First finish for May 2026...........................

 

It didn't take long to finish the binding on this batik Double 4 Patch quilt yesterday.

It has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it and was longarm quilted by Robin Diaz.

I used a lot of 16 patch blocks from the orphan block box as the border around the center.

I used a full width of the turquoise/brown print and a strip of stripe fabric leftover from another backing for the back of this quilt.

It is 63" x 70".

Here is a closer look at the batik backing fabrics and the batik binding.

I hang it sideways on the double design wall for its photo and then rotate the photos for my blog.

I had company yesterday and they picked a bouquet of Lily of the Valley and a few Violets.  The Lily of the Valley is a touch beyond its prime but still fragrant and nice in this little vase.

Last evening just before sundown there was a brief shower and then this rainbow over my neighbor's house.  The sun was shining across the treetops and looked like the golden hour and the sky above the rainbow was dark, just as it appears here.

This end of the rainbow was so intense you could see each band of color clearly.  I couldn't capture the intensity with my cellphone camera.

Working on the binding...............

The binding is 3/4 done so I should be able to finish it today.

I took a few more photos in the backyard gardens.  I think this is a Jonquil.  There are always lots of leaves and only a few blooms.  The previous owner planted them over 50 years ago.

This corner outside my dining room picture window has Hardy Geranium, Annabelle Hydrangea, Coral Bell, and Hosta.  Also to the left there are Stella d'Oro lilies, not in bloom yet.

Here is a closer look at the Hardy Geranium with lavender flowers.  Down in the lower part of the photo is a Coral Bell plant. 

The pale pink and yellow Columbine is just starting to bloom.  The tallest Hosta plants are near it.

Then there is the Lily of the Valley which is choking out everything else.  I don't have the patience (or ability) to get down to the ground and pick a bouquet.

Today will be warm in the 70s and then we go right back to the 50s again.  It looks like it will be too cold to plant tomatoes on Mother's Day weekend.  I hope I'm wrong and that it will warm up.

A busy day...............

As I started sorting pieces I'm trying to decide how to divide them up for storage in the project box.  Also is a strip 3" or shorter a chunk instead of a strip?

While I was in the basement doing a load of laundry, I pressed the binding fabric for this quilt and cut the 7 strips needed.  Maybe I'll get it sewn onto the quilt today.

When I went out to get the mail, I noticed the Weigela bushes are in bloom.  There is a Redbud tree growing right next to it on the back side of these 2 bushes.

I know you wanted to see a closer view of the blooms.  These pink ones and my red one are the only ones left now.  The pale pink one had been struggling so I had it cut down.  The red one blooms later.

One Lenten Rose bloom was facing up instead of hanging down like the rest of the blooms so I had to have a photo of it.

There was some chocolate chip cookie dough in the refrigerator so I did some baking last night.  Also did some testing.  They passed the test.

 

I need to do some sorting.......................

I'm going to start a major sorting session in my studio.  The box of large Kaffe collective scraps is overflowing.

For the last several months I have been just piling smaller scraps on top of the project boxes on the shelves behind my sewing cabinet.

There were  2 boxes full on those shelves.  The one on the left is all pieced parts and the one on the right is small Kaffe collective scraps.  I think I'll start with the small scraps first and separate all of the strips from the odd shaped scraps.  I hope this is a one day project so I can get started working on a some WIPs. 

April 2026 Monthly recap................

There were 2 finishes in April.  The batik Double 4 Patch was nice mindless sewing with strips cut many years ago.  I had to cut a few new strips to get the number of blocks I wanted.  I had a favorite purple batik waiting to be a backing for the right quilt.  It is 55" x 78.5".  The Diamond quilt, made with Wishwell Weather Report fabric was just needing to have a few more rows added to create a 47" x 71" quilt and then it was off to my longarm quilter, Robin Diaz.

I made 3 quilt tops.  I usually resize them to be the right proportion related to each other but the 2 little tops just wanted to be larger in this collage.  The top on the left is Kaleidoscope blocks made with Marcia Derse fabric and it is 51.5" x 72".  The 2 colorwash tops are just 12.25" square.  I had one more top made with Marcia Derse fabric close to the finish line so it will be a finish for next month.

I finished knitting 4 dishcloths.

I made a table runner top but it will wait for a finish to be show in the recap.
 

Blooming....................

I was so happy to see these 2 large Columbine plants at the front of my house.  The mother plant was a little bit farther forward, and last year a whole batch of new plants came up where seeds had fallen the year before.  A lot of the little plants died with the hot dry summer last year but I continued to water the area now and then.  I have a wide overhang on my roof so this area doesn't get much rain.

On the other side of the porch there is a plant that came up last year.  I planned on moving it but never got around to it.  It's between the porch and the Zinfin Doll Hydrangea.

The other plant that came up last year is in the corner of the sidewalk and the driveway.  I really need to move this one because it hangs over the sidewalk later in the season.

I didn't sew yesterday, did some knitting and worked on cleaning off the cutting table.  I have some computer work to do today and I should be able to get my monthly recap post ready for tomorrow.

 

Mindless sewing...................

As I was cleaning off the sewing table, I decided to sew some 9 patches from the 1.5" squares that aren't suitable for colorwash.

l knew I had some the same size (in a project box) that I sewed last year.  Now I see I have sewn 2 different kinds.  This batch with 5 dark squares has 44 blocks in it.  I will probably press the 8 new blocks and put them with the 44, back into the project box for now.

I had other tasks during the day, packing a box to ship and running a couple errands.