Another quilt done!

Once again, OPAM has saved me a from a guilt inducing pile of fabric!!  My one finish this week was a Christmas quilt I had started a few years ago.

Not what one would consider a difficult or time consuming quilt!  Mostly, it used up pieces from previous holiday projects.  There is even an extra block from pillowcases I made the kids one year. You can see it in the upper center right.  The batting was even patched together from trimming other quilts.  Waste not, want not. I had pieced the top 4 years ago, I think, and basted it a year ago.  And then it got "put away".  Now it is put away on my sofa, and in a few days I'll put it up wit the holiday decorations.  But for now, I like the feeling of getting something done!

The time that wasn't spent on finishing this was spent outside.  The weather was very sunny or very wet.  It changed every 30 minutes or so, in true PNW fashion!  When the sun came out, I went out, when the rain came, I quilted!  But our balckberry and ivy war may be over! The last blackberry has been dug out!!!!

view from the alley

 When we bought the house, it was early spring.  We had no idea what we were getting for a yard.  Turned out, it was blackberries and ivy.  They actually covered the garage wall, and we couldn't walk between the wall and the fence. 

view from driveway

They grew into the alley, and people had to drive around the bushes.  It was embarrassing! And it started a family tradition.  Every spring we were out there- hacking, whacking, and digging.  The neighbors were even commenting on our "family time", LOL!

But now!  Now it is like a blank canvas!!!!  And I have no idea what to do with it!  I don't want just grass, but I don't want it to be too maintenance heavy.  It is the farthest point in our property, and the hose just isn't going that far.  It has good sun and shade, and the dirt is pretty amazing.  A century of leaves dying off and composting did wonders for the dirt!  But I have no idea what to put back there!