead a Butterscotch Baskets class at Cloth and Quilts.

 

On another note, our middle son and his family camped at Union Reservoir for three days.  The lake is about an hour north of the cabin in the Carson Iceberg Wilderness Area.  First, we brought the little kids up with us to spend a day at the cabin on Thursday.  Then Mom & Dad arrived to take them further up into the mountains for camping.

 

We drove up to their campsite Saturday afternoon and had dinner with them.  We were there for about five hours.  The little kids took us exploring, and I couldn't believe how dirty we got in that short period of time!  I guess I'm still a kid a heart.  I love to go exploring and see what's around the next bend in the trail.

 

 

The kids had a ball.  They immediately took us to see the rope swing.  I so wanted to try it out, but my guardian angel (Mr. Joe) tapped me on the shoulder and suggested that it might not be the best idea.....you know weight limits and all that!

 



 

Our son took this picture of the sunrise yesterday morning while he was out early with their dog, Copper.  What a glorious and spiritual way to begin your day. 

 

 

It's a beautiful new day dawning for all of us.  Make it a good one for you and everyone around you.

Soon,
Lynn

The Traveling Quilt

Hello Everyone,

 

The good people at Quilt Haven on Main in Hutchinson, MN sent me a picture of Butterscotch Baskets on display in their shop.  Doesn't this look cozy?  Do you think they would mind, (or notice me) if I curled up on the bed for a long nap?  I could chat with customers and make myself right at home.

 

This is a huge milestone for me.  You seen Quilt Haven on Main is located in the historic Thimbleberries building, formerly Lynette Jensen's studio shop.  I became a quilter because I absolutely loved Lynette Jensen's style.  I wanted to emulate her sense of color and design.  You can read more about my passion for Thimbleberries HERE, my post from last February.

For me, this is bigger than having one of my quilts at Quilt Market.  This is coming home to where my journey started. To become first a quilter, and then a designer. 

If you would like to make a Butterscotch Baskets quilt identical to mine, contact Quilt Haven on Main and they will be very happy to send you a kit.  The fabric used to make this quilt is called Autumn Landscape by Lynette Jensen for RJR fabrics.

I'm working on a tutorial that I will post online to walk you through the process.  I'll hold your hand and be there the whole step along the way.

I'm off to the Preview Party tonight sponsored by In Between Stitches at the Purple Orchid Resort and Spa.  We will all display the quilts for the classes that we are offering over the next few months.  It's always a fun event.  Come on out and join us so you can sign up for the classes you want to take before the classes fill!

Soon,
Lynn

Triple-Mitered Borders DONE

Hello Everyone,

 

Another Butterscotch Baskets is ready to be quilted! I was determined to finish the triple-mitered borders yesterday so I could put this quilt in the almost finished column.

 

It seemed as though I stitched miles of the triple border together.  Who designed this quilt? Wink. I must talk with the designer and tell them to put a spool of thread into each pattern.  When I made my strip sets, I pressed the top and bottom the opposite pressing direction as the sides.

By doing this, the strip sets nestled together perfectly on the front and back.

 

Yes, mitered corners take more time, but I absolutely love the way they look.

 



We are up at the cabin this weekend to attend a Town Hall meeting regarding the pine bark beetle which is destroying our neighborhood.  This is what we see directly across the street from the cabin.  Every pine tree is either dead or dying.

Driving through the neighborhood you see piles of trees waiting to be hauled away.  The average cost to have a tree removed is $1,000 per tree.  We have 40 pine trees on our 2/3 of an acre.  That's a lot of quilting fabric! 

There will be representatives from the state at the meeting today.....and I'm sure they are going to get an earful of complaints.     Similar pine bark beetle outbreaks have been successfully stopped in other states by spraying.  Our governor refuses to spray because one of the chemicals in the spray is banned in California.  So the alternative is to let the state burn to the ground and have the worst fire storms imaginable, let trees fall on people and homes, loose all of the habitats for the forest critters, loose the carbon sequestration which the trees provide.......and see property values plummet.  If you buy a cabin in the woods, good luck getting homeowner's insurance. Luckily for us we are grandfathered in to our policy. 

Mr. Joe has treated our trees twice with SPLAT.  It's an expensive tube of pheromone repellant which is like hanging a sign on the tree telling the beetles "No Vacancy".  So far so good.....but that could all change.  Even trees our neighbors treated with SPLAT are dying.

In all of the articles that we've read, it is beneficial to water your forest trees.  A healthy tree has a fighting chance to survive the infestation.  But guess what folks, we are still in a drought.  We are banned from watering our trees. I wonder if I can applique while I'm in prison?

Soon,
Lynn 

Sew'n Wild Oaks Class Was In Session

Hello Everyone,

 

I have a glorious finish to show you today.  Jeanne just has to put on some binding and her Lil' Orphan Scrappy is in the finished column.  This quilt was expertly quilted by Diane Schweickert. 

 



It's all in the placement of color to create the rick rack looking border.

Judy's Grammy Squares quilt is almost altogether.  Well done!

Barbara has a flimsy ready for quilting.  This table topper is going to look wonderful decorating her home this Christmas.  This inspires me to finish mine.

Jeanne has now turned her attention to making Heritage. All the girls love making the Log Cabin blocks.  The star blocks take a bit more time.

Gail has made quite a collection of basket blocks for Once Upon a Vine.  These are fun little blocks to make.

She has a bunch of sets just ready for the stitching.

More Walk in the Park blocks decorated the classroom walls.

Doris has a beautiful start to her Lucy Boston block.  What a gorgeous design.

Pat is making little blocks for the border around October Magic.

The little blocks will look like this when then are sewn together to create a fun border.

You can't help but be happy when surrounded with so many glorious quilting projects. It is fun to watch the customers get "sucked" into the classroom.  They can't stop themselves from coming in to see what we are creating.  Pure joy!

Soon,
Lynn