A Tisket A Tasket

 Hello Everyone,

I've been making twenty of this little cutie pie 5" finished blocks this week.

My sister has been making thirty-two of these 5" finished little cutie pie blocks this week.

They are going to be so cute together in my secret project.  Marcus Fabrics recolored my Hearthstone fabric line into a bright colorway, and I have enjoyed working with this new line.  Over fifty yards arrived from South Korea last week and I was blown away when I opened the box.  I LOVED what I saw!  What do you think about that plaid? The new line is called Laurel Ridge, and it will be in shops in the Fall.  

I want to thank the talented graphic artists at Marcus Fabrics who make me look good and bring my ideas to life!  Now if they could just photoshop my picture and make me look twenty years younger!

This has been an emotional week which deserves its own post at another time.  We lost two friends and went to one Celebration of Life, with another Celebration of Life soon. Also, my cousin went to heaven this week.  That's three and that's enough.  I'm almost afraid to answer the phone.

Appreciate this day that we've been given to enjoy.

Soon,

Lynn

Missing in Action

 Hello Everyone,

The sewing machine has been humming along under the oaks and pines.  I'm putting the borders on this beauty this weekend.

This is a large quilt that required an accurate border measurement while it was on the floor.  I can get down on the floor without a problem.....it's getting back up that poses a problem. I have to make sure there is something that I can cling to, to get upright again.  About 6 weeks ago I had to get a cortisone shot in my knee.  My knee was protesting the entire time I was crawling around on the floor.  My knee is much better than it was, and I know the swimming and water aerobics have strengthened it.

Lots and lots of exciting things are going on at the cabin.  A heavy box containing over 50 yards of my next fabric line arrived.  I can show you only a peek at one of the SKU's from Laurel Ridge.  This line is going to surprise you!  Over the next few weeks, I'll be working with the line and can show you little snippets. 

I also have another new line coming out after Laurel Ridge, and it's called Gentry's Mill.  There's never a dull moment under this roof!  

On another note, my granddaughter who just graduated from ASU with a degree in film is going to be filming me while I present my quilting tutorials.  We bought her the video camera she wanted for graduation to help jump start her career.  She has all kinds of wonderful ideas for my quilting tutorials.  We got to laughing so hard on the phone, she suggested she needs to make a 'blooper' video.  All of the filming will be done in different rooms and out on the deck at the cabin.  It would be just perfect if a bear just happened to wander by during the filming. Maybe I could put Mr. Joe in a bear costume...not.  I don't want him to get shot!

We try to go to as many of Jess's rodeos as we can.  We'd planned on going to the rodeo in Oakdale yesterday until the start was moved up to 7am due to the extreme temperature of 104 degrees.  We would have had to leave the cabin at 5:30am to get there.  His time was 3.15 seconds to bring the steer down which is a great time, but seven of the boys posted better times.  Just like the Olympics, a fraction of a second makes a huge difference.

He really wants his own horse, but that's not going to happen, so he has to be content riding his friend's horse.  His friend purchased a retired Mexican Dancing horse which I expect to break out into a Salsa Dance at any moment!

I'm going to be knee deep in borders today.  I'll make the backing tomorrow, then my project is ready to go to the machine quilters on Thursday.  Then on to the next fun project!

Soon,

Lynn    

Afternoon Break

 Hello Everyone,

I'm on a roll getting this quilt ready to send off to the machine quilter.  I decided to have a professional tackle this one for a couple of reasons.  Time is of the essence for one thing, and I'm a slow machine quilter.  The other main reason is that my machine quilter is so creative!

I've been getting up between 4 and 5 every morning.  I quilt or applique, answer emails, and do whatever needs to be done before I leave the house at 7:45 and go to the pool for lap swimming for 45 minutes then water aerobics.  The early bird gets to pick any lane of their choice!  Most mornings I have my own private pool.

In the distance, you can see all of the smoke from the controlled burn that settles in every night.  The air quality has not been the best.

Yesterday, I took a quilting break, and we headed three miles up the road to have lunch at Calaveras Big Trees State Park.  We'd heard they have an excellent food truck there.....and they do!  I had a delicious Mediterranean Chicken Saled and Mr. Joe had a Chicken Pita sandwich.  

It was so peaceful sitting by the big meadow while enjoying our lunch.  The birds were talking to us the entire meal.  The sky was so blue, and the smoke was gone.

Today we have our annual homeowner's association meeting at Snowflake Lodge which includes a free lunch.  I have a hot dog about once a year and today is the day! Sometimes they just hit the spot.

Soon,

Lynn

Smoky Mountain

 Hello Everyone,

I can only show you little snippets of my newest project which incorporates a bit of applique with pieced blocks.

I'm so irritated with myself.  I stitched the red block in with the wrong orientation.  The seam ripper will be out and in use today.  Of course, it is almost smack dab in the middle of the quilt!

I'm making good headway on the quilt and on the pattern writing.  This quilt is going to be offered in two different colorways, so the directions need to be written two different ways which is an extra level of effort.

I woke up early this morning to the very strong smell of smoke.......not a good way to start the day. I didn't panic because I knew there is a controlled burn just three miles away at Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

Unfortunately, the controlled burns have been known to get out of control.  The burn scars are still evident along the highway.  What's so bad about the smoke is that it is warm out and we want to open the windows.....not a good plan today.  The smoke is always much worse in the morning.

  

Saturday morning, Mazey sounded her early warning bear siren, and I immediately became alert.  A bear was walking across the back of our lot and over to the neighbors.  Sunday morning when I was hanging the bird feeder out, a wild turkey came running over to me for his breakfast.  About an hour after that when I was in our lot next door, two small bucks came over to see me.  I was actually hiding behind a tree as they can be more aggressive than the bears.  Later on that afternoon when we were on our afternoon walk around the track at the elementary school, a bear ran across the meadow by us.  I think I need to change my perfume or change my name to Grammy Doolittle!  I saw wildlife all day long.

I'm finishing up the applique on my project early this morning.  It has been fun stitching the blocks together to see this quilt come alive.

I'm off to the pool at 7:45am.  I swim laps for 45 minutes with my kickboard then I stay in the pool for another hour for water aerobics.  This is something I do for myself even though there are days when I don't feel that I can spend the time in the water.  The exercise really helps my old, arthritic knees and I just plain feel so much better!

Do something totally for yourself today.  Swimming and quilting are a wonderful way to start my day! 

Soon,

Lynn