Loose Ends

 

Broken Dishes

4 inch

In a previous post I mentioned I use a variety of things as leader/enders when I sew. Some times I sew up little veggies of parts people give me or parts I make myself. A lot of leader/enders then get thrown into a little box at the end of my ironing board. I have had a couple of boxes full of ironing and it  looked like I was ready for another so one of the loose ends I wanted to tie up this month was emptying boxes at the end of my ironing board. I already did some ironing and showed that in previous post.  This is another batch of loose ends. I have more to go...

Broken Dishes

4 inch

Broken Dishes

The brown ones are a weird size so they will go into a bag of brown orphan blocks. Those parts came from someone else. The colorful ones are 3 inch.

When I make Flying Geese (FG) or Quarter Square Triangles (QST) I use the Companion Angle ruler to cut FG bodies and QST parts. I cut off the beginning and end of the scrap with the Easy Angle ruler and that gives me parts for HSTs. Those go into a leader/ender basket. Eventually HSTs get made,ironed and trimmed and if there are four matching they go back into leader/ender box to be made into Broken Dishes.

Over time I have accumulated a box of Broken Dishes in a variety of sizes. Someday I will do something with all of those but for now they are just accumulating. 

When I was ironing these 3.5 inch HSTs and several others I remembered I have a brown Monkey Wrench UFO that could use these so didn't make them into Broken Dishes. 

I put all of the HSTs in the project bag with the 7.5 inch brown Monkey Wrench blocks already made. Also in the bag are 7.5 inch Hollow Nine blocks made with 3 inch width brown scraps. They will alternate with Monkey Wrench blocks in a quilt. I kept this project bag out to work on next month when the color of the month is neutrals.

HST Four Patches

8 inch

I don't even remember making these. I guess I was using up scraps and started a new project that did not make it to my project list. Like I said those boxes of leader/enders have been around for awhile and I have had a few life interruptions over the past several years that have prevented me from doing much sewing. 

I have a lot of 4.5 inch black scraps. I also have a box of solid scraps I will dig into. This is another project  I am going to leave out to work on next month.

I ironed a whole bunch of strips of 5 HSTs. Those parts came from others so they went through the leader/ender process many times to get to this stage. 

They will now go into this box with others. Someday they will get made into my version of that vintage quilt in the photo. I decided the Christmas fabric ones were too busy for this quilt so they went into box with row quilt Christmas UFO. 

And finally I have some HSTS that finish at 4.75 inches. The parts were given to me. Not sure what I will do with these. For noe they will go into the small Parts Dept. They will probably at some point go into an orphan block quilt. 

And sew on...

Old Italian Blocks

 

Old Italian Blocks

3 inch 

I now have 333 blocks toward my goal of 540. 

I started making these in 2023. 

The Old Italian blocks are a "cut and shuffle" type block- stack up 6 squares (I'm using 5 inch), make a few cuts, shuffle around the pieces and then sew together. I used a tutorial found at My Joyful Journey that includes instructions for X blocks in other sizes as well as the 3 inch. 

I now have gathered together several sets of six 5 inch squares and hope to make my goal soon. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! At Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

***

I have a couple of native wildflower areas I have been working on for several years. I am trying to get those areas to take care of themselves but for now I am still adding more native varieties each year and trying to keep out woody species and invasive weeds. Some of the native wildflowers are still in bloom. 

This is my first year for Great Blue Lobelia. It needs 60 days of cold stratification so I planted a few seeds in a pot on the deck in January and then planted what came up in my native garden. This year after a couple of frosts I will then sow remaining seeds around this established Lobelia hoping to establish a little patch of them.

Golden Glow Rudbeckia. My goodness this is the third year for this and it is seven feet tall I think. Now it is taking over. I need to cut this patch way back and dig up some plants and replant in partial shady areas.

Obedient Plant. 

Rudbeckia and a couple of different varieties of wild asters

A few years ago I noticed these plants with white flowers popping up here and there. I did not sow seeds or plant them. Now I have a couple of large patches of them. Last year I figured out they are White Snakeroot. 

 

White snakeroot contains the toxin tremetol; when the plants are consumed by cattle, the meat and milk become contaminated with the toxin. When milk or meat containing the toxin is consumed, the poison is passed on to humans. If consumed in large enough quantities, it can cause tremetol poisoning in humans. The poisoning is also called milk sickness, as humans often ingested the toxin by drinking the milk of cows that had eaten snakeroot. "Milk sickness" was a fairly common illness and cause of death for many 19th century pioneers, notably including Abraham Lincoln's mother.

Asters

A native wildflower mix I sowed last Autumn has three different types of Water in it and all look similar - Smooth Blue Aster, New England Aster and Sky Blue Aster. White Heath Aster has popped up on it's own here and there. 

And sow on...

Four Patches

Four Patches

3 inch finished

Black, white and one other color.

I made 80 of them this week.

I now have met my goal of 270 of them. I started making them from 2 inch scraps and squares as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project back in 2023. 

The Four Patches will alternate with 3.5 inch solid squares in a quilt. I have been accumulating 3.5 inch width solid scraps so the next step is cutting those into squares. 

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

***

After a week of rainy days we are having beautiful weather again so I have been spending a lot of time in the gardens. I am clearing spots to winter sow some seeds that need 30-90 days of cold stratification. 

***

Finished a book! The Forgotten Children by Ann Bennett. WWII historical fiction. The lives of twin Jewish girls are changed forever after Kristallnacht.

 

A Monkey Wrench Top

 

It's a top! 

Monkey Wrenches

In black

60 x 80

In 2022 and 2023 I used scraps to make three different sizes of Monkey Wrench block. It was one of many RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) projects and I have been able to make quite a few Monkey Wrench comfort quilts. 

I had a complete set of black Monkey Wrench blocks in my SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin. I decided to assemble the top because next month I hope to quilt some tops that can use a black and white floral backing. I bought a bolt of it a few months ago so I can finish up a few larger tops.

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alicia Quilts. 

It's A Top!

 

It's a top!

60 x 84

These are 12 inch blocks made with 4.5 inch squares and 4.5 inch width scraps.

I found more than enough HSTs already made in the Parts Department.

I also had both light and dark 4.5 inch squares in the Parts Department.

So all I had to do was make 35 QSTs, piece blocks and assemble top.

Last month I finished a version of this quilt using 4 inch width scraps and squares.

Someone sent me an inspiration photo they said was found on Pinterest. I was inspired by the photo to make some blocks from scraps.

I later used Google Lens to track down further info about the photo and found it pinned on Pinterest and the maker on Instagram. I'm not on Instagram but could see enough info about the quilt to see that a Finnish lady has a pattern for it called "Busy Quilt" if you are interested in a pattern. I'm not sure what size her blocks are or what size squares, etc. she used to make her quilt. 

And sew on...

A Different Kind Of Pickle Dish

 

Pickle Dishes

87 x 91

I actually started making this quilt in 2017.

 It is a pattern from the book Making Quilts by Kathy Doughty. 

I made all the Pickle Dishes and then things stalled until last year because I wasn't sure how to make the bias tape

This week I made and added the borders.

I'm glad I finally have finished the top. It is one of my oldest UFOs. It has a sort of Boho vibe I like.

Now I need to figure out what to use for backing and I will big stitch hand quilt it. I will use the rest of that terra cotta solid for the binding. 

And sew on...

***

It has been raining off and on all week so I have not done much gardening. I did take some photos.

Last year I made a seating area close to the house for my husband John. Most of my gardens are a long walk from the house. John has a difficult time getting around so that is why I made this garden for him. The area is next to an old falling down chicken coop and has a couple of very old rusty swing sets cemented into the ground. The swing sets were here when we moved here over 35 years ago. They haven't had swings for a number of years and were over run with wild black raspberries. I cleared the area and decided to fill it with fragrant flowers - oriental and orienpet lilies, species tulips, hyacinths, Russian sage, clary sage, chocolate daisies, dianthus and stocks. There are 5 roses in the garden. I have a climbing rose on each side of the swing set that I hope will grow up and cover the swing set. 

Roses

Roses

Roses

Roses

Four o'clocks. Actually they don't open at four o'clock. They open based on temperature. They are also scented when open. They are an annual here but I have read that They produce a tuber that can be dug in fall and stored and replanted in Spring. I'm going to try that this year and also save seeds like usual. 

More Four O'clock and Russian Sage. 

When seated in the swing set fragrant garden you can see a Zinnia patch and Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) near the bird feeders. 

There are still Monarchs around. 

And I spy a hummingbird in the Zinnias.

I tried to get a good photo of the hummingbird but it kept flitting from one flower to another. 

Meanwhile the Monarchs hung out in the Tithonia. 

And that is the story of the fragrant garden I made for John. Not bad for year one!