Retreat Day 1

Hello Everyone,

I only have time for a quick post with a lot of pictures.  The quilters migrated north to the mountains in Northern California yesterday for the beginning of the Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat at Snowflake Lodge.

As soon as they got set up, the machines started to hum.

The visiting and sharing of projects began.

More on this beauty later from Claudia.

Ann will have her Scrappy Leaves quilt finished by Fall.

We left the Lodge and came down to my cabin for an appetizer dinner.  Oh man, oh man, we've never had so much delicious food!

Some of the girls braved the cooler temperatures and ate outside.

I can tell this is going to be a great group of women!

Soon,

Lynn

Lovey Dovey is Now Available

Hello Everyone,

My pattern for Lovey Dovey is now available in my Etsy shop by clicking HERE.

I'll be teaching this 45" x 43" wall hanging at my Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat which starts tomorrow at Snowflake Lodge.  It is going to be so much fun to have this wall hanging on display throughout the Spring and Summer months.

You may have heard on the news that Etsy has upped their transaction fees to sellers by 1.5%.  I am NOT passing this additional outrageous charge on to the customers in my shop.  I will absorb this fee and write it off my taxes.  The Etsy community of sellers is in an uproar and some sellers have suspended their shops.  I am not suspending my shop, but I did let the CEO and CFO know my thoughts about the increase.  I'll get off of my soapbox now.

On another note, the cabin was surrounded on two sides by a family of bears night before last.  Here are their tracks leading up to our deck.

This is a good comparison showing you the size of the prints.  Mazey was in 7th heaven tracking the prints with her nose.  She looked like she was part Bloodhound and I expected her to "tree" a bear when she went out for her morning visit to the powder room.

We think the mama and two cubs were the owners of the tracks.  The Goldilocks story continues at Wilder's Last Resort.  The bears put the "wild" into the name of the cabin, and my company name of "Sew'n Wild Oaks".  The air horn is at the ready.

Soon,

Lynn

 

This and That

 Hello Everyone,

I was so happy when Justin Hancock, the owner of Hancock's of Paducah asked if they could display A Ribbon Runs Through It in their shop during American Quilter's Society (AQS) show in Paducah this month.

Hancock's of Paducah has kits available for this quilt.  If you are interested, you can see the kits by clicking HERE.  I would love to go and visit their shop and see the show. Maybe I can head back to Kentucky at another time, but not this month.

Thirty-two quilters will be pulling into my little community to attend my Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat beginning this Sunday.  I've been so busy getting ready for their arrival that I've totally neglected my blog.......and just about everything else too.

I've been making more kits for Cute as a Button.  When I make kits, the entire great room is an absolute mess with fabric scattered all about.  The ironing board is up and at the ready, and the dining room table is covered with 2-1/2" strips of fabric.  Those kits are now done.

Then I decided to make more Peek-A-Boo Pumpkin kits.  The cabin looked like an Autumn bomb exploded from all of the orange fabric strewn around.

All of the product that I sell for the retreat is now packed in bins and ready to be displayed. 

I'm down to writing my last tutorial for the little paper-pieced houses.  I LOVE making these little 3" houses, but I have to refer to my directions every time I sit down to make them.  They aren't hard to make.  You just have to wrap your head around paper-piecing to get them right.

I try to offer something for everyone at the retreat and cover many different quilting techniques from applique, piecing, paper-piecing, project bags, and Patchwork Math.  We will be a very busy group for four days.

It was so pleasant waking up this morning to the sound of rain.  We are experiencing a late Spring storm dumping a lot of snow on the mountain passes and plenty of rain here at lower elevations.  During the months of January, February and most of March we didn't receive a flake of snow or a drop of rain. We went over 60 days with no precipitation of any kind.  Hopefully this late storm will put fire season off a bit longer.  

I'll try to post throughout the retreat so you can see what the girls are up to. I can hear all of the laughter now!

Soon,

Lynn

Vinyl Project Bags

 Hello Everyone,

I only have time for a quick post this morning to show you the kits I've been putting together for the vinyl project bags.  This is one of the projects I'm offering at my Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat at the end of the month.  It is the first of four retreats for this year. 

My friend Candace made the three bags on the right.  I made the one on the left.  They are so much fun to make, and they are so easy to make.  I love mine for storing my specialized quilting rulers and other tools.  They measure 13" x 13", and they hold a lot!

I made just enough kits for the retreat which will be in full swing in 2 weeks.  YIKES I have to get so much more done between now and then.  I think the kits look like cute little Easter bunnies.

Each kit includes the batting, vinyl, directions, a yard of fabric and an adorable little matching zipper pull.

Last week we were dining on the deck in the warm weather.  Today we are watching the snow fall, and it looks like it is going to be a stormy week ahead.  I call it cozy quilting time.

Soon,

Lynn

The Sashing Tutorial is Posted

 Hello Everyone,

The tutorial for the sashing is now up and running on my blog for A Ribbon Runs Through It.

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Click HERE to access the tutorial.  The tutorial "tabs" for A Ribbon Runs Through It are at the top of my blog page.  I will leave them active and available for years, so don't worry about it disappearing before you have a chance to complete your sashing units.

Soon, 

Lynn

Lovey Dovey is a Wrap

 Hello my quilting friends,

I haven't posted in a week because I've been at my long-arm quilting Lovey Dovey.  The binding is on and she's in the finish column.

I hung the wall hanging briefly outside to take a picture on the front porch.  The squirrels have been known to gnaw on my quilts and steal the batting to make their little nests comfy. That isn't going to happen to this one!

In the big picture of the entire quilt, you can't get a feel for the machine quilting.  I took this picture while it was on the long-arm so you could see the level of detail.  The borders are a bit different with the addition of a 1/2" flange which frames the quilt nicely.  That 1/2" makes a big different in the overall look.  Does it take more time? Yes.  Is it worth the effort?  YES!

I love how the center of the quilt turned out.

The corner treatment is also a bit different.  Could it be that I was too lazy to miter the corners and make sure the flanges (or is it flangi) line up?  That would be my guess.  I had extra blocks so I thought I may as well use them and that's my story.

I'm teaching this quilt at my Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat which starts on the 24th of April.  Yesterday, I worked on the pattern and all of the tutorials for my class.  This is a fun wall hanging to make.  The churn dash blocks are easy-peasy.  The checkerboard is easy.  The applique takes a bit of thought.

In addition to retreat preparations, I've been working with the graphic artist and designer at Marcus Fabrics on my very own line.  It's an amazing process and I'm learning so much.  

When Spring arrives, the bears arrive.  Or maybe it's because we are outside more that we notice them.  Yesterday during our lunch on the deck, two bears ambled through our yard like they owned the place.  If they start hanging around too much, I'm going to ask them to start paying rent!  We also had two small bears on our deck the other night.  Mr. Joe and Mazey had just come inside from Mazey's last trip to the powder room before bedtime.  We heard a thump on the deck, and upon investigation there were two bears gamboling on the deck.  I've always wanted to use the word gamboling and I finally got my chance!  They weren't gambling, they didn't have little visors on in a smoke-filled room holding a royal flush.  They were frolicking on our deck.  It could have been dicey if Mr. Joe and Mazey had run into them outside.  As Mr. Joe and Mazey came in through the front door, the bears were at the back door. YIKES!

Early last night, my sister Gail sent me this video taken in front of her cabin.  I'm an equal opportunity bear-sharer type person, and sent one of our bears over to her cabin a mile away.

During our walks around the neighborhood, we always carry an air horn.....especially during this time of the year.

Soon,

Lynn