Lovey Dovey is Now Available

Hello Everyone,

My pattern for Lovey Dovey is now available in my Etsy shop by clicking HERE.

I'll be teaching this 45" x 43" wall hanging at my Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat which starts tomorrow at Snowflake Lodge.  It is going to be so much fun to have this wall hanging on display throughout the Spring and Summer months.

You may have heard on the news that Etsy has upped their transaction fees to sellers by 1.5%.  I am NOT passing this additional outrageous charge on to the customers in my shop.  I will absorb this fee and write it off my taxes.  The Etsy community of sellers is in an uproar and some sellers have suspended their shops.  I am not suspending my shop, but I did let the CEO and CFO know my thoughts about the increase.  I'll get off of my soapbox now.

On another note, the cabin was surrounded on two sides by a family of bears night before last.  Here are their tracks leading up to our deck.

This is a good comparison showing you the size of the prints.  Mazey was in 7th heaven tracking the prints with her nose.  She looked like she was part Bloodhound and I expected her to "tree" a bear when she went out for her morning visit to the powder room.

We think the mama and two cubs were the owners of the tracks.  The Goldilocks story continues at Wilder's Last Resort.  The bears put the "wild" into the name of the cabin, and my company name of "Sew'n Wild Oaks".  The air horn is at the ready.

Soon,

Lynn

 

Lovey Dovey is a Wrap

 Hello my quilting friends,

I haven't posted in a week because I've been at my long-arm quilting Lovey Dovey.  The binding is on and she's in the finish column.

I hung the wall hanging briefly outside to take a picture on the front porch.  The squirrels have been known to gnaw on my quilts and steal the batting to make their little nests comfy. That isn't going to happen to this one!

In the big picture of the entire quilt, you can't get a feel for the machine quilting.  I took this picture while it was on the long-arm so you could see the level of detail.  The borders are a bit different with the addition of a 1/2" flange which frames the quilt nicely.  That 1/2" makes a big different in the overall look.  Does it take more time? Yes.  Is it worth the effort?  YES!

I love how the center of the quilt turned out.

The corner treatment is also a bit different.  Could it be that I was too lazy to miter the corners and make sure the flanges (or is it flangi) line up?  That would be my guess.  I had extra blocks so I thought I may as well use them and that's my story.

I'm teaching this quilt at my Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat which starts on the 24th of April.  Yesterday, I worked on the pattern and all of the tutorials for my class.  This is a fun wall hanging to make.  The churn dash blocks are easy-peasy.  The checkerboard is easy.  The applique takes a bit of thought.

In addition to retreat preparations, I've been working with the graphic artist and designer at Marcus Fabrics on my very own line.  It's an amazing process and I'm learning so much.  

When Spring arrives, the bears arrive.  Or maybe it's because we are outside more that we notice them.  Yesterday during our lunch on the deck, two bears ambled through our yard like they owned the place.  If they start hanging around too much, I'm going to ask them to start paying rent!  We also had two small bears on our deck the other night.  Mr. Joe and Mazey had just come inside from Mazey's last trip to the powder room before bedtime.  We heard a thump on the deck, and upon investigation there were two bears gamboling on the deck.  I've always wanted to use the word gamboling and I finally got my chance!  They weren't gambling, they didn't have little visors on in a smoke-filled room holding a royal flush.  They were frolicking on our deck.  It could have been dicey if Mr. Joe and Mazey had run into them outside.  As Mr. Joe and Mazey came in through the front door, the bears were at the back door. YIKES!

Early last night, my sister Gail sent me this video taken in front of her cabin.  I'm an equal opportunity bear-sharer type person, and sent one of our bears over to her cabin a mile away.

During our walks around the neighborhood, we always carry an air horn.....especially during this time of the year.

Soon,

Lynn

Lovey Dovey Progress

Hello Everyone,

I'd forgotten just how relaxing it is to work on an applique project.  I had so much fun going through my stash of Betsy Chutchian fabrics, and finding the perfect fabric for each petal and ribbon.

The paisley fabric for the birds' wing couldn't have been any better.

Today is going to be a red-letter day.  I looked up the meaning of a red-letter day and it is; a day that is pleasantly noteworthy or memorable.  Today is noteworthy because the FedEx truck is going to deliver my production samples from Marcus Fabrics. I will turn the production samples into the production of the new Block of the Month for the fabric company.  

The only problem is.....I can't show the fabrics to you yet.  Take my word for it, you will LOVE the new line from Judie Rothermel for Marcus Fabrics.

I'm going to clean up my quilting room this morning, and get ready to revel in the new fabrics.  I looked up the word revel and it is; to enjoy oneself in a lively and noisy way, especially with drinking and dancing.  So perhaps revel is not the appropriate word here.  How about I say that I am going to immensely enjoy working with the new fabrics, and make my new design come alive. Drinking and dancing will be optional.  Maybe I'll dance like no one is watching.  

The birthing process begins today.  It will be a labor of love.

Soon,

Lynn

A Quilting Snow Day

Hello Everyone,

Mother Nature is keeping a tight grip on Winter in the Sierra Nevada range.  She doesn't want Spring to arrive just yet.  The best thing about snow, other than the fact that it fills our reservoirs, it makes the perfect day for quilting.

I made all of the first borders for Lovey Dovey. 

Remember all of the little 1-1/2" squares that I had on my butterfly board?  Well now they are all stitched together.  Mr. Joe calls this a butterfly board since I'm attaching all of the squares to cardboard with a pin, and have them on display like captured butterflies.  Ask you local quilt store if you can have an empty bolt, and then you can have a butterfly board too to wrangle all of the little squares.

I may work on the applique today.  I'll see what I feel like doing later on after breakfast.  I haven't appliqued in so long, I'm probably a bit rusty.

It was so snowy that I decided to move my sewing machine out of my sewing room, and set it up in the dining room.  Here I can have a 180 degree view of the snow.  An added benefit is that it is warmer too.

After a extremely snowy morning, the clouds parted in the afternoon, and treated us to beautiful, crystal blue sky.  All of the trees looked like collapsed umbrellas just waiting to deploy.  When they do decide to deploy, you have to be on the lookout or you'll get a load of snow dumped on you.  It's 23 degrees at this writing at 7:30am, so the umbrellas/trees will not be deploying into a full-blown trees until it warms up!

This is my favorite time after a storm.  It is so quiet, crisp, clear, and every branch and twig has been painted with snowflakes sparkling in the sun.

Now we can go for walks after dinner with the start of daylight savings.  This is the lake were we spend a lot of time during the summer with the grandkids.  Just the though of putting my big toe in that lake sends shivers up my spine.

Here is that same spot earlier in the day.  Mazey and I took a spin around the block before lunch during the height of the storm.  Mazey was doing her best impression of an Iditarod dog while she pulled me along the trail.  It was quite an exhilarating walk! 

 

I'm not quite ready for Winter to be over. I love a good storm as long as I don't have to drive in it.

I'll leave you this morning with a picture of a Dr. Zhivago sun and a landscape caught in the grip of ice and snow.  Of course there wouldn't be power, cable, or telephone lines in Dr. Zhivago!   

Soon,

Lynn
 

Mountain Musings

 Hello Everyone,

The calendar, and my daffodils are telling me Spring is right around the corner, but Mother Nature begs to differ.  We received another 6-8" of snow on Wednesday which makes for perfect quilting weather.  Mazey loves to frolic in the snow.  Her fur attracts powdery snow like a magnet, and she ends up with little snow dingleberries hanging from tummy to tail.

On Tuesday we headed out for a hike along the Arnold Rim Trail and watched the snowstorm roll up the spine of the Sierra Nevada mountains.   It's quite thrilling to watch the clouds, listen to the wind, and feel the temperatures plummet like a stone.  It makes all of your senses come alive.....in addition to keeping a lookout for bears along the trail.  The closest we came to a bear was a large pile of recent scat.   Mazie's senses were on overload as she pulled at the leash while investigating every inch of the trail.  For every one mile that we hike, she travels at least three times more crisscrossing back and forth across the trail investigating under every fallen tree, and around every rock.

During the snowstorm, I spent time in my quilting room cutting 204, 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" squares for a project.  These little squares didn't make a noticeable dent in my Betsy bin.

I want to do a remake of my Lovey Dovey wallhanging.  This time I'm going to be using fabrics by Betsy Chutchian.  I also think this will be a good project for my three retreats later on this year.  That means I also have to write the pattern.

Speaking of pattern writing, that's what I've been working on for days/weeks now.  There is an elevated level of effort working on a pattern for a block of the month program.  The pattern is turning into a sizeable book.  I can't show you my design, but I can tell you about it.  The center of the quilt has 16 blocks, which are the same design, but the fabric placement is unique to each block.  So, each block requires its own page in the pattern.

I've been in constant contact with Marcus Fabrics while we develop this BOM together.  Seeing what goes on behind the scenes to bring a BOM to fruition, has been quite educational.  Marcus Fabrics pays great attention to every detail, and so do I.  I should be receiving the fabrics by the end of the month, and I can't wait to dig in and follow along with my directions.

This has been a busy time of year with the completion of the dreaded taxes.  We have to drive to the neighboring town to visit with our accountant and sign on the dotted line.  Pulling everything together was a huge job off of my plate, and I have a giant sense of relief that they are done!

I hope you have a great weekend.  Most likely between time spent at the computer writing directions, we will be taking a hike in the snow with Mazey and her dingleberries.

Soon,

Lynn

Lovey Dovey Flimsy

Hello Everyone,

It's been a busy week here at Wilder's Last Resort.  Lovey Dovey is now a flimsy and reading to be loaded on my longarm.

I think this is a sweet, little wallhanging.  It's only 31" x 31" and fits out on my front porch perfectly. Anni Downs designed the fabric called, "On the 12th Day" for Henry Glass & Co.  Each triple Churn Dash block has a fussy cut center in the 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" block.  It's pretty tiny so you have to get up very close to see it.

 
I've been machine quilting Christmas Ribbons and should be able to finish it this weekend if I really work at it.  There is a lot of ruler work, and it takes me forever!  With all of the bears walking around our area, I've been quilting with the door closed instead of wide open.  This winter it was too cold to machine quilt out in my garage, now it's too hot to machine quilt.  It makes me sound like Goldilocks.  I would have loved to have the big door wide open, but I didn't want to invite any unwanted furry visitors inside to inspect my machine quilting.

Soon,
Lynn

Lovey Dovey

Hello Everyone,

Thanks to the help of my sister, I have a whole pile of 5" Triple Churn Dash blocks for Lovey Dovey.

I would never have been this far along in the process without her help.  I've been working on the applique and the checkboard border.  All of the parts and pieces are made, now I just have to get it all put together once the applique is completed.

The fabric is called, "On The 12th Day" by Anni Downs for Henry Glass.  Each of the centers in the Churn Dash blocks have a little fussy cut image from Anni's fabric.  The line doesn't "read" Christmas to me, so the pattern isn't in keeping with a Christmas theme.  I will be able to use this table topper throughout the year. It could also be a small wall hanging.

We hadn't seen our daughter and twin granddaughters since the beginning of March. Last Sunday, we met partway in the little community of Copperopolis for lunch.  Not too many get the chance to have a Brahma bull stop and visit you at your outdoor table while enjoying lunch.  We all got a real kick out of it. 

When our daughter got back to her community of Livermore, in the San Francisco Bay Area, she texted me about the potential for rioting, and looting in her town.  They were ordered by the Alameda County unified mass notification system to stay at home due to civil unrest.  In my daughter's text, she asked if she could come back to the mountains because all she has to worry about is a guy taking his bull for a walk.

However, while we were gone, our neighbor took this picture right by our cabin.  Had I been in the garage machine quilting with the door open, I just may have had a visitor.  I do feel much safer here in the mountains, bears, bulls and all, instead of living in a city.....and that's no bull!

Soon,
Lynn

Christmas Ribbons Kits

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that two quilt shops have prepared kits for Christmas Ribbons.

Kits are available at In Between Stitches  and Cloth and Quilts. Check out both of the shops to see what other goodies they have available for you to purchase.  They are both great shops staffed by wonderful people.  They are my go to quilt shops.

My sister is here today, and I'll be putting her to work on Lovey Dovey.  She is going to work on the checkerboard border for me while she's here.  Now you know there will be a flange on the center section!  I can't make a quilt without a flange.

I did a lot of fussy cutting to center the little images in the 1" squares.  The fabric is called "On The 12th Day" by Anni Downs for Henry Glass & Co.

This morning I tracked my quilt heading to France.  She is in Indianapolis, Indiana this morning.  She has a long way to go before reaching her destination.

Soon,

Lynn

Lovey Dovey

Hello Everyone,

You've probably been wondering what I've been up to.  Well, here is one of the new projects that I'm working on for Henry Glass & Co.  The fabric is called "On the 12th Day" by Anni Downs from Hatched and Patched.

I had the fabric on display in my sewing room while I was working on other projects.  I was waiting for the fabric to speak to me, and tell what it wanted to become.  I have half yards to work with, so I'm going to have to be vigilant in my design so I don't run out.

I decided to focus on the Two Turtle Doves and make a table topper.  This bird house design is from my Party in the Garden Quilt.  Once I decided to make the birdhouse, my mind started clicking into overdrive.  I'm going to call my new design Lovey Dovey.  The fabric doesn't read "Christmas", so I can pretty much use this one year-round.

I really love the starch method of applique.  I find it so relaxing, enjoyable, and creative.
 

My favorite freezer paper for applique is CutRite Heavy-Duty.  It is the equivalent to at least three or four pieces of regular freezer paper fused together.  It is so thick, I use my light box when tracing my shapes.  Give it a try and you will become an instant convert.

Here's an update on our bear, who we've named Simone.....as in Simone Biles, the famous gymnast.  However, our little Simone did not "stick" her landing.  After I posted the picture on our neighborhood website, our neighbor told us Simone's cinnamon-colored, 300 lb mom was in his garage the day before.  Not once, but twice.  I would have closed the door after the first visit!  Simone's mom raided their bin full of dog food. Cinnamon-colored bears are rare in our area, so that's why we think they must be related.  Boy, when that bear showed up on our deck railing, it was a real Kodiak moment!  Okay enough puns, I can hear you groaning.

While I've been waiting for my thread order to arrive, I made the backing for Christmas Ribbons.  I cut up the remaining fabrics and made a scrappy back.  There will be a limited amount of kits available at two quilt shops.  Cloth and Quilts in Hilmar and In Between Stitches in Livermore.  The staff is working on the kits right now.  They aren't available just yet, but you might want to give them a jingle if you are interested in getting one.  If you are interest in just the pattern, it is available HERE in my Etsy shop.  If you don't "do" Etsy, you can always email me at sewnwildoaks@gmail.com and I can process your order.  I still want to make another one in reproduction fabrics.

I'll be posting pictures as I machine quilt this one.  I'll be up in my garage at the long arm this week.  Our weather forecast predicts our first taste of hot summer weather.  Now the question is, do I leave my garage door open while quilting?  I'll let all of your inquiring minds know with posts during the coming week.

Soon,
Lynn