Snowballs of Summer

Nine Patch Snowballs

light corners

9 inch finished blocks

I mentioned I was going to try to empty a box of 3.5 inch width scraps and squares. Most of the scraps and squares have come from others. When I receive a box of scraps I measure the width of each piece with my little 6 inch ruler and then put them into the box with others of same width. I usually have a couple of different blocks going for each of the different widths and used to make those blocks as I received the scraps; however, for the last few years hubby has had a series of health issues that has put me behind on scrap busting.

I like the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) for scrap busting. Each month I dig through the boxes of different widths of scraps for the scraps in the RSC color of the month. It's fun to see what I have to work with for the month. Now I'm trying to empty all those boxes of scraps of different widths (I've done it before) so I'm back to working each month with "scrap chunks" (larger than a charm square and smaller than a FQ).

I have several blocks going for the 3.5 inch width scraps. The Nine Patch Snowball Quilt will alternate Nine Patches with light corners and dark corners. I started this month with 13 blocks of dark and of light corners. I want 24 blocks of each. I've now made my total of 24 blocks with light corners and now just need to make 11 blocks with dark corners and I'll have enough for a top like the one I made in 2018. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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I showed my Daylilies yesterday. Today here's some other garden photos.

Yellow Knapweed

Good cut or dried flower.

Clematis

Trumpet Vine

Hummingbirds love it but I don't love it so much. It is very invasive. A brother-in-law gave me a cutting many years ago and now the darned stuff is popping up all over the place. 

I try o keep it contained on this walk-thru trellis.

Azalea that deer keep eating year after year. I bought it many years ago on clearance at Walmart and I think this is the first time in about 10 years I've seen it bloom. Maybe the deer are scared of my pink flamingo I put there to stand guard.

Roses getting strangled by Dutchman's Pipe vine. 

Echinacea getting strangled by Dutchman's Pipe Vine. I try to keep the Dutchman's Pipe contained with the Trumpet Vine on the trellis but it too is invasive.  I like to keep it around because it is a host plant for Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly. I saw a couple of those the other day but they didn't want to pose for photos. 

Oh, a bird's nest in my apple tree!

Another rose. 

Asiatic Lily

Asiatic Lily

Asiatic Lily

And yet another rose.

Calla Lily. It is supposed to be black. I picked it up earlier this year at Menard's just because it was black. I planted it in the Perky Goth/Moonlight Garden that I made in memory of my deceased granddaughter Kayla. This garden is just getting started and I hope to have mostly black and pink (perky goth) and white (moonlight) flowers.  Well, even though it is not black it works out okay because it is pink. I planted at the base of my pink birdbath so I can remember where it is when I have to dig up the corms in Autumn to store for the winter.

Milkweed that seeded itself in the cottage garden. There's a lot of it this year here and there. I usually just let it grow wherever it wants unless it is competing with something else. It's funny. Some years there's a lot of it and other years there isn't any. 

I made a fragrant garden near an old swing set not far from the house so John could walk out and sit awhile. I think this garden is only two years old. Here's some perennial dianthus in bloom that I started from seed and planted here last year. 

The fragrant garden looks over the zinnia and coneflower borders as well as the herb and veg gardens. I'm hoping a couple of climbing and fragrant roses planted at each end of the swing set will climb up and cover the swing set and provide some shade. 

White Coneflowers

I forget the name of these Double Coneflowers

I think this is Cheyenne Spirit Coneflower. 

Years ago I grew some Ladle (or were they Birdhouse) Gourds. I had a lot of them and gave most to my Great nephew for a boy scout project. I don't remember what they made with them. Well, anyway...I hung one on my swing set and didn't even make a hole in it. And look what appeared! I don't see any birdies in there but I do see a nest. 

If you look closely you can see remnants of some beautiful Black Dragon Coleus I started from seed and planted in the Perky Goth/Moonlight Garden. Some critter knocked out the little gnome standing guard and tore up every bit of my Coleus and left it there...didn't even eat it. What the heck? There's some nasty varmints in these here parts. 

And sow on...

A Big Potato Chip, Pastel Wonky Logs and Daylilies

Big Potato Chip

I have been adding rounds of 2 x 3.5 inch rectangles in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. I'm hoping for maybe a 42 inch square comfort quilt. The "color" this month has been pastels. I added a round of neutrals instead of pastels. Now it measures 21.5 square so I guess I'm halfway to my goal.

Pastel Wonky Logs with Sashing

43.5 x 64.5

After I finished making the Pastel String Top with long strings I started making 9 inch finished Wonky Log Cabin blocks with the shorter pastel strings. I used a 2 inch pink square for the block centers and cornerstones in the sashing. 

I used a multicolor pastel piece of fabric that looked like it had paint brush swipes on it for the sashing. 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

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I took some pics of some flowers in bloom in the gardens. There were quite a few so I'll show just the daylilies in this post and the rest in another. Daylilies aren't really a useful flower since they only last a day but there are lots of blooms (if the deer don't eat them) and they add pops of color and bits of joy to the cottage garden. I've had my Daylilies for many years...before the internet, I know. I ordered them from a catalog by mail with a check enclosed. I spent hours going through the catalog reading all the descriptions and trying to decide what to order. I usually settled for the prettiest that my budget allowed. I have divided my daylilies a couple of times since then and haven't ordered any new ones until this year when I bought a legacy pack of 24 Daylilies on sale for $1 each. What varieties I received will be a surprise when they bloom (hopefully) next year.  I did lose some Daylilies one year when a big tree fell on a patch of them when my husband was at a low point in his cancer and couldn't get out to help me cut up the tree. Supposedly the Daylily flowers and buds are edible; however, I have never had the urge to taste test but I'll keep that in mind in case I'm starving someday.  Now they have fancy and rubbly double bloom and reblooming Daylilies at a price I can't afford. And I'm okay with that.  I love what I have.

A

 

A Set Of String Blocks

I just finished a set of 48 - 10 inch finished string blocks. I don't think I will assemble the top at this time so the set will join a lot of other block sets in the SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin. 

I used a paper foundation and black/white 2 inch center string on all blocks and then added dark strings on one side and light on the other. I used quite a few odd sized pieces set aside for string block corners. On this one quite a few of the darker corners were pieces left over from 2020 mask making that someone gave me. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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I've finished a lot of books this month. Most reading takes place on my Kindle in the middle of the night when I can't seem to get back to sleep after a visit to the bathroom.

Copper River by William Kent Kruger.  This is book #6 of 22 in the Sheriff Cork O'Connor mystery series. I've enjoyed all the books in the series I've read so far; however, this might be as far as I get into the series. It is the last free one available with my Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. This is not my usual type of book to read but I really loved it. I guess it is classified as magical realism and a portal fantasy. 

The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy. Another book I really enjoyed. Denny's "number" (IQ) is 72. He has a good heart and sets out to do good deeds; however, those deeds are misinterpreted by others and he ends up charged with murder. 

Long Way Gone by Charles Martin. I've read most of Charles Martin's books and some, like this one, brought a few tears to my eyes. This is a story about a prodigal son. “No matter where you go, no matter whether you succeed or fail, stand or fall, no gone is too far gone. You can always come home.”

Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. I actually read The Kitchen House in 2016 and didn't know there was another book that followed. 1830s historical fiction about slavery, the underground railroad and a mixed race man who tries to escape his past in the South to live as a white man in the North. 

 

It's A Finish!

It's a finish!

A Race To The Finish!

40 x 60

This is one of five child sized row quilts I made following prompts for the Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR) 2025. For this one I used novelty fabric bits and pieces with a car theme.

In the center is a piece of fabric with race cars that was too nice to cut up.

I had some 6.5 inch squares with tires and cars from some old, old, old swaps to use as centers for some 12 inch blocks. Other fabrics include road signs and license plates.

I quilted it on my sewing machine with horizontal lines through some rows and with swirls through others. And I quilted squiggles around the "pennants" in the top and bottom rows. 

The backing and binding are the same striped fabric.

And sew on...

Monday Musings a Brenda's Songbird Designs