More Midnight Lace

Hello Everyone,

I was able to spend time in my sewing room yesterday and made some more blocks using the Midnight Lace fabric by Paula Barnes for Marcus Fabrics. 

It has been fun working with this fabric line.  It lives up to the name of Midnight Lace as it has a very lacey look to it. The pattern is my Christmas Ribbons pattern.

I haven't decided if I'm going to do a grouping of four to make a table topper.

Or I may make a table runner.  Actually, I want to make another block and just keep going on this one with the limited amount of fabric that I have.

The sorting and purging have been going well in our house in the Bay Area.  We've been spending 2-3 days a week at the task.  I have decided the best way to get organized is to give everything away!  Actually, we pack up boxes and then I try to figure out how to incorporate the items at the cabin.  I'm reaching overload in more ways than one.  That's why it was nice yesterday to switch gears and do something fun for a change.

I have an update on my fabric line that I've been working on with the graphic artists at Marcus Fabrics.  The line and my new Block of the Month are going to be released earlier than expected.  This means I put my design hat on and designed a quilt which I absolute LOVE!  I can't wait to get the fabric and dig into the creative process.  I have several quilters waiting in the wings to help me make the quilt once I receive the fabric.

The decision has been made on the final designs of SKU's for the line.  Now sampler yardage needs to be printed overseas before it receives the final FINAL okay from Marcus Fabrics and from me.  To tell you I'm SEW EXCITED is an understatement!  

I was on a ZOOM call the other day with the designers at Marcus Fabrics and management.  To be included in a call with so many designers that I've admired for so many years was over the top exciting for me.  I am so honored to now be part of the Marcus team.  

I'm going to start writing the pattern in between packing and sorting.  This pattern and the writing are different than anything I've done in the past.  There is going to be a story to the quilt included in the pattern...and that's all I'm going to say about it.  I think you are going to like it.

My real life story about how I became a fabric designer shows that you are never too old to reinvent yourself and become what you've always wanted to be when you grow up.  Now I need to put on my big girl panties and live up to my own expectations.

Soon,

Lynn

 

A Different Twist on Christmas Ribbons

Hello Everyone,

One of the many perks of becoming a designer for Marcus Fabrics is the fabric they send to me. This beautiful selection of fabric arrived the other day along with so many other goodies.  The line is called Midnight Lace by Paula Barnes.

I have always wanted to see what my Christmas Ribbons pattern would look like made in a different colorway.  Here are all of the components placed on the block layout sheet which is included in the pattern.  The block really is quite easy to make.  It doesn't have a lot of pieces compared to some of my blocks.

Here's the original Christmas Ribbons in Christmas fabric.  I wanted the sashing to look like a ribbon with a little bow in the corner post.

Here is one block made with the new fabrics.  I really love the look!  I don't have enough fabric, or enough time to make a full-sized quilt, but I would like to make a 4-block table topper with it.

Life has been very busy for me here under the pines. There's my fabric line in the works, along with another block of the month, and several new designs utilizing my very own fabric line from Marcus Fabrics.  To add to my current state of mind and upheaval, after 35 years of having our home in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are cleaning it out so our eldest son and his family can have a larger house to live in.  Our youngest son has been living in the house for the past four years after he experienced a very nasty divorce.  After the divorce, he ended up with the children but little else.  He got the best end of a bad deal. We let them move to our house, and we moved to our cabin. Now, our youngest son is going to set up housekeeping with his love.

We have boxes in the house that we never unpacked when we moved there in 1987!  The cleaning out started in earnest yesterday.  Our daughter-in-law, son and grandson started helping us.  We had four piles, keepers, garbage, garage sale items, and give aways.  Our car is packed with boxes of "stuff" that I want to save and take to the cabin.  Over the last few weeks, I've been sorting through things at the cabin and have the same four piles going.

Our kids have an app on their phones where they can take a picture of something and find out how much it is worth on Etsy or Ebay sites.  They had so much fun checking on prices for some of our "stuff".  My daughter-in-law is very computer literate and is in charge of posting items for sale online.  Any proceeds will go to updating the house.

The average price of a home in our "city" area is $1.2 million.  How can young couples live here?  Our kids all have good jobs but buying a home in this area is completely out of the question.  So, in with the young, and out with the old.....Mr. Joe and me.  This was totally our decision as we LOVE living in the mountains.  When we make the 2-hour drive down to the flatlands, we can't wait to get back to the slower pace of mountain life.

The city house is large enough for us to still have a bedroom when we venture out of the mountains.  My DIL loves to entertain, so she will now be hosting all of the holiday festivities, and we will have a place to stay.  That was all part of the deal, and they agreed to it wholeheartedly. 

So, wish me luck over the next few weeks.  There will be a lot of driving back and forth with "stuff".  I still have to keep my business running and I need to get ready for the next three retreats.  It's going to be a very busy summer. It's a good thing I'm a Spring Chicken!

Soon,

Lynn