Sunday Quilt Inspiration: B I R D S

After writing about the birds in our backyard yesterday, I decided that it would be fun to use birds as quilt inspiration, again. Are they beautiful?

And so bird inspired quilts.... 

Critter homes are heaven right here.

 

Richard and I have been enjoying our backyard. The weather has been beautiful, though it is warming up somewhat. Lunch is generally a sandwich and fruit under the catalpa trees. There are two in our yard. They give deep, dark shade. See the red chair? That's my retirement rocker from BHS. Next to it are a green table that Rich made for me and his old green chair from the camper. 

This electrical pole is near the slough, or small lake, on the side of our house. The woodpeckers have made several large holes, which other birds have claimed for homes. Of course, Richard has several bird houses and as many feeders. The birds regal us with their chatter and song while we eat and several times they've given us a show. I especially love to watch the fledglings leave the nest.

The slough is home to ducks, squirrels, rabbits, snakes, turtles, frogs and any other wildlife you can imagine. The owls screech and hoot all night. The woodpeckers tap all day. And we enjoy every bit of it.

One nest that will soon have fledglings is this swallow nest that the parents decided to build on our front porch. Most people would discourage them from making such a mess, but we enjoyed watching them build and are now enjoying seeing the proud parents feed two mouths all day long. Back and forth, the poor things first carried mud and straw to build, now they come and go carrying worms and insects. I'm not sure which has been more work. 

This old boat, the SS Hershey because it was originally chocolate brown, sits on the edge of the slough as a reminder of when the boys were still young. William built it in shop class, and the three of them paddled it around every cypress tree in that slough. Finally they hit one cypress stump too many, tore a hole in it, and sank it. They used their dad's new four wheeler to draw it up on the bank and there it sits. It's a great home for several critters, most of whom I give a wide berth. 

This fella lives near the back window. We've watched him chase the hummingbirds for about two months. Thus far they've proven too fast, but he is persistent. Right below his perch is one of five feeders, but he's also trekked back and forth on the cable wire where the hummers love to perch. Now that they are nesting, we don't see as much of them or him, but they'll be back out soon. And there you have it: our little piece of heaven which we gladly share with the flying, crawling, slithering animals who enjoy it as much as we do.

Pin It Weekly #318

Welcome back to PIW! My sister has returned home from our impromptu visit. What started as a couple of days, added the Memorial Day weekend and then, well, a doctor's appointment that I had already committed to, so why not stay a few more days? 

We had a good visit, especially since we were able to visit with two of her kids and a grandson. It's always a blast when a one-year old comes by, right?

Back to PIW #338! These are a few quilts that I pinned to "heart, quilts" during the few minutes when C was calm. Having Alzheimers has made her a little more difficult and she requires constant attention.  

Most of the pins can be moved to sections, but I couldn't wait to share them with you. These are only a few of the 13,000 pins on "heart, quilts." 

Sunday/Monday Quilt Inspiration: Mini Charm Squares

My apologies for not being here for the last week. I have a sister who has Alzheimers, and she's spending the week with us. She needs constant supervision. I hadn't realized how much ground she's lost since the last time she was here. 

At first she seems the same, unable to hold a conversation but capable of answering simple questions. After a while though, it's apparent that it's a charade she cannot keep up for long. I know this charade bit is just a stage of Alzheimers, but it's still a surprise at how well a patient can sustain it...until she can't. 

Enough excuses, let's get to those mini charm squares. They start out at only 2½" square, so it takes at least five packs to make a baby quilt. Enough packs could make a postage stamp quilt, but wow! You do the math, it takes thousands of those little patches, and there are only 42 squares in a pack!  Too much! Let's look at what you can do with just a few packs...

And what you can do with several packs...

Happy Memorial Day, may all your heroes be remembered.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: 10" Layer Cakes

The last couple of Sundays I've been using fabric precuts to inspire you, so this Sunday we'll keep going with layer cakes. You can find the SQI post on charm squares here and the SQI on jelly rolls here. 

10" squares are large enough that they can be cut down to any size that is at least ten inches. They are especially good for making disappearing patch quilts, such as disappearing four patch or disappearing nine patch. 

This D9P is a great example of how complicated they can look. Here's another in softer hues. Both use one layer cake to make a crib size quilt.

If you want a fast, easy quilt that's a little bigger than crib size, the way to go is to use layer cakes and jelly rolls, like this quilt above. Just a few cuts and the jelly roll pieces are ready to take your blocks from 10" to 14" (unfinished) and that, friends, is a fast finish. 

Of course, if you want a challenge, you can still find one with layer cakes because they are so versatile. Add a neutral and turn them into half-square triangles and see where that takes you. 

Or just have fun...