Rose

 
This is a rose that was in our yard when we moved here. It is a tree rose that is called Sentimental. It was planted out front along the sidewalk, but was in bad shape and didn't look like it would survive another season. When we redid the front bed we had to move it since the landscaping blocks had to go right where it was planted. I moved it in a corner until I could find a more suitable place for it. It lived there all last summer and even produced two blossoms. Then in late summer I moved it to the bed outside our bedroom window. This spring it is covered with blooms. I guess it likes it's new home.

Butterfly Quilt

 


I finished this small quilt this morning. I actually started it several years ago, when I threw these four blocks together out of some scrap material I had. I was have fun this last week getting it hand quilted. I think I can finally cross the line and publicly announce I can hand quilt. It has taken a lot of practice, changing methods halfway through my journey, and a lot more practice. I started out making 4-5 stitches per inch, and am now up to 10 stitches per inch. Unfortunately, now all I want to do is the handquilting, and have kind of lost the fun in piecing the tops. I have turned to making mini quilts which makes the piecing a bit more challenging, since there is a lot less room for error. So, I guess I need to head off to get the other half of Amish garden sewn together.

Definitely Spring

 

After taking Max for a walk yesterday morning, I had to go in and grap my camera and take a picture of the azaleas on the north side of our house. They are such a beautiful salmon color. When we moved in the leaves were tiny and spotted and they looked a little rough, so last spring I pruned them pretty heavily, and then fed them with some azalea food and last summer we mulched them heavily with some of oak leaf compost. This spring we added coffee grinds and they really look so much better.

Amish Garden

Well, I have started a journey of making mini quilts. I have done a few using a method called foundation paper piecing, it is a foolproof way to get a accurate mini. This is my first attempt at the old fashion way of piecing. The pattern is called Amish garden. It is suppose to reflect colors found in radishes, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. It will be finished off by a wide border with some nice hand quilting, hence the amish part.
I cut out all the pieces in one day. Each square is 1.25 inches by 1.25 inches. After they are sewn together that come out to each square ending up at 3/4 of an inch. It took me another couple of hours to sew the squares into rows with each piece being added on point. This morning I sewed half of those strips together to form half of the center of the quilt. The other half hasn't even been started so you see how much it shrinks once sewn together.
I realized when making this quilt, how I must not like the color purple. I used fabrics from my stash and had to actually go out and purchase some purple because I have no purple fabrics. I often see designers on HGTV that go thru their clients house to get color ideas. I now see how if you look around your favorite colors will be found in your clothing, furnishings, and even a quilter's stash. I have all my fabrics folded and stacked in a closet and so I went to the closet and opened the door. Yeah, it worked the green pile was the largest and that is my favorite color.

The Bug

It was such a wonderful start to the week. Sunday the weather was gorgeous, Monday I actually worked out on a Monday, did laundry, and all the things on my list were completed. This morning at 2 am I woke up and went to use the bathroom, and I felt very woozy and dizzy. I went back to bed got up around 5:30am really feeling sick and dizzy. After several trips to the bathroom I finally felt a little better. Tom came home to check on me, really no change. I can at least get up with out feeling like a drunk but my stomach still feels queasy. So, I have just sat around all day, finished a little embroidery project, and haven't accomplished anything. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

Top Gear

Today, I thought I would catch up on my dvr recordings, so I turned on Top Gear. This episode was about them motor biking from one end of Vietnam to the other. It was quite entertaining. I only put in 2.5 miles to their 1700 but when I was done I felt like I had walked across vietnam with them. I was surprised at how beautiful a country it is. I guess I need to dvr some travel shows and walk across some other countries.