Fresh Flowers Baby Quilt

 One of the first fabric collections I bought when I began quilting was Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain for Moda. I dug through my archives to find the quilt I made with it back in 2012

I ended up donating it for a family fundraiser, but I hung on to the scraps and finally dug them out in 2019. I saw a design on Pinterest I loved and began sketching out the block to make the best use of the fabric I had 

and it turned into this fun baby quilt that finishes at 46" x 46":

I used a turquoise for the border and this orange/yellow dot for the binding - both from my stash:

Jackie quilted dragonflies across it - the perfect choice as I backed it with a yellow dragonfly print I bought at Joann's years ago:

I didn't quite have enough so I added a strip of yellow sketch I found in my scraps:

A fun, bright finish to add to my baby quilt stash!

Adventures in Africa Quilt

Ever since we came back from our trip to Africa, I've been wanting to make a Safari quilt. Hard to believe it's been 6 years since we visited Zimbabwe. I made this one a few years ago, but donated it as part of a fundraiser:

And I still had a collection of fat quarters destined for another quilt. 

DH isn't as obsessed with the quilt making process as I am...imagine that- LOL - but I still wanted his input when I was searching for a pattern. He said he doesn't give advice. He just has opinions. Grin. I took pictures of 8 possibilities and scrolled through them with him. He settled on this one right away:

It said it was a free pattern called Mingled, but the link is a dead end. I contacted the designer, but didn't receive a reply so I just printed off a photo and set about deconstructing it. Since it was a free pattern at one time, I didn't feel too badly about doing so, but I'm not sharing measurements as I want to avoid any copyright infringement. It's really a simple pattern that would make great use of a jelly roll. I'm not sure how big of a quilt it would make using a jelly roll, but I love the pattern, pulled a jelly roll from my stash, and intend to find out soon.

Meanwhile, this time around, to quote a blog reader who left a comment on a previous post when I shared these fabrics - I am taking a walk on the wild side! I commented back that our wild days are long gone and staying up past 9 is about as wild as it gets around here these days.

I started piecing this in January 2019 - around here quilts have a long incubation period. 😉 This is going to be a snuggle quilt so it doesn't have to be huge, but long enough to cover from ears to toes so I settled on an 8x10 setting, making it about 70x85.

I backed it with a cuddle fabric so that it would be extra snuggly and Jackie added the perfect quilting with a pattern called Savannah:

I bound it with a leopard print because I had yardage of it left to use:

It may be October before the mercury dips low enough for us to break it in, but it will be ready and waiting for that first chilly day:

And it'll bring back fond memories of our time spent in Zimbabwe:

Away From the Dirt Road...Again

 I've been away from the ranch again. I scheduled my last post and headed out for Texas the next morning - Tuesday. My parents' estate sale was slated to begin on Wednesday and go through Saturday. I stayed with the neighbors - they've visited us multiple times and Daddy called them 'the kids' as they are a little bit younger than my parents and they truly have become family. One evening we sorted through Daddy's stamp collection:

Spent one morning, after walking, cleaning out the storage room behind the greenhouse - Bob pulled everything out while we walked and then we hauled it up to the garage:

I walked with them in the mornings and although the company was fabulous, the humidity wilted this desert rat:

One morning we walked 3 1/2 miles in the rain and came back soaked but it was a light rain and we laughed when the sky opened up and it poured as we walked up to the house:

I didn't hang out at the estate sale - just popped in each day to touch base with them:

Saturday was the last day of the estate sale and I donated what remained to the Assistance League - we helped pack up on Saturday, they finished up on Sunday and they came to pick things up on Monday.

A group of mom and daddy's friends wanted to get together for one last toast and round of stories before the house went on the market and then we walked across the street to one of their homes for a steak supper (everyone brought a dish)

Had an appointment with our financial advisor on Monday.

Met one of mom's friends for dinner one day and another had me over for supper.

Had a cleaning crew come in and clean the house on Wednesday to ready it for showings. The realtor scheduled interior photos for Thursday.

Headed back home on Wednesday.

And now I'm running on empty, but after 8 days, I am elated to be back home:

Quite Contrary Hourglass Baby Quilt

 Well it took 7 months, but I finally have my first quilt finish of the year to share.

I started quilting 12 years ago and this is one of the first fabrics I bought and I probably bought 4 or 5 yards of it. I loved it and I still love it today. It was called Quite Contrary and I made a lot of baby quilts with it. I've finally come to the end of it with this little quilt and it may very well be my favorite:

I think this is a good way to showcase a favorite print that isn't directional - this is a better shot of the fabric on an earlier quilt 

                                         

I just pulled coordinating fabrics from my stash and made hourglass blocks. I used a pink striped flannel for the back and a dark pink with flowers on it from my stash for the binding. This peek of the back shows the cute pattern Jackie quilted across it:

I made this quilt a few years ago, but it's been at Jackie's for a while. It finishes at 42 x 52 and is patiently awaiting a sweet little baby:

Catching Up

 The sun has set and it's past my bedtime, but I thought I'd pop in and post a few shots from the last few days. 

Seems we were on the go, but I think lots of you were too. We spent Friday with friends' at a fish fry:

They built the neatest outdoor room I've ever seen with a kitchen on one end, a fireplace on the other, and sliding partitions on one side:

I took Summer Berry Pie:

And  Texas Caviar:

Robert has ruined fried fish for us forever because no place that offers fried fish can hold a candle to his. He and his wife are gems and we had such a good time that I didn't take any other pictures. It  was close to midnight when we got home - it's been a long time since we stayed out that late. Had to pencil in a nap.

On Saturday, DH and I smoked a chicken, mushroom skewers, corn on the cob, and green chiles. You'll have to take my word for it - it was delicious. I took a picture, but I haven't a clue where it went. I'm falling down on my blogging responsibilities so how about a picture of the Shish-Kabobs from Thursday:

Then on Sunday we headed to the mountains to see his folks. We went to a ranch rodeo where we caught up with friends, ate a really good green chile cheeseburger, and had a good visit with his folks. His mom didn't want to have her picture taken so I respected that, but grandpa was fair game. 😉 

His horse was lame so DH spent some time working on his feet:

And this is my favorite picture from the weekend:

Times like this are priceless. It was a good weekend and we woke up to this on Monday morning:

Making a good weekend, perfect: