Fiber and Pulp

Hot, Hot

One of the most popular garden flowers to grow is Marigold. If you click on the photo, you can go read about the other nine most popular garden flowers, too. :) I love marigolds, especially their smell, but have not grown any for years (they are grown as annuals here in my region - too hot for them to overwinter).

Today was another hot, hot day here in the eastern metropolitan area of Maryland. I met a Sew&Tell friend (Amy S.) at the Linthicum Light Rail Station (never been there before:) - she sold me her Stripology XL ruler so I can experiment with it and, hopefully, join in with the next GE Designs sew along. I expected the station to be busy but it was pretty quiet, despite that there was an Orioles game today downtown (that's why Amy and her guys were there - to catch a ride to the game). 

We met around 11:15 a.m. which meant that I had to get up early (for me), around 10. Grin. When I got home, I sacked out and took a nap for a couple of  hours (could NOT keep my eyes open, really). The rest of the day, I have mostly been reading, eating and sewing. Many other things I could/should be doing. Sigh.

I am really getting hung up on sewing these improv roses - I made three more this afternoon. These use scraps my buddy Barbara gave me on Friday afternoon from her tidbits bin - leftovers from applique on her temperature quilt and, I think, a vintage house block of the month project she is finishing.

I'll be adding these onto the Beggar's Garden beginning I've created. Gotta start adding the foliage surrounds/background to the composition and stop making roses. :)

 

I have a zillion errands to do tomorrow - including calling my dentist. Lost a filling. Sigh.

:) Linda

Swamp Weather

Here's another flower blooming right now that I love (but cannot grow) - lavender. It takes a lot of warm sunshine to create a field of lavender  in glorious bloom with all that delicious scent wafting about. :)

We have the WARM part down pat here - hot, muggy weather this week. Not as hot as some places (only up to 95 or so) but humid fer shure (50 to 80%). :P My daughter calls this 'swamp weather' and I agree. 

So I've been spending as much time as possible indoors.  Some of it sewing, some just vegetating or reading. Today, being Friday, was Sewing Together afternoon. Patty was stuck at home supervising the tree guys cutting down dead wood in her yard so it was just Barbara and I getting together. 

I managed to accomplish everything I brought along to work on (minor miracle!:). I had finished hand sewing all the seams on my vintage '30s block sewing and gave it a good press:

This is the smaller (nine block) version of the vintage block layout - I really like the way I arranged the 'between' blocks to create butterflies. :) I will applique this vaguely circular piece onto a square background and then quilt it. Not sure whether I will give it to one of my great-niece/nephews or charity. I am thinking to do some big stitch quilting on it with colored perle cotton threads.

I finished (well, used all the roses I've made so far) my Beggar's Garden composition, too, and pressed it out:

I intend to finish it out to a rectangle with improv pieced leaves and maybe more flowers. I am thinking of this as my 'proof of concept' for a larger wonky scrappy rose quilt. :) I am pleased with the setting together (though it was almost all 'y' seams).

I also _finally_ finished attaching the strap for my sashiko pocket:

The gold background print I used for the placket finish and strap is a world map ... seemed appropriate to the sashiko panel. :) I am a little sad that the overall design of the great wave got lost in my pocket assembly ... but I like the finished product quite a lot.

You can't see them very well in this photo but the buttons I used to attach the straps are vintage - maybe from the 40s or 50s, from the look of them. I bought a large antique glass canning jar full of buttons several years ago while we were out on Row by Row adventures (I _think_ it was a small Virginia shop that was part antique store) - that was the source of my two blue flower buttons. :)

This is one of the rare projects I've made that I sewed every bit by hand - even the strap. My motivation for making this was to have a place to carry my iPhone when the clothes I'm wearing does not have pockets. :)

In the evening, after I got home from Barbara's, I had a chat with my new neighbors. Patty still had her crew down working on cutting up the trees/branches. There is a HUGE white pine tree growing in my neighbor's yard that constantly drops branches, needles and pollen on our house and cars. They had just discovered that the tree was split (likely by lightning) and dying ... and had to take it down.

I decided to offer to pay half the cost as the thing causes me constant irritation. Pricey decision (gonna cost _me_ $4K) but a necessary one for safety. One of the many joys of home ownership.

:) Linda

More Wonkiness

What is blooming now? Daylilies are starting to shine locally. There is an astonishing amount of genetic variation in Hemerocallis or daylily flowering plants - in color, flower shape and size, height, blooming time, etc. You can tell from all the photos above something about how many different flower types there are. ;) Do an image search for 'daylily flowers' and find out for yourself. :) I love seeing them - happy trumpet faces singing to the sky!

Today was hot, humid and muggy here in Columbia. I thought about going out to sit on the back deck and do some hand sewing until I opened the sliding door, breathed a bit of the outside air through the screen and said "Nope!" Closed that door right back and went back to my comfy chair and a/c. :P

I did get to work in my upstairs (very warm, even with two fans) sewing room later in the afternoon. We had a thunderstorm with rain blow through around 4 p.m. or so which cooled things off a bit - at least enough for my room to be bearable. Whew! I dug out more scraps, sorted them by color group and made more wonky roses:

My pile is getting eclectic, eh? :) I am approaching critical mass with these so I will start trying to puzzle piece them together tomorrow and see how that goes. :)

Yesterday (Sunday the 17th) was the monthly meeting of Sew&Tell at my friend Barbara's house. There were only five of us this month (various 'life' issues, nothing drastic) but we had fun eating, chatting, sewing together. 

Deborah brought two 'quilt in a box' round robin pieces she is working on this month, one of which I found really inspiring. I've seen this pattern many times before and I'd bet that you have, too:

I've seen a number of fun iterations of this design but the ones in the box Deborah is working on really struck me as being happy - and those kitten blocks are so CUTE:
I have an entire 'big' bin of brightly colored plaids, checks and yarn-dyes that just might have to become cats. :) Yet another squirrel project! 

Supposed to be better weather tomorrow - here's hoping!


:) Linda

More Wonky Flowers

Yesterday I drove my husband to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles office near Annapolis (I think it is actually in Parole, MD:) to try to renew his license. It had expired during the first months of Covid but the agency was closed (like so many other 'non-essential' government offices) and he could not get it renewed. When he consulted their website, it just said 'wait until we mail you a renewal notice' so we waited, but never got one. Sigh. Now he needs an up-to-date identity card for closing on this condo we are trying to buy.

So, the flowers were beautiful in front of the DMV - I am not sure what the pink ones are - some kind of asteraceae I expect - the yellow ones are Black Eyed Susans (you can tell the pink ones are much bigger) and I _think_ the deep-pink-to-red ones are Crepe Myrtle? Sadly, he did not accomplish getting his license/realID renewed (long tedious story) so I drove him home again. It was a pretty day - rather hot but sunny and summery. :)

That ate up most of my afternoon so I did not get to go sew with my friends Patty and Barbara like I generally do on Friday afternoons (boo! hiss!). I did manage to complete a few more hand sewn seams in the Grandmother's Flower Garden I am assembling, rather late in the evening as I watched my sweetheart play a video game. :)

Today Barbara and I took Patty out to lunch for her birthday. We went to Texas Roadhouse (Patty's choice) and the food was good! It was nice to sit in a convivial indoor public place with friends. ;)

I've been lazing around all afternoon since I got home from our lunch, reading and cooking and not much else. Well, it was very chilly in the restaurant (had the a/c on HIGH) so I did sit out on my back deck to read and warm up for an hour or so (until it started raining:). Love our new furniture.

I got tired of my inactivity this evening so I sat down at my sewing machine and made two more wonky blossoms:

The 'background' green batik is something I picked up on the freebie table at modern picnic last week.

These two flowers bring my count to five blossoms. I tossed them all on the table and took a look - they vary in size from about 5" across to about 10". I think I will just keep making them, one or two at a time, until I have a critical mass which should be enough to create a small wall hanging with them. Beggar's Garden I'm calling it in my mind because I am working with scraps and 'beggars can't be choosers'. :)

Tomorrow is the monthly get together for Sew&Tell. Looking forward to seeing stitching buddies.

:) Linda

Nice Day

Here's a flower that every Marylander should recognize - Black Eyed Susan. :) This is our state flower and is a reliable summer bloomer. Many, many in flower now in my neighborhood. :) The Preakness race is supposed to be rewarded with a cape of these on the winning horse - but they actually use tiny Mums because BES plants don't flower in May when the race is run. Don't know why but that makes me giggle. :)

Today was lovely - moderate temperatures (low 80s), blue skies, fairly low humidity (78%). I overslept (no surprises there, sadly) and was late but still got to attend the in-person meeting of the Baltimore Modern quilt guild today. We have not met in person as a guild since this month last summer so it was special! We got to use a pavilion at the Pickall area of the Patapsco state park. I had never been to that part of the park (park areas are spread all along the length of the Patapsco River) so that was fun, too. Peace and quiet and green space so close to city is special. :)

Earlier in the morning members had a sale of 'stuff' from their stashes which I had thought I'd missed ... .still managed to find two Go dies to acquire and several pieces of nice fabric. Cannot abandon pretty things on the freebie table. :) It was nice to meet some new and prospective members, too. Not to mention get some hugs from friends. Yes, Covid, but whatever. :)

I took along my hand piecing project, the vintage 30s Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks. Did not take any photos of what I'm working on, yet, but I did take a photo of the three backgrounds I bought from Springwater Designs last week:

The set of 9 flowers I am working with right now will be appliqued onto the fabric on the left above. It's a shirting style print and reminds me of the small plaids and checks of men's shirts. :) The center fabric will likely hold the 12 block star layout and the one of the right will be in reserve in case I change my mind on either of the other two. :)

Yesterday I took a Zoom class on Creative Spark from Jason & Shannon (the Shibaguyz) on improv piecing Wonky Scrappy Roses. Another one of those ideas that I already 'know' how to do  - in my head - but am glad I paid to listen to someone else's brain work it through. :) I had a BLAST in this class and I've made three roses so far:

Here is the beginning of my first improv rose. The yellow section is about 1/2" across.

Here is the rose after three rounds of sewing on petals.

Final rose blossom framed in green 'leaves'. The red area is maybe 2" across?

I thought I'd try making a white rose ... working with scraps kind of limited my fabric choices though.

I'm pleased with this blossom but will try again. :)

This one was fun to make. I had lots of oranges to choose from. :) Love the way the stripes frame the flower.

I expect to make many more roses over time. I enjoy this exercise a lot. :)

By way of entertainment, this comic strip made me laugh right out loud (click on it to go view the source, XKCD - my favorite web comic:):

Hmm. For some reason Typepad is cutting off the right side of my strip. Click and go read it life sized.

:) Linda

 

Sleep Demons

This is a lily native to the eastern US called Turk's Cap. Nine different species of moth/butterfly use this plant as a host to grow their caterpillars on ... it's toxic to cats ... and I have not, yet, seen any flowering here in my neighborhood but should, soon. :) Pretty, eh?

Today was hot, hot and humid - typical July Fourth weather here in Maryland. :) Some of our neighbors (as usual) started their firework celebrations early with loud bangs - clearly none of them have ever owned animals with loud-noise-fear issues! At least they did stop before midnight. Sigh.

I got a package yesterday from Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, VA. It's a nice shop with lots of mixed media goodies as well as pretty quilting fabrics, books, and ideas. :) I got a copy of the newest issue of Simply Moderne magazine:

There were several of the project designs in this issue that I like enough to make - especially a very cute sampler of patchwork giraffes - and the quilt on the cover set off some creative ideas in my head. Maybe I'll keep it together long enough to try them out? :)

In addition to the magazine, I got some fabric designed by Tilde that I actually have plans to use:

I stuck my hand into the photo so you could judge the scale of the print. :) I have a wonderful collection of applique self-portrait blocks from members of Mimi's Grad Class that we exchanged last year .... that are 'burning a hole' in my back brain, begging to be made into a quilt. I am thinking of using this print in some way as part of that project. :)

I did not accomplish much today ... well, not true, now that I think of it. I DID make my first tiny step toward cleaning up my house by cleaning my bathroom sink area. I had to do that to accomplish my one 'sewing' activity of the day.

I found some of the vintage blocks that Joan Z. gave me at the last Grad Class meeting and decided to hand wash them. The ones I sorted out to start with (there are a number of them) are 21 Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks hand sewn using what looks like 1920's prints with hexagons that finish about 1 1/8" on a side. I washed them in Soak brand gentle detergent and laid them out to dry on my blocking boards.

I also thought about a design for using them and decided to divide them into two sets  - one of 12 blocks and one of 9 - sorted by color in a 'rainbow' arrangement (mind you, 20's fabrics do not get very 'rainbow' in coloring; they tend toward softer contrasts:). I am thinking to arrange the blocks in a vaguely hexagonal wreath and am still pondering whether to put a larger hexagon in the center. I feel eager to make these two small-ish quilts (likely to be lap sized, maybe 60" square or so) ... I guess working only on UFOs could only entertain me for so long, eh? :) 

Other than that, I read, ate and slept for most of the day. I am suffering with my occasional-but-aggravating insomnia that keeps me awake until 5 or 6 a.m. and then makes me sleep most of the daylight hours away. Grrr! Hope to get that under control soon as it is a colossal waste of human interfacing time. 

:) Linda

June???

I only managed to go walking one time this week. I _think_ it was on Monday. The beautiful hydrangea above was in full flower in a neighbor's yard - brightened up my day!

There are two things going on here in my life that are fighting with each other this week. First is that we found a condominium in a good location that we wanted - and put in a bid which was accepted last Sunday evening. Things start really popping at that point!

First we spent most of Monday afternoon applying for a mortgage - paperwork, paperwork. Complicated by things like the fact that my husband's drivers license has expired. Supposed to get a notice from the state then go in for a renewal meeting. Well, Covid and no notice ever came. Now what??? Underwriters demand up-to-date identification.  Sigh. So far I'm letting him interface with the lender/realtor and deal with the issue (I've only nagged him about getting his license renewed a hundred times or so in the past two years:).

Then came arranging for/paying for an inspection - which got done on Thursday morning (yesterday). I had intended to be there ... but when I woke up I had a fever and my whole body ached. :P I spent most of Thursday and today (Friday) horizontal, taking it easy. Nothing ever came of it all (no, I have not yet taken a Covid test though I do have some to use). I feel much better now though my stomach is still being picky (it _had_ pretty much stopped troubling me so I'm assuming this is a brush with some kind of flu). I expect to spend a quiet weekend (which suits me fine).

The inspector turned up some issues that we are responding to the owner about ... so now we are waiting again to see what happens. Hurry up and wait seems to be the rule of the day. Shrug. I will sew as much as I can stand through this long holiday weekend and let good enough be enough - hand and machine sewing.

I have spent some pleasant afternoons sitting on my back deck in the new furniture, enjoying the outdoors. I had forgotten how much just being outside makes me feel better. :)

I did manage to do a tiny bit of sewing this week. I wrote the July block of the month column for the Faithful Circle newsletter and decided to actually make a block - trying to get my act together and do better for a change. :)

I called this one Summer Party:

This is a simple block and should not take long to make - took me an hour, including choosing fabrics and cutting pieces, to make this 12" square. Supposed to be made with patriotic fabrics though mine might not look very traditional at first glance. :) The center is a medallion I fussy cut from a beautiful swath of space shuttle themed print:

I bought that fabric thinking I'd make something for my astronomer sweetheart (who works on Hubble Space Telescope, remember?:). Still in my stash - gotta get cracking! The dark blue corners of my block are a batik we shop owners had designed by Jinny Beyer and specially printed for our shop hop a couple of years ago - has flags, fireworks, eagles, etc. on it.

Oh, I did FINALLY mail the bucket hats I made for my two grandsons to them - got a wonderful photo from her today with each of the boys wearing their hat. Sorry, she has asked me to keep them off the Web, so no photo sharing. :)

Looking forward to doing a lot of silly sitting and quiet sewing this weekend. A hoping, praying for a better national consensus than we have managed so far this year!

:) Linda