A New Heritage

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year's Eve!

 

I'm spending the day in my quilting room and in front of the TV watching football.  This is going to be a great day!

 

I'm going to be teaching Heritage at Friends Around the Block quilt shop in Colusa in a few weeks, so I wanted to pull a couple of scrappy Heritage blocks together to show what can be done with the pattern.  Plus, I needed to brush up on the block so I don't appear to be an idiot while I'm teaching!  The shop is located in a former mortuary.  I hope the attendees don't die laughing during class! 

 

I've always wanted to make a scrappy Heritage.

 



The log cabin blocks will all be the same for consistency.  All of the star blocks will be different.  This is a great way to attack the ever-growing scrap problem in my sewing room.  I find I can use any color in a quilt if I separate them with black.

I love to select the fabrics for a scrappy quilt.  It can be painstaking, but it is so worth the effort taking your time and fussy cutting to get just the right look.  This quilt will be a combination of reproduction fabrics mixed in with non-reproductions.....an eclectic mix of color and patterns.

Here's the original Heritage.  The scrappy quilt is going to look entirely different. 

Soon,
Lynn

P.S.  If you are interested in the pattern, it is located on my Etsy site HERE.

Back to Normal Life

Hello Everyone,

 

The little boys have gone back home to their parents.  Now these grandparents are returning to our much slower way of life.  It is too quiet here!

 

To fill the void, I started cutting up this yardage for my first quilt show of the year held in Folsom the first part of February.  I purchased all of this yardage at Debbie's Quilt Shop in Paradise, CA in November.  Debbie has the best selection of reproduction fabric under one roof!

 

I'm making fat quarter towers of this assortment.  The bundles are comprised of fabric from Moda, Marcus and Windham fabrics.  I selected fabrics that fit my style from Prairie Basics, Antique Cotton, Shenandoah Valley, Party of Twelve, On Maple Lake and Old Cambridge Pike just to name a few.

I may put a couple of the bundles out on my ETSY site once I get them all cut, folded, and priced.  The Folsom Quilt Show runs over three days, so I have to have a ton of product to fill my booth.  I have to start now to get ready for the show or else I will be a mad woman at the end of January.

This weekend, my to-do list includes updating my calendar on my blogsite.  I hit the ground running in January with lectures and workshops.  I've had a wonderful few weeks off, and now it's time to start in again on my travel schedule.

We had so much fun with the little grandson.  They are 10 and 9.....the perfect age for adventure in the mountains and using their imaginations.

They were hit with gold fever while panning in the little town of Columbia.

They road shotgun on the Pony Express stagecoach.  The stage was also held up by a bandit during their ride.

They sang along with a country western singer that resembled Ed Harris.  Maybe he's adding to his retirement fund.

They went bowling.  Only the best and most modern bowling alley for our grandsons. 

They played in the snow at Bear Valley.  Two boys and a dog.  What could be better? 

We binge watched Diary of a Whimpy Kid movies.  I am now completely up to date and well versed on the bathroom humor of a 10-year-old.  OMG!  I can see why the boys like reading the books and enjoy the movies. I only dozed off once and they caught me!

It was three days of no video games, no phones, nothing electronic at all.  It was Lego's, playing Monopoly, sledding on pine needles and in the snow, building forts, and family time around the kitchen table.

Mazey is missing her boys.  If a dog can be depressed, I think she is.  If a Grammy can be depressed.....I think she is.

Soon,
Lynn

The Sons of our Sons

Hello Everyone,

I got so busy with the family for Christmas, I forgot to post and wish you all a Merry Christmas.  Now I'm wishing you all a Happy New Year!

We spent three wonderful days in Livermore with the entire family and enjoyed lots of eating, laughing, games, presents and hugs......let me mention eating again.  Now we are back at the cabin and we brought the two youngest grandsons with us.  After unloading the car, the boys immediately wanted to start assembling their new Lego kits with 1,000 pieces.  They each have their own table to carry out the construction.

Mr. Joe went outside to check around the property and saw these large, what we think are bear tracks, leading up to the deck.  I guess the animals partied on the deck while we were gone!

The boys wanted to roast hot dogs for dinner.....so we did. Hot dogs with macaroni and cheese is the dinner of champions. Tonight pizza or spaghetti......whatever their little heart's desire.

We watched the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Long Haul movie, then the little guys headed off to bed.  They were tired after playing outside and working on the construction of a fort in the woods.  Mazey sticks with them like glue, and is their early warning defense system when it comes to critter alert.

As soon as the sun comes up, I'll head outside and bring the game camera inside to see what was wandering around last night.  Mazey was going ballistic around 5am so we know something was prowling around.  We've learned to recognize her different barks, growls, and howls for different four-legged and two-legged animals.  This morning I think her bark signified something bigger than a bread box!

Today we are headed to the little town of Columbia.  It is a nicely preserved Western town complete with blacksmith, and a Pony Express office offering stage coach rides.  The boys don't know it yet, but the stagecoach always get "held up" by bandits.  The entire main street of town is a State Park and is completely closed to traffic.  We'll wander around the old buildings and also do some panning for gold.

The little boys are 10 and 9.  They are the sons of our sons.  For us it is like stepping back in time to the days when we had two boys.  For some reason, these two are much better behaved!

Soon,
Lynn