It Was A Nifty Day...

Nifty 50s, that is.

I wanted to share a couple of projects the ladies were working on, including my own. I loved this patriotic, red-white-blue lap quilt. The strips of patterned fabrics, punctuated with blocks appealed to me.

Even the back, which could have easily been whole cloth, was made more interesting by adding strips of stripes.

My great-nephew, Jace is nicknamed "Little Monkey" by his parents, so I loved this monkey baby quilt made by my friend, Nora. She said it was a pattern from a magazine, but I think it would be easy to mimic. I wouldn't want to copy it, but it gives me some good ideas.

I decided to set up Block Six in my Wooly Critters Sampler quilt project. This time it's a sweet owl on a floral branch.

I neglected to pull the two yellow fabrics to put into this block, but I did get the rest of the pieces cut and placed. You'll notice that my little owl will be a grey, tweed owl rather than the tan one in the photograph.

I told the gals that I think I'm going to go ahead and set up the rest of the set (six more to go), and then I'll be able to stitch from one to the next until I've finished all of them.

When I left Harbour Heights and my day with friends, I drove into a nice, little thunderstorm. It's interesting how the weather can change so drastically in a mere eight miles. By the time I got to our driveway, it was certainly wet, but no longer raining.

My plan was to do something about the toppled star jasmine, so I changed clothes and Handsome and I headed out into the yard. We started by cutting a lot of the top off the bush on the right. That part was easy, considering it was down at eye level. sigh

We also took a lot off the top and sides of the one on the left so that they weren't lopsided. We pulled the fallen plant back into its "upright and locked" position and thankfully, it stayed. I'm hoping that it doesn't drop again, but we'll keep track of it to see if it needs a bit more shoring up.

I guess we'll continue to trim it to keep it stable, but the next time we do an installation like this (perhaps when we move?), I think I'll ask for a larger wood structure, more like a pergola. While I love how gorgeous these plants are when they're in full bloom, they obviously require a more sturdy structure to support their weight. Lesson learned.