It was a day for laundry and nothing but sewing. I'm well along on my challenge piece now, and it's really coming along beautifully. The reveal isn't until August 1st, and so I'm afraid a peek is all you're going to get for now. Believe me...it's at least as hard for me to have to keep a secret.
With not much on the agenda, I took some extra time with my morning slow-stitching. All the leaves in this section are stitched now, and I'm making my way through the tree trunk. I expect I'll finish this section this morning.
Ordinarily, I use two strands of floss for all my stitching. I've found, however, that my satin stitching looks best if I use three strands. No problem, except pulling just that one extra strand of floss through the fabric makes my thumb hurt. I'm glad this morning's stitching will be of the two-strand variety.
Before I got busy with my challenge piece, I took my walk around the garden. It rained a good part of the day, and so I was out between rain showers. We're really ready for the rain to move along, but I still like how it looks when the raindrops collect on things outside. These are the leaves of the daylily. No flower buds yet, but the plants are huge.
The purple rhododendron is nearly in full flower. You can see there are still more buds that need to open. Bring on the sunshine!!
The poppies are taking their place as the stars of the garden right now. They are simply amazing.
The burgundy clematis is starting to go to town too. These two flowers have been open for a few days. This is the "Rouge Cardinal" clematis.
It has many more buds coming.
Okay, so back inside, I worked on my challenge piece for most of the day. It's ready for quilting now. Here's a peek for you.
I've chosen a back. Most of the quilting will be done in black thread, and so I wanted something dark for the back. I went digging through my stash and came out with this piece.
Yeah...kind of a weird fabric. If you've been reading for a while, you might remember when I made this Live, Love, Teach quilt as a retirement gift for a friend.
The blocks were all recreated from designs by her friends, family, co-workers, students, and former students. One of the blocks was particularly difficult to recreate...this one:
How was I going to recreate that "rainbow" in the center? So I went in search of some fabric that might work, and I purchased a full yard of the one I've pictured above. Then, I cut out a section to make this block. It's not one of the better ones, but it was finished. And we all know that finished is better than perfect. It memory serves, I was running out of steam for this project by that time. It turned out to be more work than I ever imagined.
So fast forward to yesterday, and I opened the fabric out to find this hole cut in the middle.
No worries though. I had plenty for my challenge quilt back. I'm just glad to finally have a way to use this weird fabric.
Okay, so today will be much like yesterday, but I'll need to add in a few housekeeping chores. I should have plenty of time to get my quilt to binding stage. It's way early to have it that far along, but I really hate working under pressure. I like to get things finished with plenty of time to spare.
All right. When I finish here, I'm going to walk outside and demand that at least one of the peonies open. I imagine they're quaking in their little green petals as they wait.
10 comments:
The world will always need magic. Without it, life is nothing but cheap tricks. ~ Solange Nicole
Ahh, fresh rain. Can you kindly send some to So. Cal? I think you nailed the re-create of the rainbow words. Beautiful.
I went plant shopping yesterday and one of the items on my list was a clematis. At $30.00 a pot, I passed. I did manage to drop a few bucks on others flowers, though. Too early for peonies ere, but the bearded iris are starting and the Miss Kim lilac is scenting the air mightily.
Pat
I think that "weird" fabric is gorgeous, Barbara!!!
I like that backing. A lot. But I can imagine that it had to wait for just the right fabric. Your poppies are gorgeous. The seeds I planted last year with no result came up in force this year. They are only a couple inches high and are crowded in a lump, although they were not originally planted that way. I am afraid to leave them that way and afraid to thin them. Why are beautiful things always so complicated?
You are SUCH a tease!! And having to wait until the first of August for the reveal...so hard. Oh well, I consoled myself with gazing at the poppies and felt much better afterwards.
Meanwhile, I procrastinate and wait until I have about a month left. Ha! All your flowers look spectacular, especially the poppies, but I'm really wanting to know if that one peony is going to bloom this year!
I saw this pattern (by a Canadian designer) and it reminded me of you, so I am passing it along. https://sewfreshquilts.com/2021/05/27/lets-go-camping/
You may be tired of rain in WETstern Oregon, but here on the dry side I'm watering my flowers right now. Drought this year, had a dry March and April.
Sounds like life is ticking along as usual for you. You sure keep busy! I don't garden but enjoy your photos a lot. I remember when you started that long-ago project that you are now quilting.
Post a Comment