Gardening and Sewing

Good morning, my friends. It was such a pretty day yesterday, and unexpectedly warm. My usual morning routine was still intact, though. I took the first stitches on the ninth block for the Snowmen and Reindeer. I stitched their faces first so that we could chat while I stitched the rest of their bodies. (Doesn’t everyone do that?)

When I finished with my stitching, I could see Mike outside doing something in the greenhouse. I’d asked him to help me fill these large pots with dirt so that I could repot the tomatoes. When I saw him there, I decided it was going to be a gardening day. Now, the tomatoes are happily ensconsed in their largest pots of the season. Make lots of tomatoes, you guys.

Also, I planted two kinds of lettuce in these window box planters. 

And I can’t remember if I blogged about this when it happened.

The pot you see above used to have poppies. It was a happy place for them, and they bloomed huge flowers as big as my hand.

Toward the end of last summer, I noticed the pot was filled with water and the poppies were dead. Drowned. It broke my heart. Yesterday, he dumped the dirt out of the pot, and we found the drainage holes at the bottom were plugged with mud. Apparently it sank into a wet impression and the drainage was clogged. So, he drilled more holes on the sides toward the bottom of the pot. We put a few inches of rock in the bottom of the pot and added rock to the impression below the pot, and then filled it with soil. So, it’s ready to receive poppies again.

Since I never have any luck sowing seeds directly into the ground, I’m starting some new ones in these little pots. (I have a feeling the birds eat seeds sown directly into the ground.) When they’ve sprouted and grown a little, I’ll move them to the larger pot outside, and all will be well with the poppies. They’re biannual, and so I won’t see any flowers from these until next year.

There are still more seeds to plant, but I’m going to wait just a bit longer to start them. It’s generally not safe to plant vegetables until closer to Memorial Day where we are, and so I’ll wait until May 1st to start any seeds for the garden.

From there, I filled the bird feeders. The Bleeding Heart is the star of the garden right now. I expect the azaleas to pick up the slack soon.

For now, I was excited to see buds on another one of the peonies. This one is called Fairy Princess.

We missed it’s flowers last year while we were in Alaska, but our neighbor sent us this picture:

Also, there is more color showing on this peony. (I think this is the one called “Joker.”)

Okay, and so I have to show you Mike’s newest 3-D printer creation. He’s been making a lot of tools and organizers and little gadgets he can use. Recently, he told me he asked himself, “What can I make now?” Apparently 3-D printing is a lot like quilting. Once you start, it becomes a habit. So, he saw this little whirlygig, and he decided he needed it.

We used to have a sort of sunflower-like spinner in this area, but it rusted and fell apart. This one, made of plastic, won’t do that. It tells us which way the wind is blowing, and it gave Mike something to do. As if.

Okay, and so gardening done, there was still time in the day to sew. These are the Land & Sea blocks. With no sashings and no borders, these went together fast. I sewed together the top three rows.

And then, the bottom three rows.

And then I sewed the bottom and the top together, and my quilt was finished. It ends up at 50 x 61 inches.

I’d pulled some fabrics for the back, but I was kind of “meh” about them. Also, I didn’t have enough of any of them. So, I’ll reward this week’s PT session with a trip to the nearby Boersma’s quilt shop to find something I like better.

It’s cloudy and cooler today. There are a few things on today’s agenda. I want to get in a walk on the treadmill, and I have a housekeeping chore to do. Also, I’ll need to make our dinner of crab cakes and cucumber salad early in the day since the crab cakes work best if they’re made ahead and given time to chill. (Don’t we all do better when we have time to chill?) 

When I can make my way into the sewing room, I’ll get started making two more blocks for the Northern Wilderness project. It’s been quite some time since I worked on this. These are the blocks I have so far:

These generally take a few days to make, and so that will keep me busy for the next couple of days.

Right now…it’s time for our Sunday morning pancakes, and then I’ll get back to my slow-stitching.

Fast Flimsy

Good morning, my friends. I sewed fast yesterday, and now the Kittens in Cups quilt is ready for sandwiching. Before I could get to that, though, I finished off Block 5 for Home is Where My Flock Is.

Here are the five blocks I have for this quilt so far. There is still a long way to go on this, but these blocks stitch up in just a few days.

And that meant I needed a new stitching project. The ninth block for the Snowmen and Reindeer is traced and ready to go. This one is called Snowmen, Reindeer, and Birdie Friends.

From there, I was ready to sew the Kittens in Cups blocks together. But first, I took time to press and trim the leaders and enders I'd accumulated. I'm getting better at remembering to use them. And since I don't want to end up with a bunch of HST's for trimming, I'm trying to keep up with them as I go. There were a lot of those orange ones leftover from when I abandoned a certain quilt block I was making.

From the Fantastic Felines, this was the block that gave me so much trouble. I created these triangles from triangles...

To frame these panel blocks. Only, I had to stop because I was considering using my rotary cutter to slit my own throat by the time I had these finished.

And so I abandoned the effort, leaving myself with all of these triangles for my leaders and enders box.

Okay, and with those trimmed and sorted, I was ready to start sewing together the Kittens in Cups. When Smitty heard I was going to be making a cat quilt, he was all about it. It's good to have expurrt advice.

And that was pretty cinchy to sew together. I just needed sashings and an outer border. Everything fit for a change. No fudging. I laid out a couple of fabrics to give it an outer border. After consulting with the Resident Engineer, we agreed we liked it just the way it is. This was my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project for 2025.

From there, I cut a backing for it. The quilt ends up at 36 x 48 inches, and so my fabric was wide enough. I just needed to measure and cut enough for the length.

Smitty appurroves of this fabric. We briefly discussed when he was small enough to fit in a tea cup.

Then, I went digging through my stash for an appropriate binding fabric. I had only about a quarter yard of this one, and so that seemed like a good choice.

Okay, so I'm checking those finished block sets off one by one. There's still one more to go...this one I'm calling "Land and Sea." 

This is what's known as a "Duckworth" quilt. I first heard about these on a scrappy quilt Facebook page I follow. You can see more examples at that link I've given you. All the ones I've seen were made with straight cuts. Rebel that I am, I decided to make mine wonky. Also, I'm engaged in a desperate effort to pare down my blue and green scraps. This is the second of at least three blue and green quilts I have in the works. I still can't see even a dent in my scraps. So, I haven't thought a lot about how to finish this off. I'm going to sew the blocks together without sashings. Then I'll decide whether I want to add any borders. Time will tell on this one, and I'm hoping to have it sewn together by this afternoon.

Okay, so I'm ready to take the first stitches on the ninth Snowmen and Reindeer block. After that I'll grudgingly do my PT exercises. There's one housekeeping chore on today's agenda, but then there will be plenty of time for sewing. It's going to be a good day. I hope you have a good day planned for yourself.

A Raggedy Flimsy

Good morning, my friends. It's another sunny day here at the Three Cats Ranch. We've had our typical spring weather with a little bit of everything during the day. A few days ago, we even had some hail. No snow, thank goodness, although we do sometimes get snow in April. 

When I left you yesterday, I was on my way to fill the birdfeeders. Along my way, I saw a few little things going on in the garden. For one thing, I'm seeing colors on the Lavender Whisper peony. I'll admit I'm anxious to see this one bloom.

The plum tree is gaining more flowers, mostly at the top so far.

The stargazer lily is poking its head above ground. Sometimes we get to see its flowers. Sometimes the critters eat the flowers before they have a chance to open. Still, it keeps trying.

I brushed away some of the dead leaves to reveal the greenery of the echinacea making an appearance. We won't see any flowers from this until fall. The bees love it.

Also, the lilac is showing signs of flowering soon. 

In my wanderings, I caught Smitty surveilling his happy hunting grounds behind the garage.

Sadie was enjoying a zen moment in the shade of the cypress tree. Black cats to not spend a lot of time in the sun.

Speaking of Sadie, it's Tortoiseshell Cat Appreciation Day. Feel free to celebrate Sadie in whatever manner you feel is appropriate. She purrfers plenty of treats.

Back inside, I went to work sewing together the Raggedy & Friends blocks. The first row was finished. I sewed together the second row and then sewed the two rows together.

About that time, Sadie showed up to help.

Purrhaps I may be of assistance.

The remaining blocks were stacked up in order. Sadie held them in place for me while I sewed.

I knew that I'd need to add sashings to both the top and bottom of one row of blocks. I decided to do that with the smallest of them.

When the bottom row was finished, I could sew the bottom half together...

And then I sewed the top half and the bottom half together. 

The last thing I neeed to do was to add the yellow border...

And I had myself a finished flimsy. It's a big quilt at 81 x 66 inches. 

There was still time left in the day to piece together a back for it. Happily, this was a wide fabric at 45 inches, and so I just needed one seam to get the size I wanted.

I didn't want just a plain binding, and so I pulled this long-time resident of my stash and used it to cut binding strips. It'll zazz up the edges of the finished quilt a little bit.

Okay, so that brings me to today's sewing. I'm very close to finishing the current block for Home is Where My Flock Is. I expect I'll finish this today.

And that means I need to trace the ninth block for the Snowmen and Reindeer project.

When that's finished, I'm going to start sewing together the Kittens in Cups. I don't know if I can finish it in a single day, but I'm going to give it a righteous try.

Also today, I want to get in a walk on the treadmill, and I need to do a couple of easy housekeeping chores. Possibly, I'll get outside for a bit and plant the tarragon that's been waiting it's turn inside the greenhouse. Mike and I are going to repot the tomatoes tomorrow. Also, I have some lettuce seeds to plant. All of that lives in the greenhouse. We'll be planting a smallish vegetable garden this year as well, but we're still a couple of weeks early for that.

Okay, so it's a long list of to-do's. Time to get going on my day. 

A Finish

Good morning, my friends. It's a sunny day today, but don't let that sunshine and clear sky fool you. It's very cold out. Looking at the day's forecast, we won't even break into the low 50's until later this afternoon. There was a frost warning last night, but it didn't get that cold. My flowering plants and trees were thankful for that.

Thanks to those of you who wished me well for my first day of physical therapy yesterday. It went fine. I've been given a series of isometric exercises to do. I'm still skeptical that it will help, but I'll be a good sport and go along with it anyway...starting today. I'll substitute in the PT exercises for the arms and still do the leg workout on the Bow-flex.

Before I left, I had some time to spend in the sewing room. The boss joined me there.

He helped me lay out the blocks for the Raggedy & Friends project.

When we had them properly arranged, they looked like this.

All of the vertical sashings were added as I made the blocks. To sew them together, I'll just need to add horizontal sashings and cornerstones. I went digging through my stash of red solids. I'd hoped to find a brighter red, but the best I could do was this brick red. I needed 20 of those, and I needed 20 black sashings.

There was time to sew together the first row before it was time to head out.

I'm hoping I can finish sewing it together today. There's also a yellow border to add, and I think I'll have plenty of time to finish it today. The yellow border was pictured in the pattern, but it so happens that my backing fabric has plenty of yellow too.

When I got home from my appointment, there was plenty of time to finish off the binding for the Amish Sampler. I turned all four corners...

And then there was just about half a side to go to finish it off. And Ta-Da! It ends up at 61 x 61 inches.

Here's a peek at the back.

I thought I'd need one more day to finish that, so it's nice to have it done ahead of schedule. This was my project for April's

And so I'll link up there when the party starts at the end of the month.

Today, I'll work on finishing off the Raggedy & Friends quilt top, and I'll make a back for it. If there's still time in the day, I'll start sewing together the Kittens in Cups. This was my project for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2025.

Mainly, it needs sashings. I'll use the same background fabric used in the quilt blocks. Already I have a backing fabric for this one. On a recent quilt shop outing, I found the perfect fabric for them. I saw this one in the fabric store, but I wanted a different color.

Going online, I found this one in an Etsy Shop, and so there's no excuse for not getting this quilt into the quilts to be sandwiched pile.

Okay, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Before I can do anything in the sewing room, I'll get back to my slow-stitching. After that, I need to feed the birds. Despite the cold weather, it's a good day to walk around and see what's going on in the garden. It's been nasty and wet the past couple of days, and so I need the check in on things and dispense attaboys as needed.

So, off I go. It's going to be a good day to stay inside and sew some more quilt blocks into flimsies.