Now that we’re heading into fall, I’m pretty sure you’re like me and hanging onto every last bit of summer that you still can. For a chance to win one of my beautiful MaryJane’s Home “Bright Blooms” quilt, tell me about your favorite summer memory in the comments below. It’s 100% cotton, full/queen size, with two matching standard shams in varying shades of pink, red, and turquoise.
Detail:
The tag on my quilt reads:
“Lively rows of traditional English flowers make my Bright Blooms Quilt the perfect garden for wandering dreams. Follow pieced print pathways among trailing embroidered vines and relish rich floral hues of rose and turquoise. Vintage French ticking stripes casually contrast the cotton quilt’s abundant blossoms, conjuring the sweet and simple memories of summers past.”
I’ll toss your name into a flower vase and draw a lucky winner on October 4.
Thanks for creating this beautiful masterpiece. Yes, our hands reveal our artistic gifts to tell our story.
The one memory that stays in my mind is when our mother would hose down the outside of the house to cool it; and put the 2 youngest babies in the carriage and all the rest of us would walk to Lake Cochituate. We wore our bare feet and hopped like jumping beans off the sizzling new hot top. When we were hungry, she reminded us to go get some blueberries from the hill. When we ran shivering from the water, she would tell us to run around in the sunshine to warm up. The towel was used to wipe our feet from the water just before we left. There was no lifeguard for protection; parents watched their own kids and the neighbors too. They didn’t sit on the beach with their backs turned away sunbathing, reading or chatting. We walked back home for supper. We had huge sandwiches of tomatoes, onions & cukes smeared in olive oil using a football shaped loaf of bread. The bread was cut in half. The bread was removed from the center and filled with a healthy snack. Yup! Our snack was a half of loaf of bread as our mother prepared a full course meal; and we were all called ‘skinny belinks’ back then. Some still remain slim. Our parents eventually had 16 children. Summers were hot and nights were hotter with no AC. Crickets and frogs sang us to sleep from their private mudhole in the backyard.
Maybe my favorite Summer memory is one of “freedom”. I was brought up in an extremely strict family.
The summer of my 16th birthday I was allowed to wear a bathing suit and go to the public pool with my friends. This may sound simple to you, but I am 77 years old now and still remember the feel of the sun, the smell of the concession stands and the joy of being free to laugh and swim with my friends.
Please add my name to your list for the quilt drawing. It is lovely.
Early summer, maybe even still Spring, one of my best friends & I got away for a few days & hiked in the woods and took pictures of waterfalls and wildlife.
I love summer☺ Texas summers get pretty hot! My favorite memory is the summer that me and my four sons loaded up the car and drove to padre island beach it was about a two hour drive ( thank God for air conditioning ) as a single mom it was the first time my boys and me traveled anywhere.we love the beach the cool water, the seagulls the shops the cute little restaurants with amazing food. The boys loved staying at the little cottage, they got to swim in the pool and jump on the beds.it was a blast! The best part for me was just watching them have so much fun☺ .
Hay there,
My favorite summer memory would have to be the ones with my horse from my youth. I learned to really ride on him and we showed and won. I broke my arm trying to leap onto his back while he was sleeping. We forded rivers and camped in the wilderness together. He was my confidant, my pal, he didn’t care that I was a kid and he didn’t care that I grew to be a teenager. He was stubborn which helped me grow patience. I would have spent every waking moment with him if my folks would let me. I have had many horses in my lifetime and hope to always have a few til my last days…..there is nothing sweeter then the aroma of a horse. And nothing softer then a horses muzzle.
Hugs and prayers,
Daizy #1093
Poor House Farm Girl
My most favorite summer memory thus far has been the adventures my 5 year old son and I have had over this last summer. This was out last summer together before he headed off to Kindergarten and since I was a stay at home mom and i knew once fall came our lives were going to be different from here on out I cherished every minute I woul have with him. We just bought a place this past fall and started raising chickens. A project Harley (my son) and I quickly fell in love with. It was filled my heart with great joy to see him have such care and tentativeness to their needs. No matter the chore, together it was done with love and laughter. Those moments this summer with him will always be so very special to me. Even though we still have the coop and the ladies to watch after, this last summer was something special and the start of my lil man becoming a man.
I absolutely love Mary Jane magazine. I get a yearly subscription from a friend. I love taking the grand kids floating down the river. It was especially great this year.
This quilt is absolutely beautiful!!! What I wouldn’t give to be the proud owner! Thank you for even giving me a chance!
One of many summer favorite memories is sitting by my pond in the early morning with a cup of coffee, the chickens running around the yard and the song of many birds. Ultimate peace and joy!
My favorite summer memory is a week long glamping trip with my daughter in the mountains of southwest Colorado . . . and we didn’t get rained on!
Beautiful quilt . .thanks for the opportunity!
CJ
one of the greatest gifts I ever received was a canvas Teepee with native American designs all over it. We set it up in my backyard and I slept in it all summer (and warm nights in spring and fall too). I was sooo happy there.
I have to say one of my very favorite summer memories involves taking my sons to the Lake Erie shore. I have lived only about a city block from the beach so alot of our summer days were spent building sand castles & one time seeing an actual replica pirate ship anchored just off the beach. We still wonder who owned that vessel and where it was going. It arrived out of no where & left the same way. Very Cool!
Oh, what a lovely quilt! Favorite Summer memories are when I spent time at my great grandparent’s home in Florida and playing in the shade of the trees that hung over the sandy road in front of their house. Thank you for the opportunity to win! Hugs ~ Donna =)
Thanks for an awesome giveaway! Such a lovely quilt that speaks Summer! My best memory from this summer is the road trip with my Louisiana friend from Spokane to Victoria, BC with stops in Leavenworth and Everett, WA. The highlights were Butchart gardens and all the flowers baskets in Leavenworth! Summer fun at its best! Blessings!
I have many favorite summer memories! Summer is my favorite time of the year:) one of my most favorite memories would be our vacation we took when I was 10. We went to Branson, Missouri specifically to go to the Roy Rogers museum that used to be there. I was a huge fan of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and still am!! I was a awesome thing to go there. I am so glad We were able to go before they closed. It was a memory I will never forget!!
Around our house we always use cotton sheets. They feel so good. I have even made my own in a pinch. They feel so much better than synthetic against our skin. We love them and the floral motif would be perfect for our bedroom. Thanks
My favorite memories of summer are several…The first bite of the first tomato of the season grown in your own backyard. the next is relaxing by the lake with friends and the last is at the beach with my daughter and her family.
My favorite summer memories were up at my Grandparents cottage at Big Diamond Pond in Colebrook NH, almost in Canada. The ice on the pond was still melting in late May early June. very cold to take our “bath” in…yikes!
My favorite memory from this summer was getting to the point in the season (end of summer ~ sigh…) when we could go outside in the evenings and not get carried away by mosquitoes (the real Maine state animal!!). There is no better way to soothe an inconsolably exhausted 2yr old than snuggling him close under the canopy of a vibrant sunset fading to the first stars of the evening, feeling his breathing slow and become regular, and allowing his peace to seep into and slow down my own internal frenzy. What a fleeting but eternal blessing!!
Hello, MaryJane. Thank you for all that you do to keep us grounded and happy. One of my favorite summer memories was when I was about 8 years old. My sister and I were lying on the green grass in the front yard looking up at the clouds. We were, like so many children, finding pictures in them. Life was simple then, when summers seemed to last forever and childhood wasn’t rushed. Take care, Melissa
Such a beautiful quilt! I would have to say my favorite summer memory would be when I took my son swimming for the first time! He loved it so much and never wanted to get out. He is such a little fish. I was worried he wouldn’t like swimming but he did amazing. The memories I made from that day will last forever.
I remember carnivals and days at the seashore as a child. It meant good times with best friends and siblings. We were all available for each other. Time was slow and every moment was naturally happy. Today, old friends have come and gone and life seems faster but treasured memories live on as we continue to make new ones. MaryJane, your lovely publication reminds me to slow down and smell the roses!
My 39 year old’s marriage to her now husband. We had the ceremony by the fountain my husband made, pulled pork and corn on the cob and flowers from my garden. Volleyball, Bon fire, s’mores, you get the picture. Country wedding. Amazing.
My favourite summer memory was the summer between junior college and the next one. I was a camp counselor in southern MO. It was a picturesque place. Our campers came on Monday and left on Thursday evening. The girls were all sweeties and had fun coming up with ways to prank the counselor. The weekends were ours to do laundry, swim in the lake, boat. I was fit, tan and even in love with a coast guard that worked on the lake. The mornings were beautiful with the mist rising from the lake. It was the most wonderful time of my life. Probably why I hate for every summer to come to an end.
The quilt is beautiful!! It will be like a little bit of summer to warm me thru the winter months
I planted my 1st kitchen garden, with our favorite herbs and veggies, with a lot of help from family- especially my 4yr old grand-baby who does not like Vegs She took her first bite of a still warm from the sun tomato and fell in love, now she eats peas and tomatoes, we create “food” with herbs and its delicious. It is such a joy to open the world for a child. We have the big garden in front, but this is ours and we are out there every day to see what new butterflies/worms flowers are blooming and thriving. Nature is amazing.
My maternal grandparents lived in Des Moines, Iowa, near Drake University, and we would spend summers at their apartment while my dad was a student at Drake, and afterwards when he later worked in Des Moines, when he had summers off as a teacher. We would take the electric bus to downtown, where my grandmother worked at Younkers, and we would go to the tea room there. We would walk to Katz’ Drug Store, with the big black cat face on their logo, and ride the tiny indoor mechanical horse, and get our pictures taken in the little photo booth, and have a cherry Coke at the soda fountain – a regular Coke was a nickel, and it was 2 cents more for the cherry syrup. You could go to Katz with a quarter and come home with a comic book, penny candy, and some change. We would walk to Drake Park and wade in the concrete community pool, shaded by all the trees. Sometimes our father drove us all to Camp Dodge to swim there at the big pool. And we would go to the Varsity Theater to watch a movie for 25 cents, and you could stay as many times as you liked, and get a box of popcorn for a dime. At night, with no air conditioning, the windows were all open and you could hear the sirens going up and down University Avenue, and the cicadas buzzing. Sometimes, we would go to Boone, Iowa and visit our cousins on their farm, and see the animals there. It’s an Iowa Century Farm now, and 5th generation family is still farming there. Whenever we are able to visit Des Moines, and Boone, I am transported back to those sweet summer memories… Thank you for your giveaway!
My favorite summer memories are of when I was growing up. We didn’t have AC so we slept with the windows up. I loved listening to the bull frogs in the pond near our house and the crickets chirping. Also star gazing out my bedroom window. Although it’s nice to have the AC during an Alabama summer now, I still miss those times.
My favorite summer so far, was last summer, 2015. The hardest summer of my life, but the best! Hubby and I found our homestead, a 5 acre place with old barn, lean-to and a shell of a small home built 50 years ago and never finished! We spent the entire summer working on getting the outside winterized…I should say hubby worked, I was pregnant and always had my two toddler girls in tow. We struggled with how to finished the inside financially, but things came together after a month of prayer! I was so excited to get our homesteading life started, I picked up chickens from craigslist the first week we owned the place, and put them in the old barn…letting them free range during the day. Low and behold we had farm drama within that first month! A bobcat came through and continually wiped out my dwindling flock…hubby finally caught sight of it during the middle of the day, jumping six feet in the air, no wonder they weren’t safe perched on top of 6ft stalls! No matter what traps we set, we couldn’t catch the wild thing. I had to give my survivors away to friends. Only thing that kept our chickens safe the following spring was getting a set of pups! So the summer of 2015 was spent supporting my hard working husband with food, and our girly presence…drinking our well water, and enjoying the weather at the base of the San Francisco peaks, having friends show up to help, and always having meals prepared at the “base camp” we called the back of our jeep with shelf table. We picnicked outside all summer, spent a few nights under the stars as daddy worked away and eventually brought the tent into the house for the girls to play in while I painted our finished walls and hubby worked tirelessly away at getting the inside of the house finished! We actually got our place finished in the nick of time, days before Christmas, and my 3rd baby girl showed up on January 14th…we got to christen our ranch home with a home birth, just as we had wanted to do, when we daydreamed a year before, about doing at a new homestead, since our first two home birth memories were now in a home we had sold! What a year 2015 was…what a summer! Hard, hard, hard, but full of precious memories!
My favorite summer memory , for over 30 years, is watching our small herd of Jersey cows walk up the grassy hill to get milked and hearing the sweet low moo’s of the calves.
Nice! Jersey cows are beautiful!
This is so beautiful! My favorite summer memory was going on a hiking trip and being surprised by huckleberries (they were later than usual this year). Some how we still managed to get the entire hike in, but everyone had purple fingers and lips. =)
What a great way to realize a new perspective. This summer, at this age, I find myself in a brand new place, an old farmhouse in the Northern Neck of Virginia. I’m realizing dreams I never gave myself permission to believe for myself. I mostly spent this summer getting settled and making plans for gardens in the coming spring. One of the small, yet best, accomplishments was my husband’s success in hanging our porch swing. That meant I could sit out front and think about future plans, marvel at our ancient sycamores, and feel grateful for the people who came here before me. Your quilt set would be a perfect addition to our new farm house. Thank you!
I left a comment but its not showing so here goes again. my favorite summer memory is when I was about 6 when my grandmother got me the best gift ever. A “real” Indian teepee. it was quite large and had native American designs on it and was heavy canvas. I played in it all day and slept from spring through summer into fall every night. I was in heaven.
My favorite summer memory is one of going to my grandmother’s. They lived on the lake and I got to go spend a week with them one year. She loved to sew but she did not quilt. She owned a bake shop and they had a marina so people who would stop would go up to the house and buy her pies, and turnovers and cookies. I loved my time there that summer. I learned a lot about my grandparents and from them. I loved exploring the area and the house. My grandmother built all the cabinets in her house kitchen and my mom told me she laid the flooring all herself. Thank you so much for prompting this beautiful memory for me. I certainly miss those two special people.
My favorite summer memory was cuddling and kissing my new english setter puppy!
I have several wonderful summer memories of my maternal grandmother. Most summers until my mid-teens, I would spend 2-3 weeks with her in the country (she was a widow). I particularly remember very early in the mornings going to the garden with her..every day…to pick vegetables for the day, and I remember the morning glories would be blooming and bees buzzing around them. I always enjoyed that time.
We moved to Fairbanks Alaska for husband to go to Aviation School and while there drove to Dead Horse near Barrow. On the trip we saw all of the animals that frequent the area except a polar bear which we just missed seeing by a few hours. The trip was an experience of a lifetime and is a treasured memory!
Mary Jane … my favorite memory of summer is being in Nova Scotia, going from little fishing village to village! It’s so quiet and peaceful up there and so picturesque. Wherever I pointed my camera I got a picture! So relaxing! Thanks, Carol
I can still smell the smells and hear the quiet sounds of summer while growing up on the farm in Wisconsin. I still sense the walks with our collies through pastures, crossing the springs, savoring the taste of tiny wild strawberrries, listening to the warble of meadowlarks and seeing the bullheads race for cover under the creek bank as we approach. I loved carrying the whiter than white newborn calves to the barn with their mothers nervously following. Each memory fires up more memories, more vivid pictures in my mind, so many images after being away from the farm for 47 years.
I loved summer as a child, my Mom was old school – children should be seen and not heard – but when I got to spend two weeks in the summer at Grandma’s house, it was the bees knees. Picking cherries and peaches from the tree, helping Grandma work in the garden, then picking raspberries from the bushes, all in preparation for the family barbecue at her house. Aunts, Uncles and cousins would come for a cookout and the family wiffle ball game in the backyard. My husband and I now live in Grandma’s house and the raspberries are back along with a cherry tree, courtesy of our neighbor who got her seedlings and saplings from grandma. Most of the family has passed on, but I will never forget the fun we had growing up and I hope to pass those times along to my children while creating memories of their own childhood.
Would love to be the winner of this beautiful quilt
When I was a child, my family would drive over an hour up long windy mountain roads to get to our favorite lake. It was secluded, breathtaking and refreshing. We would lay out our beach blankets and spend the day swimming and eating a picnic lunch. Summer doesn’t get any better than that.
It’s taken me a bit of pondering to come up with just one favorite summer memory.
Ultimately, even further back than my own kid’s summers, I picked this.
When I was a kid, one labor day weekend my Auntie La Donna picked me up and with two of her kids, Karen and Russ, we just got in the car and drove north with no pre-set destination! It was magical!
We hit three different towns on our way and ended in The Wisconsin Dells.We stopped wherever, whenever we wanted. Picking wild apples that the likes I’ve never tasted again. Hitting a railroad museum and all kinds of shops and things to do all along the way. Stayed in different hotels incld one of those that had little individual cottage as rooms.I still feel that weekend and see it more than any other before or a
since.
Mary Jane,
My favorite summer memory was the birth of our first calf, Tiny Bit Kelly I just so happened to be in Pennsylvania at a lecture, when my husband contacted me to let me know a beautiful little Jersey heifercwas born. I was so excited, I left the lecture hall and started crying, showing all my collegues photos of our new born calf and miniature cow, Little Bit Kelly. All was well and I couldn’t wait to get home to see her. I met a lot of friends from across the country, because of this event. Other women shared cow stories and calving experiences, which made my trip that much more exciting. If it wasn’t for this tiny calf, being born while I was away with hundreds if professionals, I doubt I would have gotten to know many lovely farm and cattle ranching friends. The calf was a bonus. The lifetime friendships I made that day are priceless.
Yours truly,
Ginger B. Kelly
One of my favorite memories this summer was finally getting a chance to see the Atlantic side of Florida although I am a Florida native I had never been there. And walked the beach hand in hand with my boy friend..making new memories. Taking photos and seeing the lighthouse at Ponce de Leon inlet and etching the pelicans and seagulls then later enjoying a milkshake at a quaint icecream shop where the clerk said it was so nice to see a couple so happy together.thank you for this fun giveaway and reminding us to cherish precious memories
My favorite summer memory is walking on a Lake Superior beach with my husband and our two dogs. The day was gorgeous and everyone was so happy.
We visited the grandkids this summer in Spokane…..had a wonderful time in the northern cascades camping in canvas tent….along the methowriver……was cold for this southern girl…..also rode through the country side….fun
Oooh it’s so hard to pick just one….hum okay I think this summer one of my favorite memories was having the opportunity to stargaze with my sister and our two best friends on a camping trip to Orcas Island in August!!!
My second favorite would be swimming across the lake with some friends as spotters!
Quite the adventure!
Beautiful!
Summer has so many pleasures that come with it. The daily outing to the garden to see what is flowering, what is almost ready to harvest, watching that 1st tomato turn red. The taste of fresh vegetables! The smell of an evening rain on the grass. The many blooms of summer flowers. The hummingbirds at the feeders. All the babies of spring, gowing and learning. Of all these things, the high light of my summer was a family vacation to the lake with all 3 of my children and my 4 grandchildren! To watch them frolic, play, splash, and take in every moment of the day! It was a glorious week!
Family and farm, my favorite place to be!