Pink is still the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month and I'm still using up some pink scraps. This week I made Wishing Rings that finish at 3.5 inches. Wishing Rings with dark and light corners will alternate in the finished quilt. This is my second year of making them so I hope by year end I have enough of them for a nice big quilt.
This is also year two for Double X Mosaic and Snowballs that are inspired by a vintage quilt. These blocks finish at 4 inches and I also hope to have enough for a nice big quilt by year end.
(These may look a little crooked. I didn't iron these because I won't know which way to iron the seams until I start sewing blocks together.)
I was showing symptoms of PSP20 awhile ago but I didn't think I had many solids I could use. I rooted around and found some solid scraps and don't you know shortly after that I tested positive for PSP20.
I used the solids in the RSC colors that have already been called and keep a little pile near the sewing machine to sew together in between other blocks. I had the print postage stamps already cut. And now I'm in the process of completely clearing out my 1.5 inch width of scraps bin.
Then since my scraps keep getting smaller and smaller I started another new postage stamp block - Double Irish Chain. For this one I will use light brown backgrounds and dark browns for the center of the chain in between postage stamps in the color of the month. I
found a chart that came in handy when I was planning my blocks so I didn't have to think much. I did use strips instead of squares for the light brown sections.
And then another new project started is a six inch finished Buckeye Beauty block. I have a bunch of shirt scraps to use up so I'll be making these from shirt scraps and scraps in the RSC color of the month.
I was inspired by this vintage quilt. I saved a photo in my "vintage inspiration" folder but didn't bookmark where I found it.
Edited after original post:
Inspiration quilt is not vintage.
A kind blog reader pointed out that the quilt can be found at one of my
fav blogs Fret Not Yourself. Thank you, kind blog reader, for letting me know Ann was my inspiration. I searched and searched but I think I always had "vintage" as part of my search string.
The rest of the pinks are in the flower garden so if you don't want to take a hike through some pink flowers the deer have left me then you may quietly leave now.
This is not too spectacular. It is Silene or Catchfly. It is low growing so I have it near a path. It is called Catchfly because it has sticky stems that supposedly trap flies or other insects. I don't look closely enough to see if that is true.
I started a bunch of different colors of Yarrow (or Achillea) several years ago from seed. Before our pasture turned into a wooded area I used to find white ones growing wild. I like to use these as cut flowers but have also dried them and used them when I've made dried flower wreaths. I have several patches of these in the flower garden.
I love that the big flower head consists of lots of little flowers.
Look what I found before the deer found them!! This rose bush needed some weeding and had some wild Trumpet Vine and Dutchman's Pipe growing up through it and had some spent Iris clumps in front and a clump of Alliums around it so maybe the deer didn't notice I had a rose bush there.
The Pinks are still blooming in the fairy garden as well as miniature Lilies and Scabiosa or Pincushion flower. Hmmmm...purple, pink, red, yellow color scheme for a quilt???
Seven Sisters roses. The Deer must not like these roses or the Irish Spring soap shavings I sprinkled around the base of the trellis may have kept them away. This bush is a bit unruly but I have it contained to a small heart shaped trellis in the fairy garden. I've had it for a long time. I received a cutting from my husband's Aunt Essie and I think she said she had received her cutting from her mother, my husband's grandmother. I really need to take more cuttings because this would make a beautiful rambling rose hedge. I believe it is called Seven Sisters because it supposedly grows in clusters of seven flowers but I usually have more than that.
Most of my Echinacea (or Coneflowers) that I started from seeds are purple but this scraggly looking one is pink. This is the first year for this one. My husband surprised me with it as well as a white one. The Goldfinch love my Coneflowers and I've seen them sit on the dried flower heads and pull out the seeds to eat. It's quite a site but they never stay long enough for me to get a picture.
I started Saponaria or Soapwort from seed over 30 years ago and now it is very invasive and I'm constantly pulling it out of some of the places it gets into. But my flower gardens are more cottage style and informal so I do let patches of it grow here and there to keep down weeds. It is called Soapwort because flowers, leaves and roots can be used to make a gentle soap or shampoo. I've actually made the soap several times. When the kids and grandkids were younger I thought it would be a fun plant for experiments. It's nice to know that if soap becomes scarce I have some in my flower garden.
Pink Clematis
The Daylilies are starting to bloom and the first bloom is pink! The deer and rabbits munch the daylily shoots to the ground when they first start poking up in the Spring but the Daylilies never seem to mind. Hopefully the critters will leave the buds alone.
