So Much Sewing

It rained most of the day yesterday, and so it was a stay-in-and-sew day. There was plenty to keep me busy. The first task was to finish off the binding for the Sweet Land of Liberty quilt. This is finished now, and working hard as a table topper for our breakfast bar.

Here's how it looks from the back.

I want to make a patriotic runner for our dining room table too. There is a pattern and embroidery floss waiting in my sewing room, but I will need to finish one of my other embroidery projects first.

Next, I went to work on a challenge quilt. Did I tell you I'd joined this group, The Endeavourers? There are quarterly prompts, and the next reveal will be on August 1st. Each member will have a different challenge since the prompts will all come from other members. My prompt for this quilt is "Love is like a butterfly," and inspired by Dolly Parton's song. Art quilts are a stretch for me since I don't feel as if I have much imagination nor creativity. My cats, on the other hand, are very creative. Smitty helped me decide how to do my quilt for this challenge, and he stood by offering his moral support.

I can only show you peeks for the time being. My project will include fusible applique.

Also, I'll be using one of the longest residents of my fabric stash. I've always loved this background fabric, but this will be the first time I've found a way to use it.

Before I stopped for the day, the whole top was finished. I left it sandwiched for top-stitching and quilting. The top-stitching will also serve as quilting on this one. As I go, I'll continue to show you little peeks, but you'll have to wait until the reveal on August 1st to see the whole thing.

There was still plenty of time left in the day, and so I went to work quilting Hearts A-Plenty. My friend Sandra H. requested more information about this quilt. Sandra, but you are no-reply. I'm hoping you'll see my answer here, and thanks for asking! This quilt was made from little embroidery patterns I picked up on our USA Perimeter tour. I was visiting a quilt shop in Kerrville, Texas, called Creations. It was one of my favorites from that trip. As I made my way through the store, I'd selected different fabrics for purchase. The line at the register was long, and while I stood there, I noticed this grouping of little embroidery patterns. There was a heart for each month.

 I spent way too much money on this, but they were so cute, I knew I'd regret leaving them behind. The patterns were only for the embroidery. If you like these, you can find the used pattern listed for sale in the Yard Sale on my right side bar. 

The setting for the blocks was my own idea. I combined them with this little pattern, picked up at the Quilted Owl in New Orleans. These Itty Bitty Hearts were used as the cornerstones. The fabrics were all scraps from my stash.

As for the quilting, I quilted a little "heart garland" around each heart.

And then I switched to a light pink thread and did some simple straight-line quilting in the sashings.

Here's how it looks from the back, although it's hard to see the quilting on that busy fabric.

It's ready for binding now. I'll use the black and white polka dot on the left, and I'll get that sewn on (at least by machine) before the day is over.

So that was a good sewing day. Before dinner, I went out to see how the flowers were doing after a day of rain. The kitties went with me.

I was trying to get them to look in my direction, and so, of course, they looked the other way.

The deer have left the rose bush alone this year, although they have nibbled at a few of the rose buds. This one is opened, although it wisely closed up its petals in the deluge.

The bush is covered in buds, and a good sunny day is all it needs. These are very fragrant when they open.

Across the sidewalk, the purple rhododendron is blooming away. The other rhodies have faded now, but this one is bringing up the rear.

The dappled willow has grown much larger. It didn't really do what I expected when it began leafing out this past spring, but it looks good. By the way, see that blank wall on the house there? That's where we'll put up a trellis and plant the newest clematis. It's a good spot for a clematis...sunny in the morning, shady in the afternoon.

And then I just took some pictures of raindrops on the flowers.

The blooming peonies also closed up their petals in the rain. I'm hoping a little sunshine will bring them back.

I have an idea the one in the image below will be next to bloom.

And then there's this one. Sigh. I'm still keeping the faith about its future.

Here's how the peony bed is looking right now.

As long as we're walking around the garden, a few of you asked about what was killing the bees in our hanging baskets. Frankly, I don't know, but I strongly suspect the grower used a pesticide containing neonicotinoids. There have been a few instances of major bee die-offs when these have been used to spray trees in other areas. I believe they are banned in Oregon, but I really have no way to know for sure if they are to blame for the bee deaths from our baskets. As I mentioned, I have notified the local merchant. The merchant was very concerned and requested more information so they could identify and notify the grower. The grower may not even know they've used a product containing this offending agent.

Okay, so we're supposed to have more rain today, but not as much as yesterday. The sun is peeking through the clouds and then disappearing intermittently. I have a little housework to do, but there should be plenty of time for sewing too. I'll get the binding sewn on Hearts A-Plenty, and then get back to the challenge piece.