Quilts in the Garden

Welcome to my little nest . . . and enjoy seeing some quilts in my garden. 

Peony quilt from my book Remembering Adelia.  One of my all-time favorites.

More little quilts from Remembering Adelia.

I love simple things the best.

Free pattern here.

Sampler is from my Prairie Children book. 

Have a lovely day!

Slow Down and Saunter

Aaaahhh, so nice to have some good "sauntering" weather finally. Walking is one thing and I do my share of it at a good pace. But sauntering is different and often much more pleasant, especially if you happen to be sauntering through the woods or a lovely garden. I consider myself a pro at this and have many lovely memories of the walks I used to take with my kids when they were toddlers, slowing down and stopping to observe the awesome beauty in a puddle, stick or dandelion. 

I looked up "sauntering" and discovered that there is actually a World Sauntering Day, celebrated on June 19 every year. Who knew? The purpose is to remind people to slow down and enjoy life as opposed to rushing through it. Also called International Sauntering Day. I love it.

Some of you may know that Thoreau was a great advocate of sauntering. I bought a t-shirt similar to this one once when we visited The Thoreau Society in Concord, MA. At the Walden Pond Gift Shop, as a matter of fact (if you can believe Walden Pond really has a gift shop, LOL. Wonder what Henry would say about THAT?) Cannot find mine anymore.

So I did some really nice sauntering a few days ago in order to reclaim my sanity after a busy week. Thought you'd enjoy pictures.

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. -Henry David Thoreau

A pretty bench if you tire of sauntering . . . .

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike."  John Muir

The Chicago Botanic Garden has numerous varieties of Allium - the ornamental onion plant.  So delicate and pretty. Blooming all over the place.

There it is again, my favorite blue door to the English Walled Garden. If you see it, you know where I've been (the Chicago Botanic Garden).

"It is a great art to saunter."

Have a lovely weekend!

-Kathy

Red, White and Blue

We've been having a red, white and blue quilt show on my Small Quilt Lovers Facebook page this weekend. Take a peek if you're a member of the group. If not, join us here  for the fun and some pretty pictures -

Have a good Memorial Day weekend and take a moment to remember what the holiday is all about. Let freedom ring.

We're preparing for a family barbeque today. Glad the rain finally stopped after a storm last night. Looks like a sunny day for us. Keep your fingers crossed.

Orzo spinach salad with light balsamic dressing is on the menu. Very yummy - you should try it.

Everything's Moving Along

Slowly but surely . . .

I decided I'm really not crazy about hand piecing these small Dear Jane blocks. I'll do it if I have to but I'm very clumsy at it and need lots and lots of practice I guess. Larger blocks might not be so bad. This block seemed to take forever and it's not even that difficult. Maybe it will look better once I sew on the triangles, square it up and press it. 

Kudos to all the quilters who have hand pieced and hand quilted the entire quilt. The fact that I stitched many of mine by machine does not bother me at all. I know I would not have gotten this far if I had to do it all by hand and hadn't taken advantage of my machine or paper piecing. Much easier for me. 

That blue one sure has some wonky corner piecing but I still love it and think it's looking good. I swear if someone had told me ten years ago I'd be doing stuff like this (taking all this time to make so many of these small blocks with such teeny tiny [and often difficult] pieces) I would have laughed out loud and told them they were crazy. You just never know . . . .

*   *   *

I've also been busy finishing up the final editing on my page proofs for the new book, which arrived last week. Poring over them and over them to make sure everything is correct (unlike the slightly careless way I go over my blog posts before I hit Publish - Hah!)

It's so much fun to see everything laid out with nice photos. These are the page proofs, which are merely sample pages of the final version of the book. Kind of like a trial run. This is the last chance to catch any mistakes or make corrections before it's all ready to go to the printer this summer. There are still a few things that need to get done by the publisher but everything has been moving along. That top page you see with my name on it? That's just the inside title page, not the cover. There is no cover yet. When my publisher sends me the cover and tells me I can show that I will. Everything in its own time. 

Have a great Memorial day weekend!  Time to pull out my favorite red, white and blue quilts. 

How lucky am I??  My friend Sue Bennett gifted me with this adorable little tumbler flag quilt! I've always wanted one.