Two Finishes

It’s been a good week all around. The vegetable garden is all planted, and Bruce even got the drip irrigation lines set up for our front walkway flower pots. I have some pictures of the pots later in this post. We also spent an hour yesterday morning digging out the overgrown side yard on the west side of the house. The grass and weeds love it there in the flower beds! We have a ways to go to get the beds in shape, but we’re pacing ourselves. We’ll get there, but I’m sure not enjoying it like I used to ten years ago. Every spot on my body aches!

I finished up the quilting and binding on my second double-sided wall hanging for Harambe Humanitarian, the non-profit organization on whose Board I sit. Let me show you that finish first. This wall hanging has the International Sisters blocks on one side and an African mandala print on the other side.

The fabrics are all African prints except the plain white and the complexion fabrics. It measures approximately 28” x 48”.  The picture below shows both wall hangings completed so far. Two down, six more to go over the course of this year. They will be sold for Harambe fundraising purposes, and these two are already spoken for.

The hanging sleeve is on top so that it can be hung either way. Both of these use the same mandala print on the back, although I have a couple panels that will be different in future wall hangings. 

Harambe Humanitarian is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We are working with the Maasai tribes of Kenya to provide menstrual supplies for girls and young women in order to keep them in school. We also provide menstrual and health education for girls, plus income opportunities for women. Also, we’re in the process of setting up a library for the community in the Tenkes area of the Mau Forest .

This month we’re doing an online fundraiser (the pandemic has put a crimp in our revenue stream) to purchase more menstrual supplies and educational materials. I would love for you to check it out. You can visit Harambe Humanitarian on Facebook or our website.  The fundraising site is here at SafePad Kenya (scroll down to the May 15 post with the picture of the four girls in white). Asante sana! (“Thank you very much” in Swahili). 

* * * * * * * 

Although I didn’t get this dark green “Creature” quilt finished this week, it is a finished flimsy that’s been basted and is waiting for its turn to be quilted in the next week. Also basted, but not shown, is the garlic knot Rainbow Scrap project.

However, I did finish this blue and pink quilt, polishing off lots of leftover fabrics. 

I haven’t given this one a name; it’s a donation quilt going to Quilts for Kids. It measures 40x50”. I used the leftover blocks on the back, which helped stretch my chunks and pieces to fit.

Our friend Terri came over last Monday and brought lunch from one of our favorite delis. The three of us spent a lovely couple of hours out on the patio talking and laughing. We maintained our 6’ distancing, of course. Terri brought four cute quilts she’d made for Quilts for Kids as well as some kennel quilts for the Best Friends animal rescue. I’ll add those to my collection to deliver hopefully sometime this summer. Thank you, Terri! xo

I’ve had a hankering to start a new quilt lately. I’m holding off until I get a few more of my UFO’s finished up, but I couldn’t help doing a fun fabric pull. I’ve got a couple ideas floating around in my head (along with all the other detritus that floats around in there), and these bright pieces are chunks  and fat quarters that seem to play well together. This could be a fun June project, so stay tuned.

We interrupt this blog post for a message from Her Royal Highness ....

Um, never mind. All Darla really wanted was some attention from her loyal subjects.

Oh, and I mentioned some pictures of the front flower pots. I’ve taken lots of pictures of the flowers and garden over the last week. For now, I’ll just show the flower pots and save the rest for a separate blog post in a few days.

The pots were planted a couple weeks ago? It’ll  be interesting to get pictures of them in July or August when the flowers grow and fill in. But they still offer a lot of refreshing, fun color even now.

The pot below is the new one we bought when we were in Arizona in February.

Here’s a different view. I still have annuals to add to the walkway bed around the rose tree. All in good time! It’s been raining like crazy here for a day or two, so that won’t happen until next week.

Have a wonderful week, and stay safe!

Linking to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.