Gingham Farmhouse Quilt

 A few years ago I made couple of gingham baby quilts for a friend's twin granddaughters

And soon after, I made a third that our granddaughter has claimed

And I've made another here

And when I stumbled upon this print, I thought a gray and white quilt would be fun. As much as I love this print, I will say I struggled with the strings...so many strings! It's a Michael Miller fabric and this is the first time I've had a fabric produce so many strings. Still, I loved the print enough to deal with the strings.

Sandy used a gray thread and a design called Vortex

I backed it with this print because I thought a touch of red on the back was fun and I bound it with a gray.

In hindsight, it really wasn't the best choice because the background is an off-white and the front is a true white, but it's fine.

 It was made with love and someone will love it and that's all that matters.

It finishes at 68" x 80" 

I like the simplicity of gingham quilts so I'm fairly certain this won't be the last.

This one has not found it's forever home, but the kids haven't seen it yet. 😉

Playing With Scraps

When we moved last fall, my scrap basket was overflowing and I dumped everything in a large tote to make it easier to move. This 32 qt bin holds a lot of potential.
                                    

There's nothing like moving to make you wake up and realize just how much fabric you actually have. Well, maybe not YOU, but in my case, it was A LOT.

I made this quilt 

from this book a few years ago

 Recently I decided to make a few more from the same book and commenced to cutting down scraps

Then I saw that Bonnie Hunter recently posted a leader-ender challenge using 2" strips and I was already pulling those and cutting more.

I made 6 of the 4-Patch Fun blocks just to see if I'd enjoy making them - these are fun

so I'm kitting up more to keep next to my sewing machine

I'm also cutting 1.5"  and 2.5" strips as well as some 5" squares for a future project.

I'll be interested to see how much of a dent I can make this month. It looks like I'm going to be bellied up to the ironing board and cutting table for the foreseeable future

4th of July Recap

It's Sunday afternoon as I'm writing this post and I'm plumb tuckered out. It's too late for a nap so I'm trying to power through, but it will be an early night for Gram and Pap tonight.

Our little town (it's actually called a village) pulls out all the stops to celebrate Independence Day. The parade lasts an entire hour. 😂

But the streets are packed and the little ones are excited

The best way to celebrate is with family

Smokey is always on patrol

After the parade, we went to the ranch rodeo

We went both Friday and Saturday

It didn't take long for little E to make friends

You'd of thought they'd been friends for decades. 😂

We were tired at night, but thankfully we had excellent help with evening chores

She's become an expert scratch scatterer

The dirt pile patrol was on the job and determined to see the latest project complete

On Sunday, little E went back out with Pap while I cleaned up from breakfast and started pulling things together for Taco Salads

When I ventured out, she was playing in the water trough again. 😁 And no, she wasn't out there alone - Pap was there.

I always seem to return a dirty child back over to her parents.

                                     

But childhood and mud go hand in hand

When they came to join us for dinner, we were treated to a spectacular puppet show. Even Skeet was captivated.

Encore! Encore!

After she helped me make the bed this morning, she ran off saying, " No, it's not finished, properly. We need something..." When she returned, she clammored up on the bed announcing it was now, "Perfect. You and Pap need company so you won't miss me." 🥰

It was an exceptional weekend

A Really Good Combination

 

A deck + a mountain + a book + a quilt + a freshly baked Banana Nut Muffin + a mug of hot tea + green pastures + a slow, steady rain = the perfect morning. 

See, we DO know how to slow down. 😉