What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I found myself floundering the past week as I was working through emotions on the loss of my sister. She had been sick for a while and although her passing was imminent, it somehow doesn’t seem real when it actually happens. To help clear my mind, I went to my 2 1/2″ strip box and began to sew. Mindless sewing can be so very therapeutic!

A few hours of sewing resulted in this scrappy Hospice quilt. I cut a backing from a pretty printed fleece and hung both in my flimsy closet to be quilted another time. Of ...

Not much stitching going on lately...

Tomatoes! The garden continues to be the most prolific I’ve ever had. I am amazed at how well the new location is for them, lots of sun means lots of tomatoes.

Clusters of cherry size tomatoes are all over these vines.

The Cherokee Purple vine has three fat ones in the process of getting ripe. I threaded the vine onto the veranda railing to keep it from cascading down the backside of the planter where I can’t reach.

Heirloom variety tomatoes are growing too, these make larger ones with lots of flavor.

Last weekend I talked about how ...

I had several hundred images on the camera

taken over the summer...

I thought I would share a few:

I just love this gorgeous steer calf...

5 months old

I have lots more and will try and

post them as time allows.

Enjoy the rest of your summer !

If you are inspired by any of these ...

It is Spring here now in New Zealand, the days are slowly lengthening but we wonder if Winter is really over?  I found a few brave little hyacinths poking their pretty heads up in one of the pots – that's surely a sign of Spring, isn’t it.

Time for a few Spring bulbs to appear

A change of season means a change of wall-hangings.  Down came my dark hued Maple Leaf quilt hanging over the sofa.  It was time for the kitties to come out to play.  Hanging in place are  the Colourpoint Cats, much lighter and cheerful for ...

Hot and humid has been the norm this month. Usually July is the hottest month of the year here, but it seems like the heat is lasting longer this year. The plants love it though, with lots of flowers both ornamental and on the veggies. My purple petunias continue to provide colorful displays. I saw a hummingbird stop by them this week, but didn’t get a picture of it.

Petunias are one of the best flowers to attract hummingbirds, and much less expensive than the torenias that I’ve used before. In the hanging pots the pansies gave out ...

Tough summer weather in Zone 8b- North Central Florida can be a challenge for gardeners, but it’s do-able. Seed starting in Florida this time of year isn’t as hard as you may think but it ca n be tricky. It’s hurricane season here and it’s rained every day for 1.5 months now. A lot of gardeners who are not familiar with growing food in our hot + humid climate struggle to wrap their head around why my garden looks like this right now. Many Northern gardeners are in peak harvest season right now. Florida is different ...

Calendula has to be one of my favorite flowers to grow on our homestead in North Central Florida.

Here are just a few reasons why:

1. Easy to start from seed and transplant.
2. Beautiful flowers that attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
3. Has beneficial medicinal benefits, it’s edible and and can be used as a natural dye!

If you’re new to gardening I think calendula is a great place to start growing something!

Note: I’m talking about Calendula officinalis in this post. While some people call it pot marigold, common marigold or Scotch marigold it is not actually ...

Here we are, the beginning of August, the dog days. It has been way too hot for my taste lately, but there is a cool down in the forecast for this coming week, and I hope it is real. Oliver and Charlie came by for a sandwich more than one day.

Oliver seems to be getting a bit older. The life span of a squirrel is pretty short, and I’ll be sad when he isn’t around anymore.

My candy stripe verbena decided to bloom again, lovely purple and white flowers.

I just love purple. The hydrangeas have a ...

The grandkids are visiting for the summer, which means I’ve been busy juggling a toddler and a bigger kid, both of whom need things to do outside.

Taking this video as inspiration, I decided to go for something we could do TODAY from start to finish and see results. [YouTube video: “Indigo Dyeing with fresh indigo leaves // 生葉で藍染”]

Our local soil is kind of garbage. It’s sandy, silty, and blows away in the wind, but we find ways to work with it.

I ordered indigo seeds from The Dogwood Dyer several months ago and lo and behold, they ...

Sometimes finding a title for a blog post takes longer than writing the thing. Well, not really, but it’s a roadblock for sure. I have been all over the place with life lately and not as focused on the quilting world as I’d like to be. So here’s a little update on what’s happening in my world this summer.

We’ve been enjoying a lot of time at home and taking short trips here and there. We’ll be going to Austin next weekend to celebrate our granddaughter’s 6th birthday. We’ll be watching her ...

 this past week I started working on an older ufo - on the go. It was a kit I bought in 2014 for a donation quilt. It is bright and colorful and easy. I added the outside borders this morning. It was raining or I would have a better picture. I have fabric for the binding, but, I will need to find a suitable backing in my stash. Then, it will live with the other quilts waiting to be quilted.

My radishes are ready for harvesting. I picked a mild radish, and, it is too hot for me. Good thing the ...

 The mint has really done well this year. I have had several versions of mint for years, and, have not done anything with them, except munch on a leaf every now and then. This year, I have started drying them, and making tea with them. I am really enjoying them cold. By now, I don't remember what the names are, I do know, I like the taste of the ones by the rose bush more than the ones in the wash tub. 

I cut them back 2xs a week.

these are the best taste.

I found my on the ...

On the veranda, look who is back! The wren couple have build another nest in a little metal bucket. I felt so bad for them when something got their eggs a couple of weeks ago. Maybe they will be able to raise a family this time. I hope their nest is high enough so no predators get at it. They still won’t use the birdhouse that My Sweet Babboo got for them. Look closely, those white spots are on the female wren as she is sitting on at least two eggs. I tried to get a good look when ...

We have felt the aftermath of the tropical storm elsa here in Indiana. Lots of rain and mild winds hit yesterday, and, it looks like more rain today. The garden is happy, the gardener not so much.

coreopsis -good for disinfection and metabolic disorders and it is pretty

It is always a pleasure when the quilt is off the floor at the longarm. I am making progress on aunt eliza's star. It is a big quilt. I am doing swirls, nothing fancy.

I have a few waffle blocks left to make. I need to make more pieced rows for ...

This is  an old rug hooking/ needle punch project that I have not finished. I took it with me to rug hooking along with my featherweight, and sewed it into a pillow. I used a pillow form from Goodwill for the stuffing. Besides the cute sheep, I liked the project  since it was hooked on a wool fabric instead of a typical rug hooking backing. Before I start a new rug project, I am trying to empty the unfinished drawer. I still have 2 or 3 bigger projects in the drawer to finish.

I like that is a two sided ...

All the applique sashings are now done!  Yippee!

Just three big blocks and four smaller blocks and this top will be done.

 Even though I don't have a complete finish, I thought I would share my recent flimsy to prove I have been sewing a bit.