Quilts & Flowers

Our gardens are coming along nicely.  All the hard work is now done, so it's a matter of sitting back and enjoying them for a bit.  I can't wait for nice, fresh lettuce to be ready to harvest!  And it's almost time for my favorite iris, Crater Lake Blue, to bloom.  My daffodils are now all finished and the first of the irises has bloomed.    The white 'Immortality' irises are just starting to bloom. This one is 'Batik' and is particularly pretty this year.
I was really happy to see that the tulips I planted in my future sewing room window well made it (no pests like rabbits or deer eating them).  Oddly, none of the daffodils we planted in there came up.  But it still looks nice.  It's a moist and almost totally shady location, so we put in a few hostas, a small Columbine, and a Heuchera.
Our vegetable garden is growing (or attempting to grow) lettuce, beets, broccoli rabe, green beans, cabbage, jalapeño, potatoes, cucumber, and strawberries this year.  It looks like I might get some pears from one of the trees we planted last year.  I was trying to Google information about what pears look like while growing.  If you just type "pear" instead of "pear tree" you get a whole lot of images of body shapes instead of fruit!!  Anyway, I'm pretty certain that those little globes in the center of the picture are baby pears.

In sewing news, I finished up my Paradiso #1 quilt this morning.  The backing print I used is one of my favorites ever.  And I love the hot pink prints in this line too.  The fabrics are all Kate Spain's Paradiso.  The pattern is by Cluck, Cluck, Sew.  The quilt measures 55" x 63". I originally intended this to match my living room furniture, but it doesn't, so if you would like to purchase this lovely quilt, please inquire.  :)

This week is check-in on our guild UFO challenge, so I'm scrambling to try to get some things finished.  I have one of two Bubblegum Kisses mini quilts ready to bind.  I tried some different continuous line/curve designs.   I'm pretty happy with how it turned out even though my orange peel segments are still pretty inconsistent.  The overall effect is decent.  The fabrics on this one are all Lori Holt Bee Basics and Bee Backgrounds.  The pattern is slightly modified from the one that came in the Sew Sampler box.  My finished size on this is going to be around 22" x 24".


I'm trying to determine how to quilt the second version and am hoping to have it done by Friday evening as well, since I listed them as one total item on my UFO list.  I also decided to finish off one of my partially complete cross stitch projects.  It's a Christmas ornament and I just had to sew on the beads and then do all the finish work on it.  I did the beads yesterday and washed it, so now it's just a matter of mounting it and finishing the ornament.  I haven't done the finishing technique before, but it seems pretty straight-forward.

 I'm also creating a replica Gus Grissom space outfit for my son since he needs a costume for his famous Hoosier wax museum school project on Friday.  It involves a disposable painting coverall, a bunch of patches, some webbing, and some plumbing parts.  We didn't have school yesterday due to it being an election day, so we got a good portion done.  Still a ways to go though.  Hopefully tonight it will be totally done.

 What are you working on this week?
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Spring Has Sprung

The weather seems to finally have decided upon staying in spring.  Indiana is pretty for about two weeks in the spring when everything is coming back to life and greening up.    All my vegetables have come up.  Things are starting to flower.  I've been spending a good bit of time outside, buying and planting flowers and trees.  

This is my transplanted lilac.  It seems to be doing well.  We  planted a few creeping phlox around it and transplanted a few lamb's ears from the lawn, but only one made it.  We added in a few rocks from our basement too.  Totally need to wash the siding.

We added a standard pine and a few more perennials.  Those scraggly messes are knock out roses, which will be removed/transplanted elsewhere next year.

I have at least two hummingbirds coming in to the feeders, both male.  We also saw a Baltimore oriole at the hummingbird feeder this week.  We have an oriole feeder, but it doesn't attract any birds.  My mom lives five hours north of me and she mentioned that she had rose-breasted grosbeaks come in to her feeders yesterday.  I said I hadn't seen any yet.  No sooner did I hang up the phone with her than I saw a handful of them on my feeders!

 I really enjoyed my guild retreat on Saturday.  Time flew by and I actually got a good bit of progress in on my Aviatrix quilt.  I quilted one of my UFOs last week and attached the binding to the front of the quilt yesterday.  Just a quick (ha ha ha) sew down on the back and it will be finished.  Side note on this one:  I tried out the Juki glide (or cup) foot on this one and it worked so well!  Of course the directions weren't the greatest.  You really need to change the needle before the foot is on.  I dropped a needle down inside the machine attempting to do it while the foot was installed.  Also, you need to take the screw all the way out of the shank in order to attach this foot.  It is a much longer screw than you would think...  The effort was worth it though.  Great foot.
I also sewed rows together on one of my Bee Basics Bubblegum Kisses quilts.  I still need to press it. Then I need to add borders to both and get them quilted.  This was a project that came in the Sew Sampler box (which most of my quilt friends subscribe to).  I borrowed the pattern from one of my friends and bought the fabric--with careful cutting and some extra background fabric I was able to make two.  
I have just over a week to finish up more UFOs before my next guild meeting.  I also have to create a Gus Grissom costume for my son to wear at a school function next week.  I'm just waiting (apparently until the last second) on a coverall to come in and then I need to sew patches to it.

 We got rid of cable Monday and went with only streaming services.  I'm getting the hang of it, but it's an adjustment.  I think we all miss the clocks on the cable boxes the most!  I have one clock on order and I'm going to go buy a second one this morning.  

 Random things I've been thinking about:  I don't get the whole "promposal" thing.  It's been on the news, my daughter has talked about it, and it was even on The Middle last night.  I would like to know where it originated.  I think at that age I would have appreciated the effort, but as an introvert, I would also have been mortified by the whole thing as well.  Have you ever seen a sage grouse male calling?  It's really weird and entertaining.  You can find all sorts of videos to watch, definitely with sound.  I really need to come up with a business name so that I can officially quilt for others.  I also have some things I need to destash.  Need to locate boxes and determine shipping.
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