Last weekend, I was looking through my quilt patterns for a pattern that would be suitable for just three fabrics. I wanted to make a quilt that fit Judy’s July Stash Challenge. I came across this pattern by Lissa Alexander called “The Simple Life Quilt”. As it turns out this pattern is a 4 patch variation–referred to as a 4 by 4 by 4 patch by Lissa.

If you double click on the picture, the image should become larger and you should be able to read the writing. At the bottom of the pattern, there is a note that states, “Assemble quilt in a Trip Around the World design refer to photo for placement.” All I have of this pattern is this single sheet. I do not have a photo to refer to as mentioned in the instructions. Since I am a visual person, I went to my quilt software, Quilt Pro, drafted the block and played with block placement variations.

This is my block.

This is the version of the block placement that I liked the best. I like this version better than the Trip Around the World placement. This is 16 4 by 4 by 4 blocks.

I added a 2 1/2″ border to the outside of the quilt. After quilting, I am planning to put a “flap” of pink on the edge of the border, tucked under a green binding. This will bring the pink and green colours back into the quilt on the outside edge, framing the quilt.

Yesterday was my DH’s birthday and my SIL’s birthday. My husband and his sister were born on the same date six years apart. While growing up, my SIL told everyone that my husband was more her brother than anyone else’s (there were 4 other siblings around at that time) because my husband was born on her birthday!

We were together as a family yesterday to celebrate the reunion of the families of my FIL and his sister. Both my FIL and his sister are now deceased. It has been at least 30 years since this branch of the family has gotten together.

This is a picture of my FIL and his sister taken many years ago before they were both married.

These are the first cousins.

First cousins again arranged in order of age. Yes, my husband is really the youngest in this photo!

First cousins again………this time arranged in order of height. There was quite a bit of laughter and joking around while we were organizing these photos. Arranging the cousins in order of age and height for photos was a family tradition–“Just like we used to when we were little!” could be heard above the laughter.

These are the children of the first cousins–or at least the ones that were at the reunion. Unfortunately, not all of the kids could make it.

And finally, the grandchildren of the first cousins.

These two stole the show as far as I was concerned. These two boys are sons of my husband’s niece.