Letter Forgotten DaisyChain

Somewhere along the way, of a year apart postings, I missed posting the picture of the letter "J".  Hmmm.....Who knows what happened.  So here you go:

The Letter "J":

Warmest...

Update on Daisychain ABC Project

Remember last year I started this project as a way to have something else to do while sitting with my Mom while she was in rehab.  I am sitting with my Mom and Dad this year for different ailments, so I brought along this project to work on again.  So fare I have done the following letters this year:

The letter "K":

The letter "L":

The Letter "M":

The letter "N":

And the letter "O":

This completes another line in the sampler.  There are five lines/rows in the sampler, so I only have two left to complete the embroidery work.  I am using thread colors to match the color way from Moda's Sunkissed line of fabrics.  I have three quilts in the making using this line, and wanted this sampler to have the same colors to decorate my guest bedroom.  I will be using some of the scrap leftovers from the quilt projects to frame the sampler when I complete it.

Also back in 2012, here, I started a crocheted granny square project using the same colors as in the Sunkissed fabric line.  I brought it along too on this trip, to break the boredom of working on just one project.  So I have done about 10 more of these granny squares, and actually I am about done in getting the squares completed.  This is just a sample of three of the squares I have done,  I didn't get one with a pink border done in time for pictures.

Then I also did two more hexies.  

I seem to move right along during the down times with looking after my parents.   

Warmest...

Hexagon Hand Project

I haven't done much sewing, as I am out of state tending to both of my parents.  They were both in the hospital for various ailments, but very serious  conditions.  Both are finally home, and we will be making some very difficult decisions in the next few weeks.

In the mean time, I brought some hand sewing, crocheting, and embroidery work to do while the parents rest in the mornings and afternoon.

Yesterday I was able to work on some hexies.  Before leaving on this trip, I wanted to do a hand stitching project and came across a package of hexagon paper pieces.  I have seen the hexie world out in blog land for quite some time, so since I already had the paper pieces already cut out and ready to go, I just rummaged through some scraps that I thought would make some really nice flowers.  Reasoning behind this is because I think I will be making a small quilt using the Grandma's Garden pattern.   Google it and you can see what the Grandma's Garden looks like if interested.

Surprisingly sewing them by hand went faster then I thought it would (might not have gotten enough scraps for the out of town trip), and it was easier that I had read about when other people attempted to make them.  So for now, I will continue with the scraps that I have and see where it takes me.  The sashing hexies will be done using muslin,

Warmest... 

New Sewing Room Decor

I obtained a couple of new sewing related decor items to hang up around my sewing room.

I bought this while on the shop hop during the shop hop this February.  It is all metal that has a been cut out with a quilt pattern.  The color is a dark blue, and done in the traditional bear paw pattern.  It measures 12' X 12".

I hung it over "Molly" my dress form.

I had this one from a couple of years ago on a quilt run, but I guess I never got around to taking a picture of when I put it up.  It is a deep red and has a star pattern around the American Flag.  This one is 12" square too.

This is the spot I have it hanging in my sewing room.  It is over my wicker shelf that sits between the entrance into my sewing room door from the house and the exit door to the outside porch area.

Next up is a set of 5 plates with dress forms printed on them.  I bought them about 5 years ago, when my husband told me he was going to build me my sewing room.  I can't believe it took so long to get them up on the wall (I am going to blame it on the fact that I kept forgetting to get plate hangers to be able to hang them up properly).   I put them on the little bit of wall on one side of the closet, so try to just enjoy looking at the plates and not the mess in the closet please.

Warmest...

Cheddar Blocks:

Quilting Resolution

At the beginning of the New Year, I made some resolutions.  Like everyone else, I have kept some, and not kept some.  One of the resolutions that I have not kept is the one about quilting two tops each month.  Ha! Ha! Ha!

What an over achiever statement if I ever heard one.  Especially knowing my track record.  Sounds good when I said it to myself, even looked better on paper when I wrote it down, but seriously.  Me. Quilt.  Two. Quilts. A. Month???????  I really am snickering as I write this post.

Now, to no avail, I am this week, been working on quilting  a finished top.  Yep, I have pulled out the Chocolat Legacy quilt top.

If interested, you can read all about the making of this quilt here.

The quilt top measures 100" X 100", so I have to pin it in sections.  On a queen bed.  Takes a long time and about 1000 safety pins to get it done.

I am though, very please with the backing for this quilt.  If you remember, I scored awhile back (sometime in March) this backing in the same fabric line as the front.  It is a wide backing of 104" from Moda and from the fabric line Chocolat by 3 Sisters.  What I do like best about it is how smooth it lays and is so rich in texture and shape.  I should have it all pinned up by tomorrow and quilting it over the weekend.  

Warmest...

Cheddar Blocks:

Garden Update

While I do understand that this blog is mainly about my various crafts, I also have a very vibrant garden this year and want to brag a little about it.

This is the peas that are going to be ready to pick within the next week.  This is one of two arbors that I have chocked full of peas.  It is hard to see, but the pea vines are on the inside of the boxes and the outside of the boxes have things like beets, pepper plants, squash, cucumbers and carrots.  I also have a row a beans coming up right in front of the beans so they can grow on the arbor as soon a the peas are harvested.

Remember when I filled some large tubs with dirt, and planted potatoes.  They all have come up and are doing quite well.  Supposedly the 4 pounds of potatoes that I planted will give me about 200 pounds of harvested potatoes.  Need to learn and prepare for some cold winter storage for this crop.

The box is mostly full of roma tomato plants, about 26 plants,  I am hoping for a bumper crop to make things like tomato paste, sauce, salsa, spaghetti sauce, enchilada sauce, stewed tomatoes, and anything else that I can think of along the way of canning or drying them.  

If you look closely at the front end of the box, you will see some small plants.  They are not tomatoes, they are peanuts.  Yep, peanuts.  I am giving them a try this year just for kicks.

These three boxes are more tomatoes.  One box has a mixture of red pear tomatoes, regular slicing tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, and I think a purple heirloom one.  The other two are more roma types that are different varieties that will hopefully mix together with the long box and make some awesome tasting stuff.

The box to the front of the picture is the broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage plants.  Lots of leaves, still no produce yet.  Should be seeing results in a couple of week though.

Here we have the onion box.  I planted over 100 onions, I pick every other one for awhile for green onions then I leave the rest in the ground and pull one when I need an onion for my cooking.  I can cover the crop with straw and sawdust and overwinter them and pull them as needed all though the rest of the year.  How cool it that, having produce right out your back door whenever one needs something! 

The strawberries are producing, not at the rate I would like them to, but I am hoping since this is the first year the production will be low, and they will do better next year.

Thought I would throw in the picture of the climates that is growing over the fence from the flower bed on the other side.  It is really loaded with blooms this year.

The next two pictures are of the half wine barrels that are growing my herbs.  The first one has sage, thyme and oregano.  

This barrel has dill, basil, another kind of thyme, and coriander.

This picture shows how the herb barrels are positioned in front of the greenhouse.  I have already dried a batch of oregano (almost a quart jar of dried leaves) and a batch of dill.  I need to do some the thyme next.

Now that the initial part of gardening is done, it is now a waiting game until harvesting, then the next wave of work starts!

Warmest...

Starting today, at the end of every post, I am going to picture a new or several new cheddar blocks that I get done so I don't have to bore you with a complete post about them over and over again.

Cheddar Bow Ties

I have become somewhat of a fan of Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.  If you remember, I followed and did her mystery quilt last winter called Grand Illusion (you can read all the posts here).

She has what is called "leaders and enders", which are scrap blocks that you have pre-cut out, that you sew at the beginning and end of other major projects you might be working.  The theory being, that you can get a main project done along with a secondary scrappy project.

About 4 years ago, she did a sort of quilt along doing a leader/ender project called cheddar bow ties.  You can get the pattern and read the blog post about it here.

I have lots of scraps.  Any quilter usually does.  I decided to do something with my scraps by doing this leader/ender thing with a cheddar print by Faye Burgos of Marcus Fabrics. I was able to pick up 5 yards of it when I was on the coastal trip in February.  True cheddar fabric is hard to find, at least in the shops I go to, as it is doesn't fall into the new modern colors and fabrics that are all the rage now.  Call me old fashioned, but I like the older prints and colors.

Here is my project box with pre-cut cheddar squares and my pre-cut scraps.

This was my first block, which by the way finishes at 3 1/2 inches.

And here are a few more:

Different layout of the blocks:

It will take a lot of blocks to make a quilt, but I like having something that I can do when I only have 5 or 10 minutes to sew.  I guess I will just keep making them until I at least have enough for a large throw (twin size or about 500).  Then I will see if I want to keep making more blocks, or move onto another scrappy project.

Warmest...