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

A Well-Traveled Quilt

Hello Everyone,

This is the reason I was excited and nervous at the same time.  Yesterday, I shipped my Country Courthouse quilt to France to be photographed for the Fall edition of QuiltMania magazine.

I'm not worried about her once she gets there.  It's the between here and there and back that worries me.

I really wanted to take her personally for her photo shoot, but shoot, who wants to travel now?  That's why the photo shoot was cancelled at my log cabin by the editor.

I hope she doesn't kick up her heels too much.  I also hope she doesn't end up with a staple in her navel, drink too much red wine, or eat too many baguettes.

I feel like I gave birth to her while I machine quilted around each and every log.  Now I feel like I sent my kid off to summer camp for three long months.

I'm acting like a nervous Nellie.  It's only a quilt, it's only fabric, it's only....my baby.  I'm going to suck it up, and just tell myself that I sent her off to France to finishing school.  In my mind that sounds to much better.

Soon,
Lynn

Machine Quilting Christmas Ribbons

Hello Everyone,

I loaded Christmas Ribbons on my long arm and let the machine quilting begin.  I'm going to be taking my time on this one as I slowly work my way down the quilt.

I felt as though I was in a machine quilting rut.  I wanted to learn more and try something new.  After watching several videos on YouTube, I decided to try curved cross-hatching in the setting triangles.  I purchased the entire set of rulers from Linda, at  The Quilted Pineapple.  I've had so much fun learning and quilting a technique new to me.  I'm extremely happy with the look the ruler achieved.  AND I'm extremely happy with the rulers!

I  accentuated the flange in the border by stitching a line 1/4" on each side, then added the feather.

This one is going to be slow going.  I'm not going to spend 8 hours a day machine quilting because I also want to work on Lovey Dovey.  I started stitching last night.

I'm fussy cutting the little 12 days of Christmas images which are going to be combined with other little 1-1/2" squares.  After I cut them, I pin them to a piece of cardboard from a fabric bolt.  This way I can keep everyone corralled and know what I have.

I'm also making 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" finished triple Churn Dash blocks.

All of the parts and pieces will eventually come together.....I hope.

When I get up in the morning, I'm anxious to begin my day with so many fun things to work on!  I have many things I HAVE to do, and many things I WANT to do.  Tomorrow, I'll post what I HAVE to do today.  Just a tease, it is exciting and a bit scary all at the same time.

Soon,
Lynn

Memorial Day

For those courageous men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice, thank you is not enough. 

We will always remember.

Lovey Dovey

Hello Everyone,

You've probably been wondering what I've been up to.  Well, here is one of the new projects that I'm working on for Henry Glass & Co.  The fabric is called "On the 12th Day" by Anni Downs from Hatched and Patched.

I had the fabric on display in my sewing room while I was working on other projects.  I was waiting for the fabric to speak to me, and tell what it wanted to become.  I have half yards to work with, so I'm going to have to be vigilant in my design so I don't run out.

I decided to focus on the Two Turtle Doves and make a table topper.  This bird house design is from my Party in the Garden Quilt.  Once I decided to make the birdhouse, my mind started clicking into overdrive.  I'm going to call my new design Lovey Dovey.  The fabric doesn't read "Christmas", so I can pretty much use this one year-round.

I really love the starch method of applique.  I find it so relaxing, enjoyable, and creative.
 

My favorite freezer paper for applique is CutRite Heavy-Duty.  It is the equivalent to at least three or four pieces of regular freezer paper fused together.  It is so thick, I use my light box when tracing my shapes.  Give it a try and you will become an instant convert.

Here's an update on our bear, who we've named Simone.....as in Simone Biles, the famous gymnast.  However, our little Simone did not "stick" her landing.  After I posted the picture on our neighborhood website, our neighbor told us Simone's cinnamon-colored, 300 lb mom was in his garage the day before.  Not once, but twice.  I would have closed the door after the first visit!  Simone's mom raided their bin full of dog food. Cinnamon-colored bears are rare in our area, so that's why we think they must be related.  Boy, when that bear showed up on our deck railing, it was a real Kodiak moment!  Okay enough puns, I can hear you groaning.

While I've been waiting for my thread order to arrive, I made the backing for Christmas Ribbons.  I cut up the remaining fabrics and made a scrappy back.  There will be a limited amount of kits available at two quilt shops.  Cloth and Quilts in Hilmar and In Between Stitches in Livermore.  The staff is working on the kits right now.  They aren't available just yet, but you might want to give them a jingle if you are interested in getting one.  If you are interest in just the pattern, it is available HERE in my Etsy shop.  If you don't "do" Etsy, you can always email me at sewnwildoaks@gmail.com and I can process your order.  I still want to make another one in reproduction fabrics.

I'll be posting pictures as I machine quilt this one.  I'll be up in my garage at the long arm this week.  Our weather forecast predicts our first taste of hot summer weather.  Now the question is, do I leave my garage door open while quilting?  I'll let all of your inquiring minds know with posts during the coming week.

Soon,
Lynn

Balance Beam Bear

Hello Everyone,

Look what we saw when we were preparing lunch today.  My phone was handy, so I snapped a few shots.  We are calling this our Balance Beam Bear.  We think this was our visitor the other night.

We gave it a perfect "10" for the routine it demonstrated for us on the beam.

The dismount however is another story, and only gets a "4", and that is being generous.

Take a look at the length of the claws!  This all transpired about 12:15 this afternoon.  See why I'm a bit reluctanct to go out walking by myself during the day?  Mazey and I wouldn't stand a chance with one swipe of those claws.

This gives us a whole new meaning to "Shelter in Place".

Soon,
Lynn

Bountiful Blessings

Hello Everyone,

I've been very busy over the past few days machine quilting Bountiful Blessings. I will finish the binding and the pattern writing this week.  I had fun with this one.

I machine quilted a tight stipple around the leaves.  The pieced leaves are intricate, yet easy to make.

It's a little hard to see all of the stitching in the sunflower.  Trust me it's there.

I used a variegated thread for the crosshatching in the borders.

I was pleasantly surprised when a box arrived from Air Lite Manufacturing.  They kindly sent all of the Henry Glass Ambassadors a sample of their batting.  They sent me a 72" x 93" piece of cotton/polyester blend.  I normally use wool batting for my quilts, but I didn't want to use wool batting in a table topper.  I am very happy with the results.  My Handi Quilter long arm just breezed over the batting.  It has a nice weight and feel.  It drapes beautifully on the table, and has minimal shrinkage.   I would definitely use their product again.  Thank you so much for sending me a sample.

"Autumn is Calling" is the fabric I used for this project.  The fabric was designed by Color Principle for Henry Glass & Co.  I'm looking forward to seeing this table topper on display this Fall, with my family gathered around, sharing a meal together.  We can only hope life will be better in the Fall.

Soon,
Lynn

A Look Back at Quilts on Display

Hello Everyone,

You know how memories pop up on you Facebook page?  This was a post of mine from six years ago that I thought you might enjoy seeing.  

I was heading off to speak at the quilt guild in Sonora.  Before I packed up the quilts, I decided to air them all out and take a picture on the deck railings.  What is interesting to me is that I have designed and made many more quilts over the past six years. The collection has doubled.

Someone asked me how I store all of my quilts.  That got me thinking about how I've displayed my quilts over the years, and I went back through my archives of quilt pictures taken at the cabin.

I hang them on farm equipment and fishing poles.

Every one of my quilts gets their picture taken on this old sled.

The quilts act as insulation in my sewing room and throughout the cabin.  My sewing room is not this tidy now!

I display them on old ladders.

They hang in the bathroom.

Over beds.

I even decorate the snow!

Mr. Joe made the wonderful lamps out of antique snowshoes.

Here's an upside down toboggan with a quilt on display.

This headboard is on the front porch, and greets visitors.

Those of you who have been following my blog know that this quilt, Country Courthouse, is going to be in the fall edition of QuiltMania.  The editor planned on coming to my cabin to do a photo shoot.  Well, I say planned because her trip was cancelled due to the virus.  Needless to say, I was very disappointed, but it does save me hours, and hours of cleaning!  Maybe she will come at another time.

I display quilts coming out of an old mailbox.  I rotate the quilts with the seasons.  Those not on display, are stored in an old armoire, waiting for their turn to come out of the closet.

I hope you enjoyed the mini quilt show from the privacy of your own home, in your pj's, sipping coffee......and it didn't cost you a dime for admission.

Soon,
Lynn

Mountain Musings

Hello Everyone,

Here is the latest fabric which I received from Henry Glass & Co.  The line is called On the 12th Day by Anni Downs from Hatched and Patched.  The line comes with a panel that makes into a 12 Days of Christmas book.  I'm not going to make the book, but I haven't decided just what I'm going to do with it yet.  I've been so focused on my Christmas Ribbons quilt, that I haven't had time to focus on this line.

Yesterday I loaded Bountiful Blessing on my long arm and started in.  The quilt measures 40" x 40", so it shouldn't take me too long to quilt it.  What I realized is that I need to practice more on my long arm.  I felt a little rusty yesterday when I took hold of the handlebars.  I haven't touched the machine since January.  This fabric line is called "Autumn is Calling" by Color Principle for Henry Glass.

It's a cold, rainy day here in the mountains.  This rain is great for fire season, so I'm not going to complain one little bit.  We will probably have the fire going, and just stay inside for most of the day.  Yippee.....I don't have to rake pine needles!

Soon,
Lynn

Country Sampler Pattern

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.  This was the strangest Mother's Day in history!  I, like you, would give anything to be able to wrap my kids, and grandkids in my arms.    When that day comes, it's going to be the best day ever.

Now to get to the matters at hand.  The following pictures are my Country Sampler quilt and design. This is the pattern that I taught on a Quilting Cruise to Alaska two summers ago.

It's a learning quilt pattern which reinforces the construction of the same components over and over again.  It looks much more complex, and detailed than it is.  I've been contemplating remaking this pattern using Betsy Chutchian fabrics.  I just need more hours in my day.

We found this old truck when we took the quilt out on a photo shoot.  It was the perfect backdrop for display.

Here is the picture that I have on the pattern front which I exported from EQ software.  I chose this picture for the pattern cover so you can really see what the quilt looks like.

Now I will get to the point of this post instead of making it look like a shameless, self-promotion of my pattern.  Sales have been very brisk on my Etsy site for this pattern.  When sales start to pickup considerably on one pattern, it usually means that a quilt shop, an individual, or the photo has been widely reposted on Pintrest, Instagram or Facebook.  I was curious, so I did an search on the Internet to see what I could find.

I found a picture of MY DESGIN on a Tee Shirt website.  You can buy a super king size quilt/blanket for $89.99!  No self respecting quilter would call it a blanket.  You can't purchase the fabrics for $89.99 to make the quilt.  Most importantly, did they get my permission to mass produce my design!!!  NO!!  There is also a tab on their website covering their copyright dispute policy in great detail.  This is just so irritating.

I don't think this is why sales have picked up on this pattern.  I never would have found it had I not be curious.

Now I need to decide what to do about this copyright infringement.  Is it worth my time, effort, and money to pursue a company that is most likely off-shore?  I would like to buy one of the "blankets" just to check out the shoddy workmanship, but I don't want to give them one red cent.

Most likely I will just sit a fume about this for a few days, (insert red face emoji with steam coming out of my ears), and chalk it up to imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Soon,
Lynn