Drumroll Please!!!

 Hello Everyone,

As written through the paws of Mazey.

Boy, did I have to work hard today.  My forever parents held the drawing for the fat quarter bundles of "Journey to America" fabric.  I've been the very impartial judge before, so I know the routine by now.

First of all Mom wrote numbers on my doggie cookies.  I'm wondering if it is safe for me to ingest cookies marked with a Sharpie.  Oh well, if I can eat decaying mystery meat from the forest, I guess a little Sharpie won't hurt me.

I know that I have to wait patiently while Mom and Dad get their act together to take pictures of me while judging.  I'm only 6, so do you know how much self restraint this takes?

I decided I would execute a sneak attack around the perimeter of the doggie cookies.

Then I walked around to the other side.  During this entire judging time, I was pelted with pine needles from the incoming storm.  Luckily for me, the pine needles match my natural hair color.

I can't forget this side too.  I selected 8 winners, and yippee, skippy I ate all eight of the winning numbers.  My Dad tried to get them away from me......not a chance Dad!  My Mom is giving away 4 bundles on this blog, 2 bundles on Facebook, and 2 bundles on Instagram.

So they had to put out all of the cookies in numerical order to find the winning numbers.  I'm so young, I guess I didn't like selecting the higher numbers.  I can't read past three digits you know.

So the winners of this fabulous fabric line graciously donated by Marcus Fabrics to kick off the release of my newest "Crossing the Pond" pattern are:

Joanne wrote:  As always a beautiful quilt and now the fabrics to go with it.

Joyful Quilter wrote:  Bribe?  How about I offer to let Maisie chase my cat?  The pattern and fabrics are lovely.  

Linda C wrote: Beautiful fabrics and a lovely quilt.

Jan Hutchinson wrote:  You are such a talented designer.  I enjoy seeing your new designs.

So you lucky winners, please email your address to me - sewnwildoaks@gmail.com   I will get your box of loveliness in the mail to you.

  

Lynn here now, I wrestled the keyboard away from Mazey.  I want to thank everyone who entered the contest.  You have all been so supportive of me in my quilting journey, and wrote such kind words.  I also want to thank Marcus Fabrics for making this giveaway possible. Mr. Joe and I read each and every comment over breakfast.  I have to tell you, when I read the comment from the Joyful Quilter, I almost choked on my oatmeal!  We howled with laughter....pun intended.  Don't we all need more laughter in our lives?  

This was so much fun, I'm going to have to do this again.....

Soon,

Lynn

Lesson Learned

Ahoy Mateys,

This is how I spent my day working on my new "Crossing The Pond" pattern. I put all of the blocks on my design wall and started attaching the sashings to my blocks......so I thought.  The ship on my journey was totally blown off course.

I always tell my students to make a "pilot" or test block before you continue with the entire quilt.  My blocks are perfect.  My sashing measured exactly 10-1/2" which it was supposed to be.  So I was good to go to start putting everything together.....right?  Sew, sew wrong!

My sashing didn't line up perfectly with my block.  Could it be that this "math lady" made a huge mistake?  I checked and double checked my math, and sure enough, my perfect sashing didn't line up with my perfect block.  This "math lady" deserves 10 lashes with the cat o' nine tails. I think 10 lashes with a wet noodle would be more appropriate.  I felt like a wet noodle by the time I finished disassembling and re-cutting a few pieces for each sashing section.  Then re-assembled the sashings.....which I will continue to work on today.  

Part of my nautical knowledge base today is about the cat o' nine tails.  When not in use, it was stored in a bag.  Hence the term "the cat's out of the bag".  "Not enough room to swing a cat" also derives from this.  I was dodging the cat all day long!

The seam ripper came out and spent the day with me out on the deck while I ripped and ripped some more, then started remaking the sashings.  It is a good thing that Marcus Fabrics produce a high quality fabric with very little fraying.  I pressed all of the parts and pieces to remove the wrinkles and seam lines, and I was good to go to insert the new pieces and start over.  (Boy, I wish I could iron myself and remove the wrinkles!)

This is how it should look.  Much better now and I no longer have that sick to my stomach feeling when I look at my design wall.  I think I had a huge case of seasickness.

So I learned a huge lesson yesterday, which I vow never to repeat.  My ship is back on course, my sails are harnessing enough wind to power me across the ocean, and I'm back to "Crossing The Pond".  I'm no longer at the bottom of the sea in Davey Jones' Locker.

Soon,
Lynn

Journey to America

 Hello Everyone,

Yesterday was a red letter kind of day.  A box arrived from Marcus Fabrics containing the entire Journey to America fabric line by Judie Rothermel.  The line commemorates the 400th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower, and the beginning of the Plymouth Colony.  The collection was created in a collaboration with the Old Sturbridge Village Museum.

When I saw the fabric on the Marcus website, I downloaded all of the images and started working on a new design in EQ8 software.  I have a good working history with Marcus Fabrics, so I felt very comfortable sending them my new design.  

This fabric will be the backing.  Since my background is Geography and Cartography, this is right in my quilting wheelhouse.  I'm going to name my new design "Crossing the Pond".

This sweet little notecard was included in the box.  Such a nice, personal touch.

I can't comprehend the courage of those intrepid 102 Pilgrims who set sail aboard the Mayflower.  Only 53 survived the trip.  Just four of the 53 were adult women.

This is going to be a special quilt, dedicated to those brave souls on the Mayflower.  This quilt is going to be a journey for me, and I'm bringing all of you along for the voyage.  If you read between the lines, you know that means it's going to be intricate, and a quilt filled with lots of little quilting components.  There might be times that I get stuck in the doldrums, and other times when it's smooth sailing along the journey.

The ship set sail yesterday with the first cutting of the cloth.  I'll be working on it in between several other projects.  Wish me luck with time management, and may the wind fill my sails.

Bon voyage,
Lynn