Quilting Complete

Good morning, my friends. It was a busy morning yesterday. Mike was trying to get the rototiller hooked to the tractor. It was causing him all kinds of grief. While he was fussing and fuming over that, I spent some time watering the flower pots. We haven't had to think about watering much lately, but we've had several dry days in a row. Now we're expecting record-breaking heat over the weekend. It seems the time for hoses has arrived.

Before anything like that could happen, though, there was slow-stitching. I mostly filled my hoop and then moved it lower.

While I was out watering, I took a picture of the blooming purple clematis. It's hard to get a good picture of it. It is behind two trees, growing on a trellis attached to a wall. The original owner of our house planted it, and it has always thrived in this spot, no matter how cruelly the weather treats it. It is the star of the garden right now.

The azaleas are getting ready to take their place as the stars of the garden. This one to the right, has its first flower.

And just look at the bleeding heart. I'm amazed it could survive the winter snow.

While I was out, I reminded myself that Mother's Day is just a few days away. Mother's Day has been our traditional day to purchase new petunia baskets. These hang at the corner eves of our greenhouse window. It's the only way we can have petunias that won't be devoured by hungry deer. We had grocery shopping to do, but our first stop was to select two petunia baskets. It's a sure sign that summer is coming.

We had groceries to put away, and of course, grocery shopping always earns us a nap. That means it was late in the day before I was able to get any quilting done. Smitty was there to add his drag to the process. He insists on being on top of whatever quilt I'm quilting.

I even gave him his own quilt to sit on, but that was not acceptable. How can he slow things down without using his ample body? Sheesh. Humans can be so thick sometimes.

Despite his not helping, I was able to finish off the last of the quilting.

Here's a little close-up of the quilting in the border. It's a feathery, swoopy, circling, mess of hooks, leaves, and spirals. It was fun quilting it.

Here's a peek at the back.

It was nearing dinner time by then. We dined outside for the first time last night. Chicken Caesar Salad was on the menu. Also, I picked up a bag of lemons at the grocery store and so there was homemade lemonade available. Mike made our favorite Kentucky Lemonade, which is just lemonade with a shot of bourbon. I'm not usually someone who drinks bourbon, but I like it this way. Cheers!

The kitties kept watch over things while we ate our dinner. We were purrfectly safe.

Okay, so today I'll get busy with the binding on the Dancing Chickens. I have some of that pig fabric from the back left over, and so I'll use that. When that is finished, I really will get started on my "Collage" challenge piece. 

Hopefully, Mike will be able to get his rototiller working today, and we'll be tilling up the garden in preparation for planting this weekend. Also, this weekend, Erik and Mae have invited us to dinner for Mother's Day on Sunday. It's going to be a fun and busy weekend. The forecast warm weather is just a welcome bonus.