A Precious Story

 Hello Everyone,

I'm going to tell you just the sweetest story of a wonderful happening at the retreat at Lake Tahoe.

I have to go back and lay some groundwork.  I grew up in Paradise, CA, the infamous town that burned to the ground in 2018.  Our home, which had been in the family for six decades burned to the ground.  Luckily the renters living there were able to escape the flames and got to safety.  My son loved that little cottage in the woods and planned on moving there when he retires from his job with the city of Pleasanton.

I was so distraught with the loss of my community that I knew I had to do something, so I raffled off one of my quilts, Emilie Elizabeth, to raise money for the community.  I contacted the Paradise fire chief, and he gave me names of first responders who lost their homes while battling the fire. I also had many friends who I'd known since kindergarten who lost everything. The trick was finding out where the people had relocated so I could send them a check.

Checks began arriving in response to my raffle.  Money arrived from all over the world.  The winning name was drawn at the first meeting of the Paradise Quilt Guild after the fire in January of 2019 where I was asked to speak.  This was the cover slide for my talk.

The winner of the quilt was Deborah, from Ann Arbor, MI.  I contacted her via email, and she said that she had been thinking that if she was lucky enough to win the quilt, she wanted to donate it back to be raffled off again! So, she did. 

She also said that she would love to attend one of my retreats.  So, plans were set in place for Deborah to come to California in the Fall of 2019, stay with us at the cabin and go to the retreat.

Upon her arrival, we became friends in a nanosecond, and we've been good friends ever since. She has been in attendance at of my retreats every year since 2019.

Deborah had never been to Yosemite, so off we went to show her the spectacular views of this incredible location.

She really wanted to see a bear while we were in the park.  At the end of the day as we were driving out of the park, she saw a bear for real!  We really did see one!

She is a big Michigan football fan, and since we love to watch a good game, we enjoyed watching a Michigan game together.  We were so surprised when Michigan scored, and Deborah jumped up off the couch and sang the entire Michigan Fight Song.  We roared with laughter!

Our utility supplier turned the power off prior to the retreat in 2019 due to high winds and great potential for fire.  We turned the cabin into a soup kitchen to feed the quilters as everything was closed down in town.

Deborah rolled up her sleeves and started cooking.  You can see her right in the middle of the kitchen keeping a close eye on the stove.

Fast forward to this year.  During my retreat at Lake Tahoe, Deborah presented me with an Emilie Elizabeth quilt which she made to replace the quilt I raffled off!  She made it using my Hearthstone fabric.  This surprised me more than when she jumped up and sang the fight song!  There wasn't a dry eye during our show and tell.  I was speechless and that doesn't happen very often.

The label is over the top!

I will always treasure the Emilie Elizabeth quilt Deborah made for me. Our friendship is stitched together and bound firmly with love. 

Soon,

Lynn

 

Mountain Heirloom Quilt Faire

 Hello Everyone,

I'm very busy getting ready for the Mountain Heirloom Quilt Show in Angels Camp, CA.  The 3-day show begins on October 18th and ends on the 20th.

I'm printing patterns and cutting reproduction fabric bundles for my booth.  There was a time when I did TEN shows a year.  That ship has sailed, and this will be my second show of the year.  Next year I will only do one show.

This show is a bit different for me.  I will be doing two, 30-minute lectures a day at 11am and 2pm.  The first lecture is called Finessing the Figures and will be at 11am.  I will be teaching you the math behind some of the most common quilting components so you can make them any size you want for blocks, sashings, and borders.

The second lecture will be at 2pm and I will talk about the process of designing fabric for Marcus Fabrics.

The show will have vendors, a boutique, food and you can view a lot of quilts.

Tickets will also be available for our scholarship quilt made by Diane Mitchell.

The funds raised from the scholarship quilt go to graduating seniors to continue their education.

It will be 3 days of fun and a feast for the eyes!  Please come to the show and stop by for a hug.

Soon,

Lynn

More Quilting Inspiration

 Hello Everyone,

Here are some more images showcasing the creativity of this amazing group of women at the retreat at Zephyr Point.   There was a parade of Bridle Path quilts.  Barbara showed off her quilt with the incredible border she created.

Barbara's creative addition of the border was amazing.

Melody finished her quilt....and she was quick to point out that she finished before her best friend Barbara!

Debbie finished her quilt too. I LOVE seeing all of these finished beauties!

Several of the girls were making their blocks for Bridle Path.  I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of all of the blocks that were being created in the room.  I must have been napping!

The following images are just a small snapshot of what the girls were working on throughout the retreat.

Lynn J. finished all of her sashings for A Ribbon Runs Through It.

Beth worked on For the Love of Baskets.

Gail was helping Julie arrange her beautiful blocks for Country Sampler.

Pam has a nice stack going of these blocks.

Mary was working on a row by row quilt.

Paula worked on her Lucy Boston blocks.

Pauline was so proud of her double flying geese components in her block. Once she completed a set, she just kept on making them!  Pauline is making my Christmas Ribbons pattern using my Hearthstone fabric line.  I love it!

Valery is making a queen size Country Samper.  She has a BOX full of beautiful blocks.  I can't wait to see this one finished.

There's just something about basket blocks that I love!

Lisa worked on her gorgeous applique block.

The following are just a few random shots of our days at the retreat.  Here I am with Candace.  Our love of quilting brough us together online and we've been good friends for years now.  We've cruised together with our husbands to Alaska.  In another post, I will show you what Candace gave me that I'm unwrapping. The tears flow when we have to say goodbye.

Quite often, we would go outside and gaze at the lake and chat while drinking our morning coffee.

Quilters helping quilters.  There was so much sharing of information and in the room.

Tina was the proud winner of a fat quarter bundle of my Gentry's Mill fabric.

I still have more pictures of the retreat, so stay tuned throughout the week.

Soon,

Lynn