Brown Bird by Renee Plains

I just finished quilting this little wall hanging called "Brown Bird".  I bought this pattern years and years ago, it's dated 2000.  It was a delight to make.  But, it has been waiting to be finished for a long time.

I wanted to make it in the same colors as the original but my fabrics didn't look as vintage.  They just looked ugly.  So, I noticed that Wendy Reed of The Constant Quilter fame often used 19th century bright prints instead of the drab ones.  So, that is why this piece looks so bright.  They are all reproduction prints.

This is the next piece to be quilted.  I want to make sure it is available for fall decorating.  The black corduroy border is so soft.  Not exactly sure how I'm going to quilt it. . . 

I'm still working on the S'mores quilt in between all the other things that are going on. I've made 61 small economy blocks so far.

 My downstairs company has gone camping for 3 days and guess what?  I'm absolutely alone today.  My husband is golfing at two different places and will be gone all day.  I don't know why being truly alone fills my cup to the brim.  I can think more clearly, I accomplish a lot more in a shorter space of time,  I feel energetic,  I feel more creative, and I'm just happy.

This is on the counter waiting for me.  I need to bottle some tomatoes.  The berries are done and now it's time to preserve tomatoes.  Preserving what my good husband grows is necessary.  It's not one of my favorite things but I'm always glad for the food during the winter.

We got over 1/2" of rain yesterday.  It was so refreshing.  July was a pretty dry month for us.

Do you remember the book by Louis Lamour called Riders of the Purple Sage?  I always wondered when the sage looked purple because its a low scrubby looking plant  in a dusty green most of the time.   Well, I found out that there are at least two other varieties of sage and here is one of them.

This is the ornamental variety.  I think it's really Salvia but it looks like Purple Sage to me.

My husband had a concert in Logan last Thursday.  It was in the old 1st Ward building.  This is the painting that was at the front of the chapel.  I tried to find out who the artis is but could not.  The architecture of the building is really wonderful.  It was stadium seating with the pews slanted up with each row.  There was a balcony in the back which is unusual in LDS churches.  It was built in 1861.

The lighting wasn't excellent but the music was really good.  My husband plays for the Salt Lake City Letter Carriers band.  No, he's not a letter carrier but they needed more band members so they accepted this accountant and made him treasurer of the organization.

 

This was the sunset last Thursday as we drove home.  It was taken as we drove through Box Elder county.  You can see the edge of the Great Salt Lake if you look closely  What a splendid explosion of the last rays of the sun for the day.

Robin