Scrappy Quilts, Scrappy Life

I mentioned to Lizzy that I should do an outdoor post about what is growing in my garden. Late spring is peak because the long hot days haven't arrived yet and plants are enjoying lovely days sprinkled with bouts of rain.

I realized my garden style mimics my quilts! Free flowing, humble and scrappy! 

Feel free to scroll past all the flowers to the video at the end of this post. 

Instead of dirt or weeds we planted wildflowers. Flax is always dependable. 

And yarrow, which is natural to this area. 

These lupine are natural to the area as well. 

These are in the flower bed. Not sure what they are. Apparently the deer aren't fond of them!

Clematis

Coreopsis

Mock Orange

Some daisy like flower that reseeds freely. 

Rugosa. This hardy rose stands up to heat and deer!

This little rose is such a surprise! I have 3 of them  and they are about 1' high and bloom year after year! They are the closest to the front door or the deer would eat them to nothing. 

Lupine. These are a bit fussy but so showy when they are 4-5'! 

I have since trimmed the dead seed heads. 

Showy but don't know what it is. 

Snow in summer. 

What a plant looks like after a deer or rabbit have breakfast!

My lavender is just getting started. Mine self seeds freely and I have a lot growing! The bees love it.

Net to the short roses is this profuse early flower. Not sure what it is either. Catmint?

Thanks for going with me on a walk around my garden! Let's check it out again in about a month. 

 

The video was a bit last minute! Please overlook any errors! 

Here's the link if you cannot click on the video. 

https://youtu.be/6nivH265nJo

Enjoy your day!

 

Wild and Wonderful week

It's been a bit of a whirlwind week here! We are two men down in our business (one quit, and one was injured and had surgery on his hand on Wednesday) So I've been trying to get a little sewing done between night and morning! I'm completely exhausted when I get home so I've not much to show. 

 I got this together last weekend. Next Monday Cheri will share the applique and border treatment ideas. Many of you are sewing along and will no doubt recognize I messed up a couple of blocks.

Gay posted the next set of 1857 blocks. You can get them HERE. My blocks are not sewn, only prepped.

I'm working on a holiday quilt for a designer. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to share, but I thought I could give a sneak peak. A lot is being done by hand, some by machine and a little embroidery. 

Here's my instagram feed this week. 

Our church and town lost a dear man this week very suddenly. He was 52.  

Let your loved ones know that you love them! This life is fleeting.

Love to you all!

Friday! Friday! And a Book Winner!

Helloooooo and happy Friday!

I picked this up at the quilters on Wednesday. I'm hoping to get the binding on it this weekend. I do believe I will put this one up for sale at Sisters this summer. I was showcasing the reproduction fabrics by P&B Textiles. I like it a lot and am glad I chose the fan quilting.

Here's a few more blocks from Cheri's quiltalong. I hope to get them attached to the other half this weekend too. 

Without further ado. Thank you all who took the time to leave a comment about Scrap Quilt Secrets. I couldn't be more thrilled to see Diane's book so widely popular! And that's no Foolin'!

Number 102 was chosen by the random number generator. Congrats Marsha! Please send me your mailing address and C&T will mail your book at the end of the blog hop.

I'm heading to Portland on Sunday to spend the day with my daughter and niece. My daughter has made a life change and we are going to help her make her studio a happy place! (And set up her sewing space!)

Have a wonderful weekend! I loved hearing about all the reasons we quilt. Thank you all who take the time to comment. I read every single one and treasure them, even if I do not have time to respond.

Love you all!

Scrap Quilt Secrets Blog Hop

Spring is the perfect time for a new quilt book release and I couldn't be more happy to be helping Diane spread the news about her new book, Scrap Quilt Secrets.(Of course, they will not be secrets any longer!)I cannot remember when I discovered Diane's blog, Butterfly Threads Quilting, but if I remember correctly my first comment said, "Why haven't I found you sooner?" She is super talented and loves to share with her blog readers. So naturally, a book would seem like the next step. Continue reading and you can have many opportunities to win this new release!

Her "secret" recipe for creating amazing scrap quilts. S-C-R-A-P-S

S- style

C- Contrast

R- Repetition

A- Accents

P- Palettes

S- Selvages

What a fun and easy way to remember the "secrets"!

I took the "easy route and made a little quilt using her house pattern. Oh my goodness, I used only 2 1/2" squares and strips and 1 1/2" squares and strips for the little houses. Assembly was so easy and fun!

Here is my first block. No templates were involved in the building of this house.....  For me, it looks pretty darn perfect!

I made a few big, and a few little. I wasn't quite as slow and careful on the other construction, but I think it turned out super cute! The large houses finish at 10", the small ones 5". 

All 16 of the quilt projects were laid out very well with easy to follow instructions. Kudos Diane on a quilt book well written!

To win your own copy please leave a comment on this blog post. If you are international you can sign up to win the e-version of Diane's book. 

Feel free to hop around to the other designers as well!!

3/21    C&T Blog http://www.ctpub.com/blog/

with Diane (that’s me)www.butterflythreadsquilting.com

3/22    Bonnie Hunter http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

3/23    Lori http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/

3/24    Karen http://nanagirlquilts.blogspot.com/  

3/25    Audrey http://quiltyfolk.blogspot.com/

3/26    Pat Sloan http://blog.patsloan.com/

3/27    Valerie http://myplvl.blogspot.com/

3/28    Kelly http://pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com/

3/29    Victoria Findlay Wolfe http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/

3/30    Rachaeldaisy http://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com/

3/31    Angie http://quiltingcrescent.blogspot.com/

4/1       Julie http://quiltjewelry.blogspot.com/

4/2       Barb Www.funwithbarb.com

I'll post the winner on my blog April 1st. That ain't no foolin'!

I'm doing a lecture with lots of quilts in Sisters tonight at the Stitchin' Post at 6;30. If you can make it, I'd love it! Love to you all!

Comments are now closed! Thank you to all who entered!

Phenomenal Friday

This has been a crazy week, starting off with losing an hour! I had puppy class Monday and Wednesday because we were making up one class. It's an hour drive ONE WAY - thank goodness Elsa is a great passenger. She is also really exhausted when we leave too. (Me too!)

Here are 5 more blocks of Cheri's scrap basket quilt. They are fun and simple.

 This was Elsa yesterday in my sewing room. Is it any wonder I'm not getting a lot of sewing done? Her injury is almost all closed up! Yay! Wonder how long it will take for her hair to grow back.

Here is the backing of ,y doll quilt for the swap. I'm hand quilting it in the evenings. 

Sunday night at midnight is the cut off. If you have not sent me your mailing address at any point this week, you are not signed up! I think we will have about 70 swappers again this year! Thanks for your understanding on the rules and such. It gets a little crazy. 

Here's my Instagram for this week.  

Loved The Nightingale, couldn't quite get into The Truth According to Us. 

I'm looking forward to the weekend! Make it a wonderful one!

Monday Musings

 Here's my finished wool applique piece designed by Buttermilk Basin and was in the current winter issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects.

The next few photos I found and had not posted yet. They were kind gifts sent to me recently. Thank you all so much!!

 Tiny!

 Hmmm, wonder where this could be from? beautiful!

Fun batiks!

 Some of you saw this on Facebook. While I was finishing dinner preparations I was called out to the living room and met with THIS! LOL  I love my family's sense of humor!

 I couldn't resist this photo op of my hubby and brother tying on the apron. 

 A little after dinner fun!

Porter doesn't like his photo taken. He likes the snow, but not when it is too cold! LOL

Have a quilty week!

Two Finishes!

I finally got back to a few quilts that needed binding.  Here's a little log cabin table topper.

Simple primitive quilting to match the simple quilt.

This backing came from my friend Jill's sewing room after she passed away last year. It reminds me of the cute little things we collect and cherish.

Here's the Love More I made with the P&B fabric. After my trip to Guatemala I think it means more to me now than when I made it.

Here's a close up you can see the fabric. I'm going to give this to the woman I went to Guatemala with as we shared so much and we both learned to deepen our love to others.

Here's the scrappy backing.

Happy Wednesday!

More Retreat Sewing

I don't think I showed  you how many of these I made while sewing before the Sisters Show. 

I'm using two lines of fabric (that's unheard of with me!) Crossroads by Jan Patek and Hope Chest prints by Edyta Sitar. I am really loving it. This is a Lori Smith pattern with a busy appliqued border.

Claire made my these wonderful potholders and brought them to Sunriver. I burn a lot of things in the kitchen, including my potholders, so I'm a little worries about using them. :) Thanks again Claire!

We are having more fun this weekend. Enjoy!

Longwood

I am not sure how I made it through this week. I did get a little sewing done and that was a bit of sanity.

Here's the block of scrappiness that I didn't end up using in Jill's quilt.  The photo above is unwashed.

Post -wash. I called it Longwood since she had a sign coming up her driveway to the estate. (formerly belonging to a judge) I always wrote it on her address.

Here's a few of my purchases from my trip north. I had a heck of a time finding a good red wool. Looks like a prim Santa suit to me! You cannot tell but the black is flannel from the Wooly line.

A few lovely bits and pieces.

Have a fantastic weekend!