Memorial Day 2024

 Hello Everyone,

I love this picture when Mazey was a little puppy.  She was just as sweet now as she was then, 10 years later.

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook page and I thought it was so significant and true.

As luck, or timing, would have it, I'm reading The Women by Kristin Hannah.  The book follows a 20-year-old Army nurse who does two tours in Vietnam.  I'm down to the last 50 pages and I've been reading when I should be quilting. This book has made a profound impact on me and it's one to be remembered for a long time to come.

The first half of the book is about her time in Vietnam, and the second half is about her assimilation back into life in the US.  

I grew up in a very sheltered, small town in Northern California.  I listened to Huntley & Brinkley every night or Walter Cronkite and heard about the horrific things going on an entire world away.  Had I been male, I would have been focused on my draft number instead of who was going to be my date for prom. I went to the local library to find out where Vietnam was located.  The World Book Encyclopedia was not updated very often, and all I could find was French Indo China.

I didn't know it at the time, but my then to be husband enlisted in the Air Force and volunteered to go to Vietnam.  Mr. Joe was a jet mechanic and they needed helicopter mechanics, so he was passed over.  His life and my life would have taken a dramatic change in the blink of an eye.

Remember freedom......with every breath you take today and every day.

Soon,

Lynn

Happy July 4th

 Hello Everyone,

Happy 4th of July.  Crank up the barbecue and get ready to celebrate with a sale on my Etsy site for Zinnie's Choice.  Today, through Saturday July 6th 2019, my Zinnie's Choice pattern will be on sale.  Click HERE to take advantage of the lower price.

 

The quilt looks more complex than it is.  I see a square in a square, flying geese, and half-square triangles in this block.

 

There are double flying geese in this block.  The double flying geese are fun to make with clear instructions.

The quilt only contains the components in my Patchwork Math book.

 

I love to decorate with this quilt.

 



Mazey claimed this quilt early on when she was in her puppy stage.

 



Deborah from Michigan, sent me a picture of her Zinnie's Choice with the modification at the top of the flag.  I love it!

 

We are hoping and praying there will be absolutely no fireworks here in the mountains. There are always a few idiots out there who think it's fun to shoot firearms into the air, along with some illegal fireworks.  It makes me cringe.  The fear of fire is overwhelming at this time of year.  Even though we had a banner year for rain and snow.......it is now very dry.

Let us all hope and pray that all of the leaders in our country will come together and work in a bipartisan manner to form a more perfect union.  A union that would make our founding fathers proud.

Soon,
Lynn

Classes in Colusa

Hello Everyone,

 

I just returned from my 5-day road trip beginning with a workshop in Stockton, CA, and ending with two classes at Friends Around the Block quilt shop in Colusa, CA.  I taught Country Charmer and Cute as a Button in Colusa.

 

Cute as a Button was first up on Friday.  There are lots of little 9-patch sections to this little quilt. It all begins with cutting strips......lots of strips.

There were many 9-patch blocks born during class.

Then they started coming together.

The classroom at Friends Around the Block is very large, and the lighting is wonderful.

Saturday, was Country Charmer day.  Some of the girls worked on their Gold Rush blocks for my Romancing Alaska pattern, and some worked on the same block for Country Charmer.  I include a block layout sheet for my patterns that have a lot of pieces.  I call it the map to your success.  You begin by laying all of the pieces on the sheet, then take the sheet next to your machine and start stitching.

 

Mary came into the shop to show me her Country Sunshine quilt.  I taught this quilt in November in Colusa.  The fabrics she used were very directional.....and she has everyone going in the correct direction.  Well done!

My sister Gail was determined to get her Zinnie's Choice quilt together and into flimsy status.....and she did!  She had all of the parts and pieces made, she just needed to stitch them together.

Great attention to detail.  No "points" were lost in the making of this quilt.

Tomorrow I'm teaching an applique class at Quail's Nest in Sonora.  This is the block that we are going to work on from my Party In The Garden pattern.  If the class doesn't want to make the entire quilt, they can turn this block into a small wall hanging or a pillow just in time for summer. 

It feels good to be home with my dog and husband.  I think Mazey missed me the most.  She just about turned herself inside out when I walked through the front door.  Mr. Joe was a bit more reserved.  If he jumped around as much as Mazey did, he would now be in traction.

Soon,
Lynn

P.S. All of the patterns that are featured in this post are located in my Etsy shop.  Just click on the word ETSY toward the top of the blog post to enter my shop.

Zinnie's Choice Class Was In Session

Hello Everyone,

 

It's been  a fun, and busy teaching week for me.  Wednesday, Zinnie's Choice class took place in the classroom of In Between Stitches.  Here are just some of the results from the class.

 

The girls learned how to make the four components that make up this block.

They were like sponges, soaking in the information and learning precision quilting.

Some beautiful quilts were being born during class.

 

Tomorrow, July 15th, I'll be at Ladybug's Quilt Shop in Manteca for their 12 Days of Christmas. You are welcome to join me anytime between 10am and 1pm for a mini trunk show and an abbreviated Patchwork Math presentation.  I'll be presenting a new component continuously throughout our time together.  Come on by and check out Ladybug's wonderful selection of fabrics, patterns, wool and projects.  Ladybug's is a "gem" of a quilt shop.  Just my style!

 

In addition, I will show you how to make this intricate, little block in Checkerberry's tummy.

 

The day I finished this pillow, it started to snow.  It snowed, and snowed.  I took it out for a photo shoot and you can see the flakes falling in the picture.  It even looks like he's throwing a snowball! 

 

Hope you all have a great weekend.

 

Soon,

Lynn

 

 



 

 



Happy 4th of July

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm going to celebrate our nation's birth by giving away my Zinnie's Choice pattern.

 

 All of the components in this quilt are taken directly from my Patchwork Math book.

Zinnie's Choice is named after our beautiful Golden Retriever, Zinnie.  She liked nothing better than running through the mountains and playing in the high country lakes.  I was making this quilt when she passed over the rainbow bridge.  This was the only one of my quilts that she stepped on, rolled on, then ran off with a block in her mouth.  She would wave that red, white, and blue block like a rodeo queen during opening ceremonies.

 

We now have the holy terror, Mazey.  Given the opportunity, she will steal every block I make.  Forget the block, she will steal the entire quilt and drag it off to her bed.

Here's Mazey all grown up.  She's not as well behaved as her sister Zinnie, but we love her to pieces!  One of these days she will grow out of the never ending puppy stage.  Year three and we are still waiting for that transformation into adulthood.

 

I will be teaching Zinnie's Choice at In Between Stitches on July 12th. I guarantee we will have a fun day of learning the techniques used in this quilt.

 

To enter the contest, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post.  Make sure you leave an email address so I can contact you.  I will announce the winner on Friday, July 7, 2017. All decisions are final and Mazey will be selecting the winner.  So it's time to start sucking up to the holy terror!

Soon,
Lynn

 

Zinnie's Choice Update

Hello Everyone,

 

Yesterday on our way home from the cabin we stopped at a little park in Murphys for a photo shoot for Zinnie's Choice.



 

It's a cute little park with a stream, gazebo, and picnic tables.  I knew it would be the perfect spot to showcase this quilt.

The flag was already there in the planter.....karma.

Right before we left the cabin, I read a comment on my prior post from JB.  She said,

"Hi there. Just a question on your quilt pattern... when flags are hung the way the image appears in your last picture (i.e. with the long side vertical), isn't the blue field with the stars hung to the top left?"

JB is absolutely correct!  This is the picture I posted of the quilt.

 

Mr. Joe and I immediately searched to find out the proper way to display the American flag.  We learned so much and we have JB to thank. With a little copy and paste, below is the correct way to hang a flag vertically. The blue field with the stars (the union) should be displayed in the upper left hand corner. 

 

When the flag is hung vertically, say from the ceiling in a gym, you have to have the union on the left after deciding where the viewers will be when they first see it.  Those sitting on the other side of the gym will view it backwards, like my quilt! 

 

All the way home from the cabin we looked at flags, of which there were many along the route.  The majority were displayed the correct way. The union must always be on the observer's left.  Thank you JB for bringing this important information to my attention. Now I'm going to include this same information in the pattern.

 



I'm also going to suggest this layout as an alternative if you want to hang the quilt vertically as well as horizontally.

My quilt will always be displayed, and fly proudly horizontally from now on.

Thank you JB for educating me.  I'm so glad you posted your informative comment.

Soon,
Lynn