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

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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...