Another busy day.....................

I had a nice visit yesterday morning with a cousin.  I had offered her some fabric and she is going to teach a 2 week sewing camp for young people.  The students are bringing fabric for their main project and she will supply the fabric for some fun extra projects. 

After she left I baked a batch of cookies with dough I had made the night before.  They are going with family that is travelling out of state. I delivered the cookies to them and then did grocery shopping on the way home.

This Peony is  behind a tomato plant in a pot, and is nested under the leaves of a volunteer Redbud tree.  I cut a bouquet which I leave in a vase in my garage overnight.  It shouldn't have any ants on it by the time I bring it in today.

Late in the afternoon I was in the basement doing laundry and while down there I went through about 2/3 of my Philip Jacobs florals and pulled some more for the multi-size blocks.  I still have 2 stacks to go through.

I checked on this Columbine in the back garden about a week ago and thought  maybe it had been nipped by frost.  It is looking good now though.  I forgot to check on my Bleeding Heart plant so I need to do that today.

It was supposed to go down to 45 last night and I think it will be close to 50 tonight.  We will be back in the 80s next week and the tomato plants will love that.

 

Comparison.............................

I showed the original squares a few days ago, on the left, the 10" squares from a layer cake stack.  Then I cut a few more squares and showed the photo in the center.  Now I have added some more squares in the photo on the right.  I haven't looked for any fabrics yet to cut 12.5" squares from.  I may decide I'm happy with just the 3", 6", and 9" finished squares.

I started planting the pots for the porch.  I might get more planted today or tomorrow.

I'm trying a new type of pot this year, ones with a reservoir in the bottom with a fat cord that threads down into that part.  They say they will water from the bottom.  There is a little window on the side of the bottom part that shows the water level.

I can fit 2 or 3 more pots on the bottom shelf with plants that don't need direct sun.  The large geranium might end up on the porch in front of the table because I have one more pot to plant in that set of 4 sizes. 

A great day................

My grandson came for a late Mother's Day visit and brought me lunch and this beautiful bouquet.

While he was here he assembled this new porch table for me.  It was pretty simple assembly but took muscles to get the long screws into the wood with an allen wrench.  Now I need to get the rest of the flowers planted and get the pots on the table.  That's my goal for today.

We got an inch of rain yesterday morning with quite gusty wind.  The tomato plants made it through the storm OK.  This plant was in a tiny 4 pack and I replanted them into larger pots about 3 weeks ago.  They grew  nicely in my garage that has lots of windows.  I set them out on some of the nicer days to get them ready for planting.

This plant is just as tall but is blending into the 2 Peonies behind it.  I gave one of the Peonies to a friend a few years ago but didn't get the whole root and now it is a big plant again.  I will need to tie it up so the blooms don't lean on the big pot.

When I was filling the bird feeders, I saw more Peony blooms.  This is the first medium rose bloom, and there is another on a different plant too.

I had forgotten there was another plant with the burgundy color blooms behind the one with the single flowers.  I think this one is prettier with more petals but the plant isn't as large.  After those 80 degree days and then 1" of rain, I'm sure more buds will be popping open this week.  We have a couple cool days coming in the middle of the week but I don't think that will slow them down.

My youngest grandchild turned 30 yesterday.  It has been watching the grandchildren become responsible adults.

My cable provider notified me that internet would be down most of the day yesterday while they upgrade the system.  I thought it would be a one day event, but late in the afternoon they said it would be down today too.

Cutting started..............

Finally I found my 9.5" square to add to the 6.5" and 3.5" squares.  Since I'm beginning my cutting from 10" squares, I won't need the 12.5" square yet.

I'm just placing them on the design wall as I cut them and there are duplicates of some of them.  I'm realizing I could just come up with my own layout instead of following one in a Kaffe book.  I'll start looking through the pieces in the Kaffe large scrap box next.  Lastly I'll go to yardage to find more.

There are lots of scraps from the 10" squares.  I'll probably cut them down into usable shapes later.

When I was planting the tomato plants on Saturday, there weren't any Peony blooms yet.  When I got up yesterday morning, this is what I saw from the kitchen window.

I was outside in the afternoon to get a closer look at the blooms.

The lilacs have been scenting the backyard for the past week.  I think they are starting to dry up now and the Garden Heliotrope will take over as the new scent...which is quite a bit like a lilac scent.

 

Planting day........................

It was in the 80s with sunshine yesterday so it was a perfect day to start planting my tomato plants.  I had 2 bags of Miracle Grow vegetable and herb garden soil to mix in with the soil in the raised bed and pots.  I planted 3 in the raised bed in different locations than last year.  This is a Sun Sugar in the back with the 5' tall cage and Early Girl in the front with a shorter cage.  I usually get Sun Gold but decided to try the Sun Sugar this year.

This one on the other side of the bed is a 4th of July variety with a 5' tall cage.  At first I thought it was another Early Girl but they aren't this tall yet.  That is a Redbud tree growing back by the house.  I need to cut that down.

In the 3 big pots I have Rutgers variety in the 2 end pots and 4th of July in the center.  I had to mix the soil in the pots too, lots of hard work and hot sun.  I have the pots placed farther apart than last year so I hope I will have an easier time picking the tomatoes.  Last year all 3 plants in the pots were intertwined.

I was so tired after being in the sun for so long and never got into the studio. 

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.