The Christmas Ribbons Flimsy

Hello Everyone,

Many long days went into the making of my Christmas Ribbons design.  I'm very happy with the final outcome.

Mazey is pleased too.  We took the design wall out on the deck to get a picture in the early evening light.  After I quilt this, we will drive up to the high country and take a picture of the quilt in the snow for the pattern cover.  Ebbetts Pass is a 1-1/2 lane road running northeast up and over the Sierras. The pass should be open in the next couple of weeks.  There will be lots of snow around the 9,000' level.  Mazey will have a ball playing in the snow in May.

No matter which way you place the borders, the stripes will never match up.  I had only one yard of each of the fabrics, and I made the most of each yard.  I literally only had scraps left from some of them.  My stack of fabric was running on fumes by the time I finished.  Note the flange.....I can't make a quilt without a flange.  I think that little flange really adds a nice, powerful pop to the border.  Yes, it takes a lot more time and effort, but it is worth every minute.

I'm going to take a quilting break today and attend to a messy quilting room.....before I start in on the next project for Henry Glass & Co.  The next project is going to be entirely different.

I would say have a great weekend, but every day feels like the weekend.  So I'll say, make the most of the days ahead.

Soon,
Lynn

Christmas Ribbons Update

Hello Everyone,

Here is my progress on Christmas Ribbons. What you can't see is the pattern is almost completed too!

Now that's the exciting part for me.  Every morning I spend a couple of hours at the computer working on the pattern, and that investment in time is paying off.

I just need to make a couple of more blocks, more sashings, and a couple of pinwheels, then I can start putting this quilt together.

I have to dust off my long arm and start the backlog of flimsy's that need to be quilted. I'm so glad the weather has warmed up so I won't freeze to death quilting in my garage. No fancy quilting studio here.  I have to make do with the space that I have. First up is Bountiful Blessings.  This pattern too, is almost done.

This imposed isolation has been good for my quilting mojo.  I've been making use of every minute of the day.

On another note, I was taken down by an ant the other night.  Yes, an ant.....a very, very big ant.  About 7pm, we headed out for a walk around the neighborhood with Mazey and our airhorn.  With fewer people in the area, the forest critters are taking back their territory.  The airhorn is our only protection except for a Golden Retriever who wants to play with anything furry.

Anyway, as I've said before, we live on a hill.  We have to walk up the cement stairs by the side of the garage, to get to the street. As I was walking,  I stopped on the stairs to squash a big carpenter ant.  When you live in a log cabin, carpenter ants can really give us problems.  Squashing that ant made me stutter-step and threw off my cadence going up the stairs.  I tripped and fell, and my right cheek made direct contact with the edge of the cement stair ahead of me.  (The cheek on my face, not my other, well-padded cheek that would have bounced!)  Luckily for me, I didn't have my hands in my pockets, and I was able to break the fall....somewhat. Mr. Joe immediately got me a bag of crushed ice, and I sat in the recliner nursing my wound, my pride, and contemplated my klutziness.  No swelling, but it does look like someone gave me a nice, left upper cut.  Luckily for me I can self-isolate and lick my wound.  It all happened so fast.  One minute you are upright, the next minute you are seeing stars.  I'm calling this ant karma.  That ant got the best of me, and I'll think twice before I step on another one again.

So watch your step today and avoid ants at all costs.

Soon,

Lynn

Christmas Ribbons

Hello Everyone,

Here is my progress on my new Christmas Ribbons design.  I've been wearing my Madam Ambassador hat for Henry Glass & Co while I work on this quilt.

The little posts in the sashing tie it all together.  The extra little "pop" of red in the center on the pinwheels is just stinkin' cute!  The fabric is called Holly Hill Christmas by Mary Jane Carey for Henry Glass Fabrics.

The block measures 10" finished.  The entire quilt/wall hanging will measure about 42" x 42".  I say about, because I'm not sure how wide I'm going to make the borders.

Normally when I make a new design, I take detailed notes and then decipher the notes, and put them in the computer.  This time, as I do a section, I'm writing the pattern as I go.  This pattern is now in great shape in my computer, and is almost finished.  It takes me forever to do all of the graphics and write the pattern.  I spend the first hour of my day, working on this pattern.  I'll be ready to hit the ground running when this fabric is released.

Over the past month I've been setting up a new computer.  It's a pain to get everything transferred over to the new one, and learn a new system.  One morning, I worked for several hours on this pattern.  I went back to it in the afternoon, and couldn't find the file!  I finally located it in "the cloud".  I didn't know I had an option of saving it directly to my computer, and in Never Never Land.  Crisis averted, but I had a few anxious moments.

On another note, I've discovered a dual use, and unexpected reason to wear the mask that I made and wear when I'm grocery shopping or at the post office.  It holds up my double chin.....both of them.

Soon,
Madam Ambassador