An artist in the family

My sister-in-law's husband, Vilas recently picked up the paint brushes and look what happened!

He also loves nature photography. Back in the days when we all lived in India, he would occasionally have slide show for us to enjoy. Something I used to look forward to. His subject matters were always interesting.

You can check out more of his work here.

I know, this is a shameless plug but he is so modest. He didn't ask for this. He doesn't even know I am doing this! A very quiet yet funny guy. I like him and this is the least I can do.

Hope you enjoy visiting his art.

Oh and while you are here, don't miss the two lovely zigzag quilts made by the members of Rebels in the previous post. 

More zigzag quilts

  Made by Cindy Gilbrough

"Streak of Lightening" made by Dorothy Leboeuf AKA Buffy

Cindy made her quilt with repetition of one block. It creates the movement I illustrated in my earlier post. I love the feeling of wild and free in Cindy's quilt. I also love the muted and marbleized effect of thrift market shirts in Buffy's quilt. 

I still haven't made my last of the blocks for the quilt. Happily got a little side tracked with other important things in life. My sister visited from Canada and now my son is here to enjoy last few days of his summer break. Little sister can not be happier!

Soon they will be back to school and I will have all the time in the world to quilt. So I choose to be away from the sewing room at the moment and we are cooking and chatting up a storm around the kitchen table.

Between the meals and other breaks I try to see what everyone is up to in the blogland. I found Julia Wood of Green Quilts also working on her zigzag blocks. She makes one block a day. Don't you think it is a great idea? Something to work on everyday that is consistent and doesn't take much time. It also keeps you focused without having to think what to do when you enter the sewing room.

I found Kim and Beth working on their zigzag quilts too. They were inspired by LeeAnn's quilt you already may have seen.

Are you inspired? Want to join the fun?

My friend, Beth of Smazoochie started a QAL for streak of lightning just in time. Visit here and read all about it. There is a flickr group for those who are interested.

Have a great weekend!
I am going to see what's so funny in the family room.

I almost forgot!

Have you visited Rachael at Blue Mountain Daisy? She is one of my favorite Aussie bloggers. I love her spirit and funky personality and she is talking about me in her Fun Friday Feature.

Go check it out! 

A summer garden story

When I was a little girl, we visited our grandmother's house every summer. She lived in Gokul, home of the Lord Krishna near the banks of the Yamuna river. The temperatures during those summer days in northern India used to be so high, we spent most of our time on the sandy beach of the river. Apart from digging the wells with our bare hands, making sand castles and picking wild berries from the bushes near by, we would attempt to catch baby frogs and turtles with our little hands. Occasionally we would be successful too. Those little frogs were so slimy we could hardly keep them in our hands more than few seconds. It was fun to watch them swim away when we released them back in the river.

The frog plays violin.

Well, I got little side tracked. This is not the story about my childhood but just wanted to share the roots of why I have frogs in my garden. They sit quietly and remind me of my childhood.

This is a story about a chipmunk and the frog who plays violin in my garden.

 Chipmunk found the frog

He wondered and wanted to ask the frog if he was lost but the frog continued playing his violin.

He stood there for a while listening to the music.

He looked around and saw a crowd gathering.

They were so happy they started singing along.

He begged and pleaded the frog to let him play a bit.

The frog said, "Yes!" After all, he was a music loving soul. They played the violin together!

  

The End!

I took my little one to the very same sandy beach one summer when she was seven months old.
Oh the years have gone by! Here she is with my big sister.

A different type of garden is developing in my studio.
I will come back with more pictures.

Meanwhile, check out some ideas for scrap quilts on Basket Full of Scraps.