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)

Whirly

Whirly

Some quilt designs express a feeling of motion, and these two fit that description. You can almost feel the breezes blowing.

Little windmill blocks in red, turquoise, black, and blue contrast nicely with crisp white. They are set with light blue dotted sashing to complete Whirly, a 35” square quilt bound with black & white dots. It's quilted with a decorative cross stitch pattern along the sashing and through the centers of the windmills. It sure brightens up my dining room table. 

Summer Pinwheels

Cheery pinwheel blocks are placed in diagonal rows with white sashing and a row of white blocks, creating lots of open space. Bright yellow and orange prints contrast well with the cooler greens and blues.  

Summer Pinwheels is 44” x 54” and quilted with white thread, creating swirls on the pinwheels and square maze outlines on the blanks. It is framed with a bright blue random mini-dot that I also used for backing and binding. 

 

Over the weekend, I took advantage of cooler temperatures to tackle weeds in my flower beds. All this time I've spent sewing has given the weeds a chance to take over. I may have to use a flame thrower or a 50 gallon drum of Roundup.

🔶🔶🔶

Fake people are like weeds.

They stunt your growth.

Remove them from your life,

and you'll have space to flourish.

It's Too Hot

It has been just sweltering in Tennessee!! It's too hot and humid to cook, work outside, or BE outside at all. Salads, sandwiches, and the crock pot are my best friends right now. I sneak out in the early morning to water flowers. The weeds will have to wait. (Why don't they wilt in the heat, anyway?)

It's almost too hot to sew. When you have a hot iron in the room to press seams, you might as well have the heat on. I'll stick to design projects, scrap piecing, and straightening up the sewing room until the temperature drops.

Light housework, reading, and chilling out are on my to do list for the time being. Along with drinking icy beverages and eating popsicles. 

Y'all stay cool, now!

“Summer is the time when it's too hot to do all those things you put off last winter when it was too cold.” ~Linda Poindexter

Pulling, Cutting, And Tossing

That pretty much describes last week at our little hacienda. We pulled weeds, and in this heat I'm wondering why we still live on five acres. We cut back shrubs and tree limbs that have been growing like crazy. And of course, we mowed grass. A condo started to sound pretty good once the heat index crept up to 108.

I'm just thankful that out in the country no one cares if your yard isn't perfectly landscaped. I was reminded why we enjoy living here when I saw a little fawn walking down our driveway. What a cutie, or at least I thought so until he made a beeline for his lunch buffet...my morning glories!

A rainy day was spent clearing out two hall closets and bathroom cabinets, tossing stuff that we don't need anymore. I've learned that simpler is better, so I was ruthless in my purging. I tossed a big bag of trash, and have a nice load ready to take for donation.

City Blocks

After all that manual labor, I took a day off to design and sew a quilted tote. I started with a pack of five inch dotted squares and cut borders and lining from a multicolored striped material.  The result is City Blocks, a 17” x 15” bag perfect for a laptop, groceries, or library books. 

Several more designs are in my mind for this week. I've got to use up more of my stash before the next fabric sale begins.

“Tossing clutter is like pulling weeds.

You have to make space

for beautiful things to flourish.”

~Katie Scarlett

May Flowers And War On Weeds

 

This year's weather has been a bit odd. Spring was late getting here, so April and May bloomers are showing their colors together. After Saturday morning's rain, I snapped a few photos of my favorites. 

 

This week's plan is to attack the bumper crop of poison ivy and wild ginger vine that is taking over my flower beds. Boots, long sleeves, gloves, Ivy Block, chigger spray, rake, clippers and possibly a flame thrower are the weapons of choice. 

All Play And No Work Equals Weeds

While we were camping, my flower beds have been taken over by weeds. Lots of them. That nasty invasive wild ginger has woven into the mulch and is trying to crawl up the shrubs onto the brick. Poison ivy is growing into saplings. Little maple trees have germinated from those whirlygigs. Pokeweed, wild blackberries and privet are everywhere. And I don't even want to talk about the crabgrass.

We kept the lawn mowed between trips, but I didn't take the time to pull weeds or trim. I'm making up for that now. I don't mind weeding, really, but this much is nearly overwhelming. One section at a time, and I'll get it done. It's the price I pay for living in the country and having natural, unstructured flower beds instead of manicured landscaping.

I was thinking of using a blow torch on the wild ginger, but since I mulch with pine needles that might set the whole yard on fire. At least my arms are getting a workout yanking up the stuff, but my hands are beginning to cramp. My trigger finger is sore from spot spraying poison ivy that decided to sprout between my hosta plants and behind the shrubs. If I could sell all the poison ivy on these five acres, I'd be a bazillionaire.

Oh yeah, thanks to the state highway workers who sort of mowed the right of way while we were gone. They cut to the ground the iris and vinca under our mailbox but trimmed carefully around a giant thistle plant and left it standing.

On a positive note, while I was taking a break I noticed hummingbirds are enjoying my gorgeous daylilies and butterflies are flitting around the purple coneflowers and blackeyed susans. If you need me this week, I'll be outside weeding, or resting on the porch with an icy cold beverage, or on the phone looking for a landscaping service.

When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it.  If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.  ~Author Unknown

I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border.  I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error.  ~Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988