Quilts in my Garden

We've had a record breaking July...cloudy weather...cool temperatures and rain....too much!

The sun finally arrived the last few days of July and the first few days of August. 

I knew the sunny days were limited so I tried to get photos of all my finished quilts and a few garden photos.

My absolute favorite quilt is a scrappy one I made from a mystery block challenge we did in my Material Girls retreat group in 2022. 

No fancy quilt name for it...yet.

 The star block was the mystery part...

after we made the stars we had to decide how to finish the block into a quilt. 

I have some beautiful deep purple delphiniums that look great with this quilt.

I did a scrappy binding. The quilt measures 70 x 89-inches.

I used a King Tut thread called Egyptian Princess which has variegated deep pinks and plums. 

The edge-to-edge quilting design is Flower Whirl by Christie Dillon. 

I love these delphiniums so much...

I can't have too many of these gorgeous purples. This year it was hard to find a nice selection of perennials in local nurseries...I wanted more delphiniums.

My next finish is also a quilt that reminds me of my garden. The pattern," Lotus," is from Jaybird Quilts using the Hex N More ruler. This is a pattern we did in the Breakfast Club in 2018! Yipes! 

I made this quilt from my stash with the intention of using is on my couch. Impossible to get the colors to come out accurately in a photo...it is more subtle in it's coloring. I named this quilt, "Flowers on the Couch." It measures 69 x 90-inches. 

I stitched the edge to edge design, Mountain Meadows by Christie Dillon with King Tut thread in the color, Splendid. I mostly quilt with batik fabrics and learned ball point needles are recommended. So far the ball point needles are working great. No tension issues. All of the quilts in this post have an 80/20, single layer of batting.

 I'm going to jump back to the first flower to bloom in my garden every year, my woodland phlox. This plant is so happy...it has outgrown its space! 

And of course...my absolute favorite flower is...Himalayan Blue Poppy.

 Also one of the first flowers to bloom every year.

While I was taking photos a dragonfly was buzzing around...

Back to quilts! 

Below are two quilts that were my first finished on my new Amara 20, 

 The larger one I call, "Dragonflies on the Mountain." 

The pattern is, "Himalayan Pink," by Madison Cottage Design, 

another Breakfast Club project...from 2016!!! 

The pattern uses the Creative Grids 60 degree triangle. 

The batiks were a line from Moda Fabrics by Holly Taylor I absolutely love.

 The scraps were large chunks that I made into a mini quilt I call, "More on the Mountain."

 In Alaska...when a house has many additions added throughout the years...

it is affectionately referred to as...a More-on House.

"More on the Mountain," is 38 x 58-inches,

 "Dragonflies on the Mountain," is 69 x 70-inches.

My latest quilting finish is, "Liberty Starlets."

 Such a fun fat quarter pattern by Modernly Morgan. 

I used 20 fat quarters from Robert Kaufman fabrics called, "Liberty."

The quilting design is an edge to edge called, "Stars Across the Universe," by Christie Dillon.

 I love how the quilting looks like waves in the strips of color...

one of those serendipitous outcomes in quilting...

awesome!!!

"Liberty Starlets," measures 65 x 72-inches.

Now a little extended garden talk.

 One day early in the gardening season,

 I was watering a hanging basket when this gorgeous butterfly joined me.

 I rarely see butterflies here...I googled it and looks like a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail.

My newest flowerbed which was finished last summer, 

 I call Septic Hill.

 Yes...this mound is part of my septic drainage system. 

I was aiming for a red, white and blue theme this summer in my flower tubs 

which turned into

more like red, white and purple.

 I like it!

And very exciting news...I am the mother of many blue poppy babies!!!

 They are two years old...having survived their first winter. 

I moved two, into an open area in one of my well established flower beds.

But I had 14 babies to give new homes. 

The Material Girls were happy to take them at our retreat last week. 

I have so many perennials outgrowing their spaces...irises, trollius, spirea, blue poppies!!! 

So I weed-wacked a sunny area and laid down black plastic to kill all the weeds...lots of weeds. 

Another big project...I just can't help myself! 

Time for some critter talk.

Bears...so many bears. 

Below, this sub adult loves my neighbor's house. He visits so often.

 I was working in my yard when my dogs let me know he was there...

and I managed to get a few photos of him...

I guess it could be a her. 

The bear tried to climb the wooden post supporting their deck...

that's when I called the neighbors. 

They were out bike riding and getting ready to walk up the mountain to their house.

 They called another neighbor and got a ride up to their house.

 They used an air horn to scare away the bear...

then they also set off their house alarm...

it was a stubborn bear that didn't want to leave.

This black bear is pretty small...for a bear...

but when is gets bigger...like next summer...

it may turn into a real problem bear. 

Stay tuned.

Extremely scary to me is this grizzly family. 

This photo was taken by another resident on our mountain...

just about 100 yards from my house...about a week ago.

Look carefully. Three cubs. 

This is their second summer.

 So far no extreme encounters in the hood.

I have not been walking my dogs except around my yard this summer.

I do not want to encounter a mama grizzly.

 I have absolutely no confidence in bear spray or a gun if she's mad for me.