Omaha Inspired Nephew Quilt

Sometimes a project just takes you over.
It gets you so excited that you can't stop thinking about it.
This is one of those for me.

My nephew, Josh, is a huge architectural preservationist guy.
If you follow him on Instagram, @joshua_biggs, you will see all sorts of cool photos of buildings and building details that he finds in the Omaha, NE area.

A month or so ago he posted this picture from Midtown Omaha


credit

Our instagram convo went something like this.

Josh:  Now that's a wall! #midtownOmaha
Me: That's a quilt wall. #quiltwall
Josh: You are more than welcome to make me that quilt.
Me: That would be an AWESOME quilt for sure.

About a week or two later I was still thinking about this picture, wondering if I could pull this off, without a pattern.  His 25th birthday is coming up in June and after practicing a bit with some of my solid scraps I decided I was going to tackle this quilt wall.

This was going to be my Cherri House City Quilts or Urban Views inspired quilt design.

In progress

I didn't get the points all lined up and decided I didn't care.
This is what happens when you "wing it" on the pattern.
It still looks good and works for what I wanted.


3 columns down and 1 more to go.
Excuse the unpacking and disorganized mess in the background.
We're still working on what we are doing with the basement.

Quilt top done

My 14 yr. old son loves this design.
I am taking that as a good sign that my nephew will too.


And can I just tell you that our screen porch might be my new favorite place to take pictures.  Great natural light and no glare.  Plus there were already some nails in place to hang the quilt.  It was meant to be.

The quilt got sent off this week to Lynn to be quilted.  Emily is going to help with it too so we can get it to him in time for his birthday. All our siblings will be in NE the weekend before his birthday to celebrate early our parents 50th wedding anniversary.  Can't wait for the surprise!!

Notes:

• I bought 1/3 yd. of various solids besides what I already had on hand.
• I had about 18 different colors of fabric--2 shades of yellow, 2 greens, about 4 blues, a couple browns, orange, black, a couple brown shades, purple, some grey.  Pick whatever you'd like.

• I was able to cut 8 triangles out of each 1/3 yd.
• The triangles had a 5" base and were approximately 17 1/2" tall.

Quilt Barn Tour--Barn #1

One of the things I found here as we've moved is that we are now more rural than not. 
Moving from a city of 20K plus to a town with less than 8K is a change.
The local post office is completely closed during the lunch hour.
This reminds me of siesta time while I was living in Argentina.
The closest grocery store closes at 9 p.m. What?! Hello! 24/7 Cub Foods and Wal-Mart.
We are adjusting to the changes, and really most of them are just fine.


There are plenty of farms and farmland around as we drive between here and there.
A pleasant surprise has been to find these quilt barns in the area.


I finally stopped today and took pictures of this one. 
I drive past it every week.
It just might be my favorite.














I'll be photographing some of the others in my area as the weeks roll on.
They make me happy to look at them.


I wonder if it would be too goofy to hang one up on the empty side of my house facing the street?




Notes:

• Barn Quilts of Carver County
• A couple that I have seen nearby are not even on this list, including the one above.
• This barn is located on the North side of Arboretum Blvd. West of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and East of Bavaria Rd. in Victoria, MN.

Regrading a small brick patio

One of hubby's first projects at this new house was to change this little landing area in the front of the house on the right.
It needed to be regraded so that the water didn't pool right there in the corner.
It bugged him.



It also didn't help that there were things growing there that shouldn't be.



So out all the brick came, pulled up the stickly things growing there, and then he added some more gravel stuff (yeah, that's my technical word for it) underneath to raise the grade and make it slope out to the walkway away from the house.

Once he did that then all the brick had to go back in.
We recruited the kids to put that puzzle back together.
Actually they had taken it out in an orderly fashion and knew right how to put it back.



They were good sports.  Although the boy teenager felt he would be most helpful by "directing" everyone else from a sitting position.  And my girls, as my sister-in-law pointed out, are wearing ballet flats to do landscape work.  Hmm...not the best footwear for this, but oh well, at least they helped.

Once they had it all back in place we added some more sand in between the grooves and we're set.
Now I get to decide what we'll do with that little space.
I'm not sure what is growing in my yard yet.
Hopefully there are some good plants and not just weeds.

Maybe I'll find a bench to place there.
Or add some potted plants.  Maybe tomatoes would grow nicely there.
Our youngest did move our dog Jasmine's memorial marker to that little rocky spot.
He wanted it front and center.



For now it can stay.



Any suggestions for what to do with this little patio space?