Wishes and dreams.....................

Wishes:  I wish I still had the energy and stamina I had 10 years ago.

Dreams:  I can dream about what I will make with my stash.

This is all of the 10" squares that had big blooms, some bigger than others.

There is a Kaffe quilt called "Bloomers" that has a layout that uses 3", 6", 9" and 12" finished squares.  I'll probably use the layout, but not the same fabrics as in the book.

Another dream:  I want to make a Trip Around the World with this assortment of Wm. Morris fabric.  I have been collecting  these for a few years, mostly ones I found on sale online.  I need to press the fabrics before I can cut the strips to make it.

I'm hoping to plant a couple of my tomatoes in pots today.  Rain was predicted overnight and maybe a little this morning.  I went out yesterday and pulled a lot of weeds around my little raised bed that is falling apart.  I'm not sure which year I bought the kit and put it together.  I searched blog posts and the farthest back I found it by searching for raised bed, was in 2016.  It already looked weathered in that photo, so it was before that.

Sorting fabric................

Some years I buy the 10" squares of Kaffe collective fabrics so I can see the whole line of fabric without having to buy yardage.  Last night I decided to go through the stack and pull out the ones that read one color or are a smaller print.  When I came to the one on the bottom left stack I realized I should also be pulling out the ones that have a single large flower on them.  I guess I get to go through the pile a second time today.

In the morning yesterday, after filling the bird feeders, I started planting pots.  These are for the back garden.

I can see them from my kitchen window.

I also got one pot of Coleus done for the front of the garage. There are 4 different colors in this pot.  The dark one in the middle doesn't show up well in this photo.  I always like to have a photo of these when they are first planted to compare with their large size later in the summer.

 

Everything else................

I had lots of everything else before I got to cutting backing pieces for this flannel quilt.  The fabric on the right will be the wide piece on the back and the one on the left is the narrow piece.

I started the day yesterday meeting with my longarm quilter and passing the parts for 2 quilts to her.  We also had to catch up on happenings in the last month since I hadn't seen her for several weeks.

About an hour after she left my 5th grade through high school friend called and we talked for over an hour.  A little later I was doing laundry.  The large table that I cut batting and backings on was empty so I am preparing the next 2 quilts to send out.  I use the table for sorting and cutting fabric so I need to do the large cutting before the table is cluttered again.

I didn't get to planting pots but put all of the plants out in the fresh air for a couple hours and also watered everything.  I hope to get back to sewing soon, hopefully later today.

Lots going on................

I started the day by calling the plumber for 2 problems, then went grocery shopping.  When I got home they called and said the plumber would be here in a half hour.  That's amazing...so soon!  He was done in an hour and a half and I have no more leaks.

When I went out to close the garage door, I had to take a photo of the Columbine in the corner of the sidewalk and driveway.

I spent part of the afternoon sewing the long seam in two backings and cutting batting.  The first one is this quilt made with Terrie Mangat fabric.

The second one is a top made with Marcia Derse fabric.  The backing fabric was sent to me by someone who decided she wasn't going to use it.  It was just the perfect amount for the back of this quilt.

This is the front garden and you can't even see the paver path here.  It is 2 pavers wide and there are Black-eyed Susan plants coming up between 2 pavers almost the whole length of the patch.  I know they re-seed, but I didn't expect this many of them.  In the back, the yellow plant is a Coral Bell.

Another Coral Bell is blooming with pretty red flowers.  There haven't been any Tiger Lilies in the front garden for 5 years but there are 3 of them in there now.  Also Violets. They all grow in the gardens behind the house so I'm not sure how they got here.

Meanwhile I have all of these plants in the garage (with lots of windows) waiting to go in the porch pots.  Hopefully I'll get started planting today. 

Nothing..................

We had a funeral last Tuesday and my daughter flew in to attend and stayed a week with me.  She left yesterday just before lunch and then I had company in the early afternoon.  Next a couple errands were taken care of.  I really have nothing to report but have to check in daily anyway.  I showed this photo a few days ago and felt it was worth repeating.  It might make it into its porch pot today. 

Backing and binding chosen.................

 

I didn't even have this top on my list of ones to finish because I thought I was going to add a border.  I made the decision yesterday to just finish it as is.  I chose a gray leaf print for the back and there is a pebble or mosaic type fabric on the left edge that I'm thinking will be the binding.  I need to carefully ditch quilt this one because I don't want quilting all over the top.  This batik top was made 5 years ago using the Hattie's Choice die from Accuquilt.  I have another top that also wasn't on the list and have chosen backing for it too.  I have 4 now lined up to quilt on my Pfaff.  The total number of tops waiting to be quilted is 17 and I'll be sending 2 to my longarm quilter this week.

Thinking ahead......................

I am thinking about making some more of the little still life projects with the 1.5" squares.  I'm wondering if I want to add some triangle squares to add a few angles instead of all square pixels.  It's never a loss to have pieces cut because they can easily make a different project if I don't want them in this project.  Those little stacks are 4 alike of about 12 different fabrics times 6 stacks.  That should give me a good variety to work from.  Do any of you use a program to pixelate a photo?  I did a search and there were so many sites I have never heard of and I was hesitant to open them.

Yesterday morning was spent going through the brown, rust, beige and green batiks and pulling some that I will be cutting this week (squares, triangles and rectangles).  It takes a long time to prep for a project. 

Mother's Day is cooler this year.  Yesterday was very windy so low 70s didn't feel that warm.