Sunday, June 28, 2026

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...

***

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...


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