Prints & plants & patios

Eeked out one more quilt top recently in preparation to show at Quilt Market. I dashed into the patio yesterday to photograph it as the light was so beautiful after a wacky raining while it's still sunny stint. Maybe you've noticed a sliver of it up in that new banner? I thought I would only do the Chocolate Lollipop quilt that I designed for the collection. I received a copy of Quilter's Companion Australia and saw this gorgeous octagonal quilt, and HAD to try. It was great fun. Those sweet folks are actually doing a feature on lil' ole me for the summer issue. Hi Aussie lovies!



Our brick patio comes right off the back of the kitchen, and it is slowly coming to life this spring. I usually try to put as many flowers out there as I can hide in the grocery bills all through the spring and summer. But I wanted to do something a little different this year. Appreciate green. And variations on green. Even I, who must wear blossom blinders while driving by the nursery or picking up lightbulbs at Home Depot, just may pass up putting petals on the patio. I'm going plant-y. It's a great way to play with textures, shapes, scales, and different tones. I also found some loverly inspiration, that kinda looks like my patio minus the 400$ pots.



Green is good. Even though our lawn may boast twice as many patches of clover and dandelions as actual grass, it's green, wet, and new today, and all is right with the world.

I would say the most heavy duty piecing I've ever done is that orchard stone patio. The only word I can think of to describe what we did that summer is whew. It's a wavy form about 30 feet in length and about 13 feet at it's widest point. Underneath we had to dig down a foot and fill will gravel, then with sand, then lay the stones (in perfect Anna order which required lots of pulled neck and shoulder muscles), then (no!) level the stones. It was worth it.



We enjoy chilly spring breakfasts with blankets on the picnic table in here. Before long we'll be waiting till after dark for a cool breezy dinner after long days in the sun. Jeff and I have a favorite coffee couch in the morning too. I'll try to share more of our teeny greeny oasis soon. I've got 4 dozen eggs boiling!

xo,AM