Big Finish, Little Finish

It was a slow-stitching marathon yesterday. I had two projects so close to the finish line, and so most of my day was spent with those. First, I finished up the 11th of 12 blocks for Appalachian Memories:

With just one more block to finish on this quilt, I'm excited to get on to the next one. It will have to wait for its turn to come up again though. We are nothing if not disciplined about our sewing. Yep...cracking the whip...that's us. Except when it comes to big-stitch hand quilting...then we whine and complain and make all kinds of excuses and prolong the agony for as long as possible. But that's just me. You?

So anyway...it was time to get out and do some work in the garden. It had been neglected while we were gone, but not too badly. At this point, it's pretty self-sustaining. I just get out and check for anything that needs harvesting and hoe a few weeds and call it done for another couple of days. Yesterday, I harvested another boat load of beets. They've been trimmed of their greens and separated into baby bear, mama bear, and papa bear sizes now. I'll use the largest ones to try a new recipe for Red Root Relish. I've never tried it, and so I don't know. It's worth a try. The mama bear size will go into pickled beets, and the smallest will be eaten as is. 

Also, I found four zucchini. The one on the right tried to go rogue, but I caught it in a nick of time. Some of these will go into a second batch of relish, and then I have some new things I'd like to try.

When I wrote yesterday's post, I'd forgotten I needed to pick up a part for Big Bertha. Poor old gal had her hand-wheel cap broken by some overly-enthusiastic quilter who tried to ram the needle through a too-tick wad of fabric, elastic, and stablizer. I could use it, but every time I turned the hand wheel, it made a loud cracking sound. It was especially nervous-making while I was top-stitching applique last week.

But now, for the price of $12, there is a new unbroken one in place, and we're feeling much better about our sewing machine integrity. You might say the cracking is lacking now. 

We had lunch while we were out, and then naps when we got back, but then I got to work finishing off the fourth side of the Shop Hop quilt binding. The kitties worked in shifts for this project.

I love that backing fabric. As I've been stitching, I've been looking more closely at it. There are all sorts of little details in it. I'm glad I still have a good sized piece, and I'm considering making a mask with some of the cut-off sides from this quilt.

After about an hour, I had it finished. It's a very large quilt at 78 x 78 inches, but what fun to see all those fabrics and remember the stories behind them!

Here's a better look at the back. There are buttons, pincushions, rotary cutters, rulers, foxes, hedgehogs, dogs, and, of course, cats!

Later in the afternoon, I went out to check on the garden again. Aren't these pretty? They're in one of the pots up by the house. This is lentana.

Out in the vegetable garden, look at these eensy-weensie green beans! I'm so excited about this.

What had me out in the garden was seeing the giant sunflower from the living room window. It's about seven feet tall, and the flower is the size of a dinner plate.

Here's another new one that has bloomed. This one is only about knee high.

And look at this poor little fellow. I believe this one's name is Floristan. It looks like something happened to it as it was developing. Only a mother could love it, and I'm a mother, so it works.

There are lots more coming.

Including some with multiple buds.

Look how pretty the green beans look now that they are nearly covering their poles. I have to keep relocating their tendrils. They try to grab hold of the corn and one another. I'm trying to keep them from getting tangled together, and it's a daily battle.

Also, I love standing in among the corn now. It's nearly over my head and tassels are appearing on most. I'm really looking forward to some sweet corn straight from the plant.

Okay, so there's some housework on today's agenda, and then I'll get on with quilting Tuxedo Tales. It's been relaxing on my sewing chair for more than a week, while I mulled over what to do with it. I think I have a good plan in mind for it. 

I'm hoping to get three more quilts finished by the end of the month, but I don't know if I'll make it. My whiteboard list might need some rearranging.