FREE Neat & Nifty Nine Patch BOM

Here we are at the 15th of June. I hope all of you who have been following the Neat & Nifty Nine Patch BOM found my blog! Anyone is welcome to download the patterns for FREE. The June block is available for download. All you need to do is press your "END" key on your keyboard and it will take you to the end of my blog where the downloads are. I hope that you will come back often for block patterns and who knows what else? I enjoy reading your comments and having you come and visit. I have included all of the blocks thus far if you wish to download them. Looking forward to seeing you often! The next block pattern will be available on or before the 15th of July. ENJOY!

This is a mock up of the quilt that you can make.

Here is a picture of the June #6 Block.

They are out of the Nest!

This morning, I went out to look at the little family of robins. They were all there; very crowded, but they were in their nest. Then a couple of hours later, Roger (DH) said to come and look! The babies were all out of their nest and Mama and Papa Robin were in a tizzy! When we went close to take their pictures, the little birds were as still as statues. They didn't even blink an eye. We finally decided that we had better leave them alone and let them learn to fly. The last we checked, they were all safe in a tree with Mama and Papa standing guard. I hope they learn to fly before the neighbors cat gets them. It has been a FUN experience watching them. Baby Robin #1
Baby Robin #2

Baby Robin #3

The Robin Family

This spring a nest was in the process of being built on our electricity meter on the back of our house. For some time we didn't know what kind of bird was building the nest. We watched and waited to see who the tenant would be. To our pleasant surprise, it was a Robin! Finally her nest was finished. Then the eggs were laid. Mrs. Robin sat on her nest hour by hour. She would fly when we opened the door to go out on our deck, but soon she was comfortable with us being there. We could almost walk up to her nest without her moving. It was fun watching her sit there. We were anticipating being able to see the new little feather balls that would hatch.

One weekend we were gone for three days. When we returned and went out in our backyard, Mrs. Robin was very agitated! She would fly at us; just skimming the tops of our head. The thought came to me that maybe her eggs had hatched, but we couldn't really see anything in the nest. But she was still VERY agitated when we even walked out the door.

A couple of days later, a carefully polked my head outside the door and sure enough, there was Mrs. Robin standing by her nest and three little beaks were high in the air. She was feeding them. (Wish I had my camera then!)

Today, Mrs. Robin is still agitated. Below is a picture of her just before she flew right at me! She was posed on the roof just above her babies.

She then flew on her nest several times, but I didn't have my camera ready. FINALLY, I was ready! Here is a family photo. The little ones are interested in eating. Mama is interested in ME moving away from her little ones!! You can see them reaching up to her. The next shot is an "I WANT FOOD" shot. Their beaks are fully open and ready!

Here is just a shot of the babies in their nest. They have almost outgrown their home. One day, they will try their wings. I just hope the neighbor's cat doesn't get them. That would be sad!


Here is Mrs. Robin guarding her little flock. The apple tree is right beside her nest. She seems to like sitting there to keep watch over her flock by day and by night. :o)

It has been fun watching her. Although the buzz over the head is not that GREAT!! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

You will not believe this!!

Just so everyone knows... I live in Idaho. The pictures you see are of ELEPHANTS not COWS grazing in a farm field. Roger (my sweetheart of 39 years) and I were driving yesterday and saw these three elephants grazing in a pasture. This would be a common scene in, oh let's say AFRICA, but absolutely not in IDAHO!! I am glad that I take my camera with me wherever I go. This was definitely worth the shot. Who woulda thunk it... elephants in IDAHO!

Promise of Spring

Okay, just wondering? Does anyone ever deminish their scrap pile? It is if they are fertilized and grow beyond belief! If only my flowers would grow so good!
I saw a quilt that truly inspired me to use up more of this growing pile of scraps. I loved the applique strips that separated the scraps. The one I saw was different applique, but I truly loved the idea! It has been unspringlike (a word I am sure!) here in Idaho. I thought that if I couldn't have birds and flowers outside, I would bring them in! I drew the birds, flowers and leaves and made applique patterns for them and then added the vine. This quilt I appropriately names; Promise of Spring. As you can see I used up a lot of my 2 1/2 inch scraps. But.... there is still a ton more! Hopefully, I have stumbled on to another idea. I am still formulating that one in my mind. I think it will be AWESOME. Stay tuned..... :o)