Wednesday Wandering

I always try to go with the flow.

Several years ago limbs of a mulberry tree fell across the barbed wire fence that separates out our field from my flower garden. For one reason or another we could not cut some limbs all of the way back to the tree. A few limbs fell into my fairy garden next to the unruly Seven Sisters Roses I had managed to confine to a heart shaped trellis. Now the Seven Sisters can go back to their unruly nature and climb trees. 

The Fairy Garden is a small circle in the middle of the photo surrounded by a cement path. Many years ago I made the pathway with cement poured into one of those molds that look like little cobblestones. Now the pathway is more of a semicircle since part of the path is blocked by limbs. 

 I have mostly miniature species of a variety of plants in the Fairy Garden as well as little fairies, frogs and gnomes I used to use to mark where I planted seeds and bulbs so I would remember from year to year where things were and not mistake anything for weeds. I used to put trinkets in a little wheelbarrow and coins in a little wishing well for the grandkids when they were younger. Ah, the thrill of  discovering a gift from the fairies!

The  Seven Sisters rose came from a cutting my husband's aunt Essie gave to me long ago.

 

From Purple Scraps

This week's purple scraps turned into: 

X and + blocks that finish at 7.5 inches. 

Double Irish Chains that finish at 9 inches.

Rail Fence blocks that finish at 5 inches and Bit Coin blocks that finish at 6 inches. 

Big Chips and the waste triangles turned into Hourglass blocks. 

I was going to make some Postage Stamp Pandemic blocks but I discovered that I need to go through some scraps and replenish my stash of postage stamp squares. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

 

In The Jungle The Mighty Jungle

Back at the beginning of the month I made it my OMG (one monthly goal) to turn a panel with tigers into a more child friendly quilt top. 

I decided the tigers came from a lush tropical jungle in bloom. 

I made lots of six inch finished blooms and combined them with tigers  and a little greenery cut from the panel as well as some squares and rectangles of leafy green fabrics. 

Finished quilt top measures 42 x 54. 

OMG accomplished! 

OMG at Elm Street Quilts

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

 

Wednesday Wandering

Gardens are a lot of work. 

But sometimes I get to stop and smell the roses. 

Despite some early deer and rabbit damage I have to say the roses this year do not disappoint.  

I am so thankful the Japanese Beetles have not been around to eat them either. They have been a terrible pest the last couple of years. 

Each variety of rose in the garden has a different scent. 

I haven't seen this Winchester Cathedral rose in bloom for a long time. Several years ago it was severely damaged when a tree fell on it. Then I babied it and when it started to make a comeback the deer and rabbits ravaged it several years in a row. Then the last couple of years the Japanese beetles have visited in droves and devoured most of my rose buds. I'm an organic gardener so the cure for Japanese beetles is to pick them off by hand and throw them in a bucket of soapy water. 

Winchester Cathedral is supposed to be a shrub rose and this is about the shrubbiest it has been in years. I am so very thankful I have roses to enjoy this year. 

Martagon or Turk's Cap Lilies

I've planted mine in a shady area.

They have a slight fragrance. 

There are several clumps of a miniature Asiatic lily in bloom in the fairy garden. This one is in front of a miniature rose in bloom and next to Edelweiss.

This clump is blooming near the dianthus in bloom. 

How do I know this is a fairy garden? Well, do you see the fairy door and the little pathway leading up to it? 

The Foxglove are really quite nice this year. I started these from seed. The bees dart in and out of the gloves. This Foxglove variety is a biennial and this is their second year so I finally have some blooms to enjoy. I find these very difficult to start from seed that is like dust and have had several failures in the past. I am hoping the Foxglove like where they are and will reseed themselves. 

I love Delphiniums. I used to have a big patch of them mixed with poppies and daisies but they all disappeared after a tree fell on them one winter. Now I'm trying to get a new patch started. The pale yellow flowers are a perennial foxglove.

Blue Tradescantia or Spiderwort and ...

...white Tradescantia.  I recently found a red variety and planted that last week but it does not have blooms yet. 

Dutchman's Pipe in bloom. It is supposed to be a primary food source for the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.  Dutchman's Pipe vines are rather invasive so I have to work hard to control it as well as the Trumpet Vine on the same trellis. 

On a different trellis Jackmanii Clematis is blooming.

And underneath the Clematis the Yarrow is starting to bloom.

I've been harvesting a bowl of strawberries every day. And every day hubby and I eat a bowl of strawberries. I think now I will freeze the daily pickings. 

We've been eating a lot of radishes and green onions from the garden for lunch every day and in salads. But now that it is getting hot I pulled up the last of the radishes. Some smaller ones I left to go to seed and I will plant those seeds later this year for a fall crop of radishes. 

I have Buttercrunch lettuce I let grow into heads but the darned rabbits (or is it a groundhog) have been eating the leaves and I haven't. I put a little fence around them and now the heads are starting to grow again. Buttercrunch is slower to bold in warm weather, thank goodness. 

Meanwhile we've been eating leaf lettuce from this patch of greens as well as some mustard greens from a different patch. The salad is oh so yummy with a little oil and vinegar dressing mixed with herbs from the herb garden. 

And something has been eating my pea vines down to the ground over and over again so they are pretty short. However, I think I will have some Sugar Snap Peas ready for harvest soon.  I have some Snow Peas on a different fence that are in bloom. 

I am so thankful we finally had a good heavy rain yesterday. The garden is thankful too. 

 

Sixteen Patch Stars Top

Sixteen Patch Stars

It's a top!

42  x 56

It's made with scraps and 4 inch novelty squares. In the past I participated in several I Spy type swaps and even though I have made lots of I Spy type quilts I still have a small drawer of 4 inch squares. 

I moved the stars around in each block and for the center of each star I found a square with the block color on a white background.  For the star points I used 3.5 inch white squares cut on the diagonal. Then I just sewed them on wonky style. 

When completed it will be donated. 

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

 

Odds and Ends

At the end of a day of gardening I've been too tired to do much hand quilting but I have to have something to do with my hands in the evening for awhile after dinner or I fall asleep the minute I sit down.  One of my projects has been boro patching (aka visible mending) of my really old and tattered gardening shorts. In some places the fabric had gotten so thin that it seemed to disappear. No sense in buying new clothes just to be stylin' in the garden. Out here in the boondocks no one sees me and I get pretty darned down and dirty! I know holes in pants are trendy but when I have holes I just keep thinking they are going to get bigger and bigger. I have a pair of jeans, a couple of pairs of cotton slacks and some flannel pants next in line for some boro patching. Then I have a bag of socks that need darning. 

I also crocheted up a few dish cloths from ends of cotton yarn. I'll crochet up a few scrubbies too with some ends of scrubbie yarn. Later on I'll embroider on a few feedsack dishtowels and make a few potholders and then I'll have the parts for lots of gift sets consisting of dish cloth, scrubbie, dishtowel and potholders.  After that I have some yarn that will make some nice scarves and stocking caps for giving or gifting. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

From Purple Scraps

Dove in the Window blocks finish at 7.5 inches. 

Purple is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month for June.  I don't have many purple scraps that are more than crumbs but I think I can manage a few blocks of each of my RSC projects this month.   

I also put together a yellow one I had cut out in the yellow month but forgot to sew together. 

Buckeye Beauties finish at 6 inches. I've been combining the RSC color of the month with old shirts, plaids, multicolors on black or reds to make these blocks. 

Antique Tiles finish at 9 inches. 

Then I had scraps left over from making the small Bear Paw quilt in purple and blues  I blogged about yesterday so I used those scraps to make single Bear Paws for the Parts Department.  That is what I have started making if I have leftover 4.5 and 2.5 inch scraps from another project.  In the olden days I used to throw those leftovers into scrap bins sorted by scrap width. But I emptied most of those bins so now try to use leftover scraps as  I go to make Parts. 

2.5 inch leftover scraps also get combined with neutral scraps and are made into Nine Patches for the Parts Department. 

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday