No yard work today RAIN!

Garden is up and the weeds are everywhere. I spent all day yesterday pulling and killing weeds. Then I placed mulch down over the areas I had cleaned. It is raining and the sky is dark enough the street lights are still on. I have to pay attention to some house work today. We have tracked in enough stuff that it is not looking to good. I have the quilt top pin basted and after getting some straightening up done plan to stabilize the quilt. Lots of stitching in the ditch on this one.

My husband is rebuilding a wooden wagon we had in the garden. It was a rotted mess when we moved it. So new wood and a coat of paint will follow. He is up and out working on it now. Will get some pictures of it. I plan on getting some pots of colorful flowers for the back end of the wagon. It will go out in the flower bed behind the veggie garden. Well need to start the cleaning stuff now. Oh yes I do need to clean and oil my machine before I start on the quilting also. Chris

Pinning the top

Today it is raining and gloomy. Not nice to be outside. I dug in my closet and found a piece of white 110inch wide fabric and I pressed it for the back of this quilt. I have it half pin basted. I decided after being very disappointed that I would machine quilt it. The blocks aren't as true as I would like them to be. The center of the stars is appliqued and it isn't as flat a seam as I need to make it look good when hand quilted. I think stitching in the ditch is my only choice. If I echo quilt or try a design I will have puckers. This was hand pieced 50 some years ago. The iron couldn't even flatten it. Also I was afraid of distorting more if I pressed it to much. All I can say is it will be done and on a bed. The room won't get a lot of use so it will work. This is the only bad thing about old quilt blocks they aren't always as true as we do now. If you look at old quilts the edges are not even and they twist some. They didn't have the rulers we had or the cutting tools we have. They used pins and scissors for their pieces and a 1/16 of an inch wasn't much ,but on the total size it added up. All I can do is the best I can do and hope it looks like something when done. Chris

Quilt top done

I worked yesterday and last night on this quilt top. I wanted two borders after the yellow border around the blocks. Wanda from http://ExuberantColor.blogspot.com suggested Kona Snow and I just happen to have some and it matched the white in the blocks. Thanks Wanda for the suggestion.

The fabric in the top was from the 40's and 50's so I was lucky to find something that worked. We changed out rental property for our birds. We had the big birdhouse there for about 4 years. The lower one was in the house with plants in the roofs. It has the openings for birds also. Then today Todd my stepson and his wife Amber came and brought me a huge Bleeding Heart plant. It is a pink one. Most of the day that area is in the shade from the Pines trees. You also go a nice view of my neighbors back yard from that angle.

This is the kind of sky we have been seeing today. In fact this is clearer than what we were seeing. Little Spring showers. Not that they amount to anything other than make it more steamy. Hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day. Chris

100th post

This is my 100th post. These are the blocks my Grandmother hand pieced. I went yesterday and bought the sashing material. Got it at 25% off.

Here is the finished top. I need borders, but need to see if I have some white to go with the white that is in the top. 2 inch sashing of the yellow a 1inch of the white and a 3 or 4 inches of the yellow I think.

The yellow made the colors brighten up a lot. Thought about hand quilting, but my Grandmother didn't make her seams all loose and they don't all go the same direction so pressing is impossible. So machine I think is the only other way to get it done. Didn't think I had enough to say for 100 posts but I made it. Here is to the next 100. Chris

My duties in the yard

This is the finished product. This is the flower bed in front of my house. It took 16 1/2 bags of mulch of 2cu.ft per bag.

This is before the mulch was applied. I went to a cement factory that makes cement ornaments for the yard and they carry pavers and this edging. Suppose to have been $4.75 each and I for them for $2 each. The edge of the cement walkway was the edge before and when we would have hard rains it would flow off the house so hard the mulch was all over the yard and patio. This is to keep the bulk of the mulch in the bed.

I use to be able to use 13 bags in the bed, but because the bed is deeper now with the edging being 5inches high it took more bags of mulch and at 89*F with humidity at 79% I got rather warm. Had to wait until early the next morning to finish while this side of the house was in the shade.

This is the front and it faces the west. Lots of sun in the afternoon. We have a tree starting to grow, but it will be a couple more years before it does a lot of good. You can see the shadow on the left side of the house.

The bed looks so much better the edging gives it a finished look.

It is a washed aggregate edging. I bought 23 of them and they weigh about 15lbs a piece. My back was a little sore by the time I got it all finished.




Today, no yard work until after the sun goes down some. Then I will fertilize the garden. I went fabric shopping and bought the sashing for the star blocks my Grandmother made back in the 50's. I was the first cut for the day and I got as 25% discount for my purchase.

It is 90*F outside right now and it is 5:25pm central time here. Tomorrow suppose to be hotter. Might cut sashing and get these pressed and get the top assembled. I looked in my stash for backing fabric. Thought I had enough but it is about 2 yards to short. Maybe can piece a back for it to get the back on it and then into a hoop. I can work on it in the evening while in the air conditioning. Chris

The Yard Work Never Ends

Today I was outside. The heat wasn't as bad, but bad enough. This is the Maiden Hair Iris in full bloom and the Red Penstimon blooming with little white flowers. This plant is native to the Midwest. Here are the Chives in full bloom. Need to get them cut back soon or more chives will come up everywhere. They are so pretty and really good in salads.

This it the pastel Spider Wart in full bloom. They close up at night after the sun leaves them and reopen the next morning.

These are some light colored Irises

This is my back yard and small garden. The tree over by the garage was supposedly dead and was brought here and look at it now. It is a Autumn Glory Maple

We now have a set of red steps. They were not meant to be there but they were to short so Jeff built a platform for them to sit on and we can use them properly now. We want a deck, but not enough money to go around right now.

This is the back of the house and the side of the garage. The Trumpet vine is starting to grow and be around the birdhouse Jeff made.

These Hostas have only been there 4 years. They keep getting bigger and bigger. This is on the North side of the garage.

Now you can see why I don't get any sewing done. I bought 30 bags of mulch and it is only about 1/4 of what I need to go all the way around the house, shed and garage. When more is in bloom I will take more pictures. The beans, cucumbers, squash and cantaloupe are all up from seed. So that garden is doing pretty good also.
After doing all the outside stuff today I mowed. Before 8 am I had scrubbed the kitchen floor and vacuumed the living room and then took a bath. Now off to the shower because my Right Guard isn't working any more. LOL.
I started on the mulch but it was to warm on the side I was on. So I am going out in the morning and get the West side done. We bought some edging and placed it down today. I will take more pics after the job is done. Take Care Chris

No pictures today

Today was my running day. I went to pay the house taxes. Went to the bank then to the gas station. On to Menard's and spent a bunch there. No quilting stuff. Then onto the Wally World not far from me. We spent a whole lot there and nothing to eat. Then went back this afternoon and bought 30 bags of Cypress mulch to put around my flowerbeds. The guy loaded it and I had to unload it. Now I have to move it around and put it down. I love my flowers, but why did I put out so many beds of them??? LOL I can't believe we are having July weather in the end of May. Hot and Humid. The green beans and cucumbers are up though. Planted just 6 days ago and they are through the ground already. Can't wait for cucumber salad and fresh green beans. We turned on the A/C the other day and haven't turned it off. Two days before we had the furnace running. The heat wears me out. Guess I am getting to old to be out doing all this running and lifting and gardening. Hope everyone had a great day. Chris