Outdoor Relaxation and Work

Our screened porch is one of my favorite places when it's not too hot outside. You might find me having morning coffee before I start my day, or catching up on my reading with a glass of sweet tea in late afternoon. 

In the past two weeks I have done a porch cleanup and moved some of my houseplants out for their summer vacation. The hummingbird feeders are filled and my mama's roses are blooming.

The seat cushions on our outdoor furniture were looking a little shabby. In my recent fabric bonanza, there was a lovely tablecloth that was way too large for our dining table. I decided to use it to make new cushion covers and pillows. 

I plumped up the glider seat with a new layer of memory foam, measured, and cut.  I lined them with flannel and quilted before sewing.  Velcro fasteners make it easy to remove them for washing.  And they're Callie Cat approved!  

I got a wild idea to redo the flower bed in front of the porch by myself. (My guy was working on something else.) I dug up the nasty weeds, then thinned out iris, hosta, and day lily plants. New weed barrier was easy to lay, and I moved some old stepping stones to make a border. Now I'm deciding what to add for mulch. I want rock, but we'll see.

This week I'm resting after my spur of the moment project. It felt so good to dig in the dirt.  I have always enjoyed planting flowers, just like my mama and both my grannies.  However, the rest of the landscaping needs a major update and I may be getting too old for that much manual labor! Guess I'll be calling around to get yard work quotes.

Going back to the sewing room today...

 

Bed of Roses

This sweet little quilt brings the flower garden indoors. I chose a medium sized coral pink rose print with coordinating smaller print fabrics in light coral and green.

I decided to sew rows of winding ways blocks, separated by 2” strips of green. It reminds me of a well organized flower bed from a magazine. Not that I'd know much about those...currently mine are haphazard and full of weeds. You could say that I prefer a natural look instead of manicured perfection when it comes to landscaping. I'd much rather be sewing.

I quilted with cream thread, using a braid border ruler along the strips and the blocks. Bed of Roses is 40” x 47” size. The backing is a creamy fabric scattered with more roses.

Bed of Roses

Accuquilt dies used:
55069 Winding Ways 8” finished block
55017 Strip 2½”

Life's too short

and I'm too old

to spend time 

pulling weeds!

(Suggestions for yard workers appreciated)

Blooms For Mother's Day

These gorgeous flowers always bloom in May, and they remind me so much of my mama, Sam.  Jerold's mama also loved flowers, so every Mother's Day we bought them pretty hanging baskets for their porch and patio. A spring and summer of colorful blooms brought them more joy than a couple of days of expensive flowers in a vase!

Sam liked digging flowers nearly as much as she liked fishing. She'd stop by the side of the road to get a wildflower and never, ever passed up a plant sale. She generously shared cuttings and bulbs that I still enjoy today. Quite a few of them came from her mother's flower garden, especially the iris. I often gave Sam pots of perennials, which we planted together in her yard. I hate that I didn't get to dig up any of those daylilies and ferns before her house was sold.

Apparently my love of flowers must be genetic; I have an old fashioned rose that came from my great grandmother and a blooming shrub from my granny. 

This Mother's Day, I'm buying hanging pots for myself, and planting a few perennials in memory of the women in my life who passed on their passion for flowers and digging in the dirt.

Flowers...

are sunshine,

food,

and medicine

for the soul.

~Luther Burbank

Roses In Winter

Rose Trellis

Our cold snowy weather, along with a couple of power outages, has made for a challenging weekend. Although I do like snow, I'm glad I don't have to drive in this icy mess any more. One thing, though, I can't sew when the power's off, so I cut, sorted and organized scraps and cleaned the sewing room. And of course, I made a batch of delicious snow cream and read by the fire.

A few of my friends have already been wishing for spring, so for them I'm featuring a pretty little green, dark pink and black quilt which I finished back in October. Rose Trellis is 24” square, made up of flying geese blocks with 3 1/2” squares. Don't these cheerful rose prints bring a smile and a hint of spring to a cold January day? I used light green thread to quilt diagonal swirling wave patterns across the blocks, and a straight stitch to outline the green squares and triangles.

If the electricity continues to go off, I may have to convince my sweetie to start the generator, or convert my sewing machine to battery power. Maybe we can fix up his Granny's old treadle machine...she made plenty of quilts on it. Stay warm and cozy, y'all.

Memory

is the power

to gather roses

in winter.

~anonymous

Warm Wonderful Spring

What an unusually warm year we're having! Winter was mild and spring is at least six weeks earlier than normal here in Tennessee. Highs in the 70's in February and 80's in March have coaxed my flowers to show their faces much sooner. Everything has come up beautifully green, lush, and ahead of schedule.

Early iris that ordinarily bloom in April produced their gorgeous colors during March; later ones are showing their faces now. Our trellis is exploding with hundreds of New Dawn rosebuds. My great grandmother's old fashioned pink rosebushes are blossoming now instead of on their traditional Mother's Day. I had to cover them up last Wednesday night for the 35 degree light frost of blackberry winter. Yes, that's right, blackberries are blooming and will be ready to eat long before July.

My lilac bush is covered with pretty sweet-smelling blooms.  And, believe it or not, my mama and I picked two gallons of luscious sweet strawberries on April 6, a full five weeks before they regularly come in. We've already mowed our grass three times.  Our apple trees are sprouting tiny apples, which the deer are enjoying immensely.

I'm not sure what this early development means, but I am thankful for the wonderful weather and Mother Nature's show. April is one of my favorite times, probably because it's my birth month. Warm sunshine, a few rain showers, pretty flowers, and breezy days on the screened porch make me happy. I only hope that all these early warm days don't transition into a long hot dry summer.

Today is my birthday.
I will eat cake and have fun.
I will absolutely NOT act my age.