Preparing for Class

Hello Everyone,

 

I have just a few minutes to post this morning before I hit the road for Country Pines Quilt Shop in Susanville, CA.  I'll be teaching there on Friday and Saturday.

 

I'm preparing blocks for class to show what you can do with components on the block layout sheet.  The following two blocks are from my Country Sampler pattern.

 



I'm going to make a scrappy Country Sampler.  I'll use black in my sashing as a separator.  When I do that, I can combine so many different colors in the quilt.

Yesterday I stopped long enough to change some quilts around.  I put my Prairie Flower quilt on our bed.  The room is an explosion of patchwork!  Mr. Joe made the lights out of an old pair of snowshoes.  He can make anything!

The quilt hanging on the wall was in an old Quilt Sampler magazine from The Quilt House in Gardnerville, NV.  It is displayed on an old rake that I bought for $3.00 at a junk shop.  I'm always looking for things just like it to display quilts.

The quilt above the bed is my Emilie Elizabeth pattern.  The quilt at the bottom of the bed is called Sallie's Choice by Paula Barnes.  The pillows are a Thimbleberries pattern.

I have about a five hour drive ahead of me today so I'd better get cracking.  I'll post pictures over the weekend from my classes.  Have a great weekend! 

Soon,
Lynn

Alaska Cruise Part Two

Hello Everyone,

 

In my mind I'm still on vacation in Alaska.  In reality I'm knee-deep in paperwork for the company including orders, and doing battle with the new and improved website for the State Board of Equalization.  The new site virtually makes it impossible for me to pay the sales tax money that I owe.  While I'm on hold for the next 27 minutes, I will work on my blog post.  This is not the first time I've been on hold!

 

I'll turn my time to happier thoughts which include the second session that I taught on the quilting cruise to Alaska.  The group did an excellent job on their Row-Mancing Alaska blocks!

 

 

I grouped the blocks together since I had so many photos.

 

Here are some of the Aurora blocks.



 

One of the girls found this fabulous fabric for her Aurora block while shopping at a quilt store in Alaska.  Each center is going to be unique and so Aurora-like.

I love the pink trunks in the Black Spruce blocks! 

Here are some Gold Rush blocks.  One has a oopsie which will be fixed.

Midnight Sun blocks.  We experienced the midnight sun.  It was light well into the night.  I'm an early riser, but the sun beat me up every morning around 4am.  Most mornings I met up with my sister Gail at the International Coffee Bar.  We would have a vanilla latte and a pastry.  Boy did we get spoiled!

Here we have some Glacier Bay blocks.

Here is a photo of those quilters who showed up for the Session Two photo.

Well, while I was on hold trying to pay my sales tax, I managed to get this entire post completed.  Great frustration here on my part.  I spent way too much time trying to pay the State of California.  I should present them with a bill for my time!

I leave on Thursday for a road trip to Susanville, CA.  I'll be teaching Patchwork Math and Grammy Squares on Friday and Saturday at Country Pines Quilt Shop.  I'm looking forward to meeting new quilters, and seeing the fabrics in the shop.  Some of the fabrics may follow me home. This is a new area of the state for me to visit and teach. 

We had some good family time last weekend with kids and grandkids.  More good family times are planned for next week. We have to get all of our time scheduled before school starts in August.  Whatever happened to the days when school started AFTER Labor Day?  Now it begins mid-August which doesn't give us much time to be together.

I'm still working on the hundreds of Alaskan photos.  Be sure and stay tuned to see the one of me kissing a banana slug!

Soon,
Lynn

 

Alaska Cruise Part One

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm back and trying to return to normal life which includes cooking, cleaning, laundry......tons of laundry!  In a nutshell, the quilting cruise to Alaska surpassed all of my expectations.  My circle of quilting friends has grown and includes quilters from around the globe.

 

I'm organizing 427 photos just from my iPad.  I haven't downloaded anything yet from Mr. Joe's camera and the phone.  I could bore you to death with pictures of Alaska for the next month.....but I won't.  I'm going to begin with pictures from my first session, Country Sampler, aka Patchwork Math.

 



 

I had a wonderful group of 27 quilters for my first session.  In order to have everyone be able to see my examples and hear my techniques, I broke the group down into small groups of six to gather around my table.

 



We took up a large part of the dining room.  I had quilters spread out over two different areas. 

Not too shabby to sit and sew and have the Pacific Ocean right outside.

The group did a great job on their blocks!

Some bought kits, and some provided their own fabrics.

Same block, different fabric placement.

Everyone used their block layout sheets to organize their components.

While we were in Ketchikan, five of us were in the same shop together.  Look what followed all of us home...cute little nightshirts complete with a moose.  We bought them to wear to my retreat this Fall, but decided we needed to break them in during the cruise.  We called ourselves the Quilting Plaidettes.  We felt compelled to break into a few bars of North to Alaska.

 

Here's part of my group on the last day of the cruise.  Not everyone showed up for the picture, but I had a good showing of the girls and their work.

I want to thank Terry Caselton who spent countless hours pulling this cruise together and inviting me to teach.  I want to thank all of the quilters who signed up and cruised with me.  I also want to thank my sister Gail who circulated during the entire two sessions to answer questions and help me teach.

Alaska is an amazing place to visit.  I feel that we just had a little sampler platter of the towns along the coast.  We have so much more to explore inland.  My next post will contain pictures of Session Two.  After that, I will post a few select pictures of the Alaskan landscape.  Someone said, once you travel to Alaska, you are forever changed.  I've changed.

Soon,
Lynn

Cruise Updates

Hello Everyone,

I’m unable to post pictures to Blogger during the cruise.  You can check out my Sew’n Wild Oaks Facebook Page to see quilting related pictures of my classes.  I can always post of FB but not Blogger.....oh well.

The cruise has been an amazing experience.  I will post pictures upon my return.

We will dock in Ketchikan today and then we are off on an excursion to a Rain Forest, all you can eat crab feed, and a quilt shop or two.  Yesterday we were in Haines and went to Chilkoot Lake.  There are no words to describe it.

I promise to post pictures next week.

Soon,
Lynn

Action Packed Days

Hello Everyone,

What a busy, fun-filled three days!  We've been at the County Fair and on the ball field for three days.  We've had our fill of greasy fair food just in time to belly up to the buffet on the cruise ship. Elastic waistbands are good!

First things first, we wouldn't have missed the past three days for the world.  Family is everything to us. Watching our grand kids grow into good people is what life is all about.

Our biggest event was watching our Granddaughter Emily, win first place at the Alameda County Fair for Showmanship with her goat, Bama.  Our other Granddaughter Harleigh came in second for Showmanship.  We cried we were so happy for the girls and all of their hard work.  Can you tell the cousins are beaming! 

 

Some last minute grooming before "showtime".

 



 

Harleigh was awarded FFA Champion Market Goat for Quinton. 

 



The girls are going to say goodbye to their animals on Sunday.  I'm so glad that I'm not going to be around. I said my goodbyes today through tears. The FFA kids learn so much about the circle of life while they are in the program. Emily is spending every minute she can with Bama.  It is easier to say goodbye to the pigs.....but these goats have distinct personalities.

 

We also watched two of Jess' summer league baseball games.  Exciting times, great hitting, and good hustle behind the plate.



 

Tomorrow we set sail for the Quilting Cruise to Alaska.  North to Alaska.....the rush is on!  I'll try to post as often as I can while onboard.  I have a feeling we are going to be pretty busy.

 

Soon,

Lynn



 

Life in the Slower Lane

Hello Everyone,

I’m all packed and ready to go to Alaska.  Before I go, I’ve been enjoying life in the slower lane.  Slow lane for me is sitting down for about an hour and reading a good book.

All 48 kits were made and mailed.  Two quilts and two new patterns were finished.  I’m no longer waking up in a cold sweat wondering how everything is going to get done.  It’s done, and I’m ready to go.

We were going to head down to the city on Wednesday to catch the boat on Thursday.  The County Fair changed our plans when our granddaughter’s pig, called Half-Baked, won first place in his class.  Now, he’s going for Supreme Grand Champion this Wednesday.  We can’t miss that!

Here’s Harleigh with Half Baked.

Then our grandson’s summer league baseball team has been doing so well that he plays tonight and tomorrow night after sweeping all of their weekend games.  We can’t miss out on those two games.

Then tomorrow morning, granddaughters Emily and Harleigh are showing their goats at the fair.  We can’t miss that either!

So much for my life in the slower lane.

Soon,

Lynn