Month End Miscellany

Month End Miscellany

Quilting

Last month when I was putting together a flimsy I came across a few 12 inch Friendship Star blocks plus some cut pieces, a few HSTs and fabrics to finish blocks for a Friendship Star quilt similar to some of the ones I made for my granddaughter Kayla's friends last year after she passed away. 

The Friendship Star was started for my other granddaughter Isabelle but I gave her a different quilt instead - the Pickle Dish wedding quilt I had stored away in the hope chest for Kayla. 

Well, anyway, I decided to finish up the 30 blocks for a quilt as leader /enders this month even though it did not fit my '30s theme. 

Now the blocks will go into the SAR (Some Assembly Required) box to be assembled another day.

And, yes, there are some marijuana leaves on that black fabric. I bought the fabric online last year and did not notice the leaves at that time. I guess I will have to be choosey about the recipient when I give the quilt away.  

Actually I live in Iowa in the country and once in awhile I've seen a wild marijuana plant pop up out of nowhere. I guess it's called ditch weed; however, it is probably hemp. During WWII hemp was grown in Iowa. "Hemp for Victory" was an urgent appeal. We needed rope for naval towlines, webbing for parachutes, thread for shoes.    

I don't just see ditch weed pop up from time to time - I also see lots of wildflowers appear out of nowhere too like American Bellflower, Daisy Fleabane, Blue Aster, Yarrow and Goldenrod. (Those I let stay in the gardens here and there). 

Gardening

So far the only thing blooming outside is the crocus and they have survived several snowfalls. 

Species crocus have naturalized in the lawn and larger crocus appear along the pathway here and there in the cottage garden. 

I'm thinking this year I'm  going to make a scrapbook of BLOOMS.   I have a lot of old scrapbooking supplies as well as empty scrapbooks. I have several years worth of old seed and plant catalogs and old seed packets. I have pictures of my garden flowers. I'm thinking it would be fun to catalog all the flowers I grow.

Last year instead of planting onions from sets we planted onion plants we purchased online from a farm that specializes in onions.  We were pleased with the results and ordered from them again this year. And they have arrived already! Hopefully within the next week the weather will cooperate so I can get them all planted. My hubby has outpatient surgery again on April 3 for esophageal dilation (fourth surgery since Nov. 9) so I don't think he will feel much like helping. 

We found the Patterson onions to be large and good keepers. I still have some of last years crop and I think those will last me until this year's crop is ready to harvest.   Some of these will be planted closer together and harvested as green onions. 

I eat at least one raw onion almost every day. You might want to read up on the health benefits of onion! We also eat a lot of them cooked. 

I also have my seed potatoes. According to folklore potatoes yield better crops if planted on Good Friday. You know, I actually try to do that if I'm able and Good Friday is close enough to the last frost date. Not sure what will happen this year.

Winter Sowing

I winter sow a lot of seeds and have been doing it for years. If you don't know about winter sowing there is a public Facebook group about it.   I've been sowing a few different kinds of seeds every week or so since January. The first seeds I sow are usually wildflowers that need 30-60 days of cold stratification.  This month I sowed:

March 1 -- Sweet Peas - Beaujolais, Grandiflora Mix, Flora Norton, Miss Willmott, King's High Scent.

 

March 2 -- Butterhead lettuce - May Queen, Sanguine Ameliore, Gustav's Salad; Romaine - Forellenschluss; Forget Me Not and Charter's Double and Creme de Cassis Hollyhock. 

March 15 - Band of Nobles Lupine, Calendula Mix and Calendula Flashback

March 29 - Snapdragons - Tall Deluxe, Black Prince, Chantilly; Calendula Butterfly Mix and Touch of Red Buff; Borage, Shasta Daisy, China Aster.

Books Read This Month

I like to read a lot of historical novels especially those based on true stories. I like stories set in Ireland during the famine, the depression era in the U.S. and WWII.  I like to read stories about survival, bravery, courage and human kindness.  I often ask myself if I could be so brave, courageous or kind with my own survival in question. I wonder how my ancestors survived.  And every once in awhile I like a good old fashioned mystery, legal thriller or psychological thriller. 

1. The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew - novel set in 1954 in the segregated South. 

2. The Wife Who Risked Everything by Ellie Midwood - WWII historical fiction based on the true story of the Rosenstrasse protest. 

3. Growing Wild In The Shade by Jean Grainger - Book 2 of the Irish Garda Mags Munroe Mystery series.

4. Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeny.   - I'm surprised I read all the way to the end of this mystery thriller. I did learn something new I had never heard of before - prosopagnosia. 

5. The Girl on the Platform by Elie Midwood - WWII historical fiction based on the true story of Libertas and Harro Schulze-Boysen.

6. The Orphans of Amsterdam by Elle VanRijn - WWII historical fiction based on the true story of Betty Oudkerk and others who saved children from the Nazis. 

7. The Girl Who Escaped Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood - WWII historical fiction based on the true story of Mala Zimetbaum. 

8. The Little Orphan Girl by Sandy Taylor - historical fiction set in Ireland 1901, the story of a girl who leaves the Irish workhouse at the age of 6 and grows up.

And sew on...

Looking forward to April where the theme in my little sewing space will be Strings, Crumbs and Orphans.

 

Month End Miscellany

FEBRUARY LEADER/ENDER ROUND UP

Monkey Wrench

7.5 inch

For quite some time I've been trying to empty a couple of boxes of HST and triangle pieces and parts that have accumulated over the years. I've mostly been using them as leader/enders.  The black paisley parts were in a baggie someone gave me. I cut some low volume backgrounds to go with them.  Then found other parts to turn them into Monkey Wrench blocks for my collection. 

More Monkey Wrench (7.5 inch) blocks. These HST part were in a separate little baggie and I think most were my doing. 

If I don't have four matching HSTs but have 2 matching HSTs then I pair them up with others and make Broken Dishes blocks. The Broken Dishes are made with 4.5 inch unfinished HSTs. I think most of the colored parts were in a baggie that came from someone else. 

Toward year end all of the Broken Dishes and Monkey Wrench blocks will get made into comfort quilts for donation to various places. 

Still showing this month's leader/enders:

More 8 inch Broken Dishes...

...and some six inch Broken Dishes. 

Also this month I used some leftover bits and pieces of scraps from making little Friendship Stars for Hearts and Hands - 3 inch Bow Ties for my large collection and 4 inch Indian Hatchet blocks. 

More leader/ender HST strips for my vintage inspired quilt.  Only the center strip were my pieces left over from making Clarissa. 

Also I made some more 3 inch Nine Patches for my new start - Whirl.  These are being strip pieced. I sew the strips together then cut pieces to sew together as leader/enders. 

I ended up with a little assortment of HSTs that went into the Parts Department and I will probably use them in orphan quilts. 

Then there was a little scrap processing- I cut leftover scraps into 2 inch squares. 

Then a couple more heart blocks - Slabs with hearts in the middle. I started making these last year as a Rainbow Scrap Project and only need a few more blocks for a child's quilt. I guess I will try to finish those up in April when I work on crumbs, strings and orphans. 

In March the theme in my sewing room will be '30s.

FEBRUARY READING LIST

1. The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart.   - Depression era historical fiction. I do like to read about how people might have survived during the Depression. Before I read this book I did not know anything about turpentine camps. 

2. Perfect Alibi by Sheldon Siegel.  - Another Daley/Fernandez legal thriller. It is #7 in the series and I've read 1-6.  It always looks like they will lose their case but never do. 

3. The House At The End of the World by Dean Koontz. This was classified as mystery, thriller, suspense.   I think several years ago it might have been classified as science fiction but times change. This book gave me a few things to think about. 

4. Worthy by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  From ereads.com: "Catherine Ryan Hyde is well known for her beautiful stories of people who are on the down and out. The inspirational stories of people who never stop fighting to find the relationships that they are missing in their life can leave you wondering which Catherine Ryan Hyde book to read next."  I've read a lot of her books. Wish these stories could happen in real life to down and out folks.

5. Ghostwriter by A.R. Torres . - I finished it but thought it a little slow moving and not really a worthwhile read. 

6. The Irish Nanny by Sandy Taylor. - WW2 historical fiction. This is another era of history I like to read about but I thought this book was another one that was slow moving and actually the story was kind of weird.  As WW2 historical fiction goes, and I've read a lot of fiction and non--fiction books about WW2, this one barely makes a C grade from me. 

7. The Existential Worries of Mags Munroe by Jean Grainger. I just finished this one up last night in the middle of the night which is when I do most of my reading. I liked it and queued up book 2 in the Mags Munroe series. She is a Guarda in Ireland. She solved a mystery but along the way she does a bit of funny musing or I guess you'd call it existential worrying. 

FEBRUARY GARDENING

I did a bit of winter sowing this month. On February 6 I started some seeds that need 60 days of stratification. The plants will eventually go into my native wildflower area.   I planted seeds of Rocky Mt. Columbine, Virginia Bluebells ,Jacob's Ladder, Rattlesnake Master, Cardinal Flower, Hoary Vervain, Indian Physic, Wild Quinine, Meadow and Prairie Blazing Star, Wild Geranium and Royal Catchfly.     Seeds that require 30 days of stratification planted the same day were Foxglove Beardtongue, Pearly Everlasting and Yellow Coneflower.   And I also sowed some Pandora Poppies to go into the cottage garden. 

On February 25 I winter sowed Scarlet Peony, Black Peony, Jimi's Flag, Hen and Chicks, Mother of Pearl and Pandora Poppies (in the milk jugs). Also for the cottage garden I sowed Painted Tongue, Love Lies Bleeding and Nicotiana.  I also sowed annual Scabiosa, Magic Fountain Delphinium, Tassel Flower and Black King Dianthus for the cutting garden and for a shady area and fairy garden area I sowed Columbine Leprechan Gold, Historic Pansies Mix and Bunny Ears, Floral Days and Miniola Heart Violas. 

If you want to know more about Winter Sowing just Google it and you will find a lot of interesting articles. When I started winter sowing years ago there was very little information. 

And today my grandson Jacob celebrates his 14th birthday. Gosh how time flies!