July Bounty

Every second day I go out to my garden and pick my raspberries. It was about 8pm when I got home Monday, 7:30 Tuesday night and today I was packed up and ready to exit at 4:30 sharp. I got out by 4:45, so that wasn't too bad. Here is my bounty from today.  This will be the bottom of a hot crumble that I will serve tomorrow evening when my friend L comes over for some gabbing and sewing.

This made it easy to make dinner. I love raspberries, they are probably my favorite berry. Add a little whipped cream and "oh my".

A few flower pics as my garden has now started to bloom. It still has a few more weeks before it becomes something more than splashes of color amongst the green.

These pansies are super cute.

This is the front corner of my flower bed, so it looks pretty right now,  I have lots more that will come into bloom, we just need more than 2 days of sun at a time.

Now I'm off to the studio, I'm working on a Christmas quilt for a customer, and the way I've been going, well, lets just say I want to get it back to her before the season!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Sharon

Flowers and Beyond the Cherry Tree

It's already a week into October and I'm so amazed at how many flowers are still blooming. This is down the side of my home and it's the view from my sewing room window. I love the big mix of color!

These zinnia's were from seeds I scattered along the back of the flowerbed.  I "planted" a package of marigolds and cone flowers as well.  The marigolds came up big and bright, but I haven't seen one cone flower.

I planted one dahlia bulb in this bed and it's gorgeous.

I've picked my pumpkins and the last of the zucchini. The only thing left in my garden is a small row of green onions, dahlias, and cana lilies that haven't bloomed. Time will tell on these, they were so slow to start and now I'm thinking the frost will come before they bloom. These are Cinderella pumpkins.

Now onto quilting updates. My hexi project is now in one piece. There are a few additions that need to happen along parts of the border and then I'm going to applique it to red borders.

Now that the days are getting shorter and the weather doesn't permit yard work every day, I'm getting back into some quilting. There is a BOM being published at Sentimental Stitches and it's called Beyond the Cherry Tree. So far 12 of the 25 block patterns have been published, so I'm a little behind. But this is by choice. I wanted to finish a few other projects and I hummed and hawed about how I was going to make this. I finally decided on one background for the whole quilt and a variety of civil war reds/cheddars/greens. Several others are making this and you can see their projects here, here, here, here, and here!

There are lots of circles on this quilt and block one calls for reverse applique for the cherry centers. I'm layering, but they are tiny!

Do you test patterns? I never do, until now. I'm prepping several blocks before I start doing the applique. This is block 3. My preferred method is to iron freezer paper to the wrong side of the fabric, baste the 1/4 inch seam allowance to the back, and then applique it to the background. Not a chance on this piece. Those fingers aren't even a 1/4" apart on the pattern. Just by cutting down the center of the lines you only get about an 1/8" seam allowance to turn under. So I went to my back up method. Back basting. Yes, this block will be done using the back basting method.

I have the cutest snowman quilt on my machine right now, I spent a few hours yesterday working on it and need to spend more time today quilting.
I hope you get some sewing in on this Sunday.
Thanks for stopping by,
Sharon

Garden Surprises

Buying a home is a big adventure. When I looked at this home, it was perfect and I bought it. Then I moved into it and the list is long and lenghty of things that I find "not so perfect" I had a big list pretty quick and was chatting with my friend and said, "These are the things I'd like to do this year" She laughed and told me to put "10 Year Plan" on the top of that list. She was right.

The other surprises that I am getting are outside. What color are my lilies? What is that plant? Is that a weed or something I should be keeping? A few answers have arrived this week. My clematis is a spring variety, and it's pink!

This is mixed in with a kiwi tree (?), I guess it's called a tree. It too, is supposed to bloom and bear fruit. Time will tell. Right now it's just becoming unruly with curling vines that seem to grow 6" overnight! But it's a great backdrop for the colorful blooms.

This is what I see out my kitchen window, the backside of this colorful plant.

There is a large plant in front of the kiwi, it's loaded with blooms on the top of the stalks. I have no idea what this plant is or what it will look like when it blooms. My guess is that it's going to be very showy as there is a blossom on the top of every stalk.
I'll share more colorful surprises at things unfold in my yard.
Sharon