Log Cabin Cowboy Quilt I Did Not Make

 My sister-in-law was up at my in-laws' recently and my MIL was agreeable to parting with a few quilting related items. Once my MIL began to get irritated, they stopped, but she said she wanted me to have this quilt top. I am honored. She doesn't remember making it, but she absolutely did. At 102"x 118", it is huge. 

I need to hunt for a backing, but It's just a hodge podge of so many old western prints combined into one fabulous scrappy quilt! 

We're thinking she made it about 20 years ago so the fabrics are probably 20-50 years old or whenever western fabrics were first produced.

 I don't know if low-volume prints were a thing back then, but she found some great ones to include 

She hand quilted every single quilt she ever made and part of me is considering doing the same with this one. Is that the crazy part talking or should I have it machine quilted?

I could use your input. My SIL is a quilter and she thinks it's crazy to hand quilt it. 

I'm on the fence....and of course it's barbed wire so I'd like to pick a side because it's a tad prickly up here. 😂

Tropical Twist Quilt

Last year I spent a few days cutting down my scrap basket for 2 quilts from this book

I finished the first one back in March. You can see that post HERE

And this is the second, little sister, quilt. It's called Knots & Chains in the book, but I'm calling it Tropical Twist

It's hard to see the quilting, but Sandy used a design called Spring Fling on it

At 62"x62", it's just a small lap size, but it packs a big punch with so many fun colors & prints.

So many happy low-volume bits and pieces

The hummingbirds were quite smitten with it

We probably have close to 60 birds and they are eating us out of house and home.

They really are the most fascinating little creatures

I backed it and bound it with the same print as the first one 

I would buy a whole bolt of that backing fabric if I saw it. Thankfully, I still have quite a bit left.  

                                                                  

Skeet gives his seal of approval although he's really inquiring about his evening treat.

Not my usual color story, but it just makes me so happy

This dirt road ranch wife must have been channeling her inner Jimmy Buffet while working on these quilts...someone please pass me my lost shaker of salt. 😉

Leap Frog Flannel Quilt

Earlier this spring I dug into my flannel bin, determined to clean it out and get the 15-30 year old fabric into quilts. I posted about the project HERE.

This is the first of those quilts...Leap Frog

The tan, speckled fabric isn't flannel, it's cotton, but it was perfect so I just threw it in.

Such a simple design - no pattern - I just tried to make the best use out of what I had. It finishes at 56" x 68".

I DID buy the Minky for the back though

Those frogs are absolutely delighted to have escaped into the wild after so many years and I'm fairly certain that it will accompany a particular little grandson on many adventures although June is not the best time of the year to cuddle with flannel. I'll save it for his birthday in November.

America 250 Quilt Project

 This quilt 

has been on my list since I first saw it in this book

And I thought it would be fitting to make it in patriotic colors as America celebrates 250 years so I pulled out this bin. 

There are a lot of cutting instructions and I'm starting with scraps and small pieces of well seasoned yardage so this is going to be a labor of love

I'm also going to leave the stars 1/2 blue, leave the low volumes, and make the rest in scrappy reds so there will be a bit more to sort than if I were just making it completely scrappy.

I'm off to a slow start, but I'm hoping I can find a good rythm once I get a few pieces under my belt. After 2 days, I had 3 blocks made

I've still got a lot of cutting to do, but I like where this is headed. Unless I drop everything, this is not going to be finished in July...maybe Labor Day, if I don't get sidetracked. Don't hold your breath. 😉

Old FQ Bundle, New Project

 A new project found it's way under my needle this week.

WAY back in 2012, I won this FQ bundle in a giveaway from Amy at Diary of a Quilter.

It's called Tend the Earth by Deb Strain and it's been patiently waiting on a shelf for a long time. I've been eyeing the Ramona quilt pattern for a while and I had a sudden hankering to put the two together. 

I wanted a few more low volume prints so I spent time doing one of my favorite things...shopping from my fabric pantry and finding coordinates that worked with the fat quarters. I think these 6 pieces are a good fit!

That gave me 38 fat quarters. It took a while to press everything and cut squares, but now I have a nice stack and construction can begin. I love the versitility of hsts.

This quilt was not on my list at the beginning of the year, but this just feels like the right time to dig in and it is filling the need to just guide fabric under the needle.

A Quiet Friday

 Thank you for all of your very kind comments lately. I don't know what's going on but I stayed up late Thursday night and replied back to all of them individually and then I had a long influx of emails telling me they were undeliverable. 😩

Technology and I do not compute. I was tired and frustrated. Many of your comments come through as anonymous so even if you sign your name at the bottom, I don't know if my replies get back to you. Anonymous comments are fine; I just feel badly about not being able to reciprocate - especially when questions are asked.

I apologize. I so appreciate that you take the time to pop in for a visit and I like to reply back.

 The shower I posted about yesterday didn't last long. It barely measured 0.10 here but we are grateful for every drop and the evening fire report mentioned that it helped subdue the flames in higher elevations where they received a little more.

Friday morning I was still out of sorts. They have cleared the fire perimeter and have begun to back-burn which means lots and lots of smoke. I feel for the people and critters having to be out in that and I felt guilty that I had the luxury of being indoors after tending to chores. The chickens started out their morning with a little hen session. Probably complaining that it was time for a good coop cleaning.

 My FIL sent this photo from his home. They are 40 miles from us although as the crow flies, they are maybe 30. We live on the other side of that mountain range.

They reported 19,088 acres Friday evening from 17, 116 that morning. There was a lot of air traffic throughout Thursday and into Friday. I took this from the deck. I counted 9 aircraft in 20 minutes. They dumped 150,000 gallons  of water on the fire on Thursday.

DH had left at 5 a.m. on Thursday to pick up cattle guards in east Texas. On the way, he stopped in Portales, NM to pick up 6 gates. We are building a new fence around the property and the gates will allow him easy access when he is horseback or if we need to take equipment or the can-am through. We had put this one in a few weeks ago

He then stopped in Texas and had lunch with his brother and his wife and then drove on to Oklahoma and spent the night with our girl. She was returning from a business trip that evening and DH left out early Friday morning so sadly, they were only able to spend about 45 minutes visiting.

Then DH moved on to pick up cattle guards and after another 3 hour drive, he picked up more bees. He pulled back in at 9:30 p.m. 1250 miles in 40 hours. I know he is tired, but he admits that it is self-inflicted. He has gone hard all his life and the transition after leaving ranch management has not changed that. We were up at 5 this morning to unload the trailer

With all the smoke on Friday, I cleaned my floors and then spent time in my sewing room. It's been a couple of weeks since I sat down to sew. I began to relax as soon as I walked in. I cut out a baby quilt and actually sewed all the blocks in one day. 

That never happens. And this seasoned fabric that has been in my stash for years was perfect for sashing. I had just enough.

Then I trimmed up 4 quilts I picked up from my longarmer. The 'to be bound' pile is getting unruly.

An entire day to sew. That's a rare treat!

Land of Enchantment

As much as I will always be a Texas girl, I have to admit that New Mexico has a special place in my heart. It's where DH and I began our journey as a married couple. It's where our son was born. It's where the good Lord has set us for the second time. It's home.

The sunsets and sunrises are spectacular on a regular basis. 

The food is addictive and don't even get me started on how much I love fresh green chile! 

New Mexico has its own unique southwestern culture. There is a rich history here and it is reflected in the jewelry, fashion, architecture, fabrics, people, and landscape.

I'd been on the lookout for a quilt pattern that represented the Land of Enchantment and in 2014 I stumbled upon exactly what I was looking for while browsing through Flickr:

I contacted the lady who posted it and she was kind enough to  direct me to the designer who is from Switzerland, of all places!

Desert Winds

I planned to use a lot of Michele Watts' prints. She's is a local designer who had a few lines with Moda and I just happened to have some yardage in my stash.

I finally started this one in May of last year. Yes, I'd had this project planned for 12 years. It took a while since it's made of 2 1/2" squares and 80 x 98.

Once I started,  I was determined to stay the course. I didn't have quite enough of all the original prints so I scattered some Grunge fabrics throughout which appeals to my scrappy heart.

I ended up extending the patchwork border one more row

Once I had it pieced, I went in search of a backing. I didn't have anything in my stash that I thought would work. The minute I saw this print, I couldn't hit buy fast enough - it's perfect!

Then Sandy worked her magic

And I spent 4 weeks binding it. 

But it's now complete!

And apparently I need to pay more attention when I'm piecing! Good gravy!! I didn't even notice I had turned a block! I think I need to take a photo of every quilt top before it's quilted and double check for errors. I think those oopsies are charming in vintage quilts, but it's very obvious in this design. I keep wondering if I could take the quilting out of that one block and fix it. Have any of ya'll done that before? 

The wind DOES blow a lot here in the spring and those blocks could be construed as tumbleweeds and that one just tumbled in a different direction.

Sigh. Maybe I can just leave it displayed like this and call it art. 🙃