My two friends came over to sew yesterday and I worked on the colorwash. The photo on the left is with all 22 rows sewn together. The center photo has the 2 side borders that I worked on most of the day. The third photo shows the 2 borders right next to the center section, ready to sew on.
I knew I wanted a darker edge on the left but I wasn't willing to cut more of the 1.5" x 3" rectangles (2" x 3.5" cut size). Instead I went to my two boxes of 2" batik strips and pulled contenders out for audition. I used strips of any length that was appropriate for color and value matching.
I had considered a strip across the top and bottom but decided that the binding will make the final finish just as well.
One of my 2 friends has a rhubarb patch so the last 2 times she has made a strawberry rhubarb pie and baked it at my house. We bake it while sewing in the morning, then go to lunch and come back for warm pie and ice cream for dessert. Yum!!!
In the early evening I went out to check the back garden. The Lily of the Valley is blooming as well as the violets growing with nice long stems.
I had to pick my little bouquet.
The Brunnera with tiny blue flowers has migrated over to another section and is right next to another variety of Cranesbill. It is getting ready to bloom too.
I dug up one of my huge hostas and pulled off 6 babies and replanted the mama plant in the spot where I dug it up. I finished potting the 6 babies by moonlight so I'll show them tomorrow.
I know this photo doesn't look much different than the one 2 days ago but it has the final 6 rows sewn on. Today I will get it pressed and then work on the border. I'm going to use 2" strips in varying lengths.
I have been cleaning the basement again for company both tomorrow and Monday. I pulled some weeds along the rock edging of my back garden a couple times yesterday. It was nice and warm and it going to be even warmer today.
I have 16 rows sewn on the colorwash so far. I can assemble 4 rows and sew them onto the piece in one hour so it is a slow assembly. I have 6 more rows to sew.
I noticed the first Cranesbill (perennial geranium) was blooming. The flowers are lavender even though they look white in this photo. It was quite chilly yesterday but should be warmer today. I dug out a few more plants that were too close to my front sidewalk.
I was looking for a certain fabric on my brown/rust/gold shelves and I noticed some of the piles were messed up. I decided to go through and re-stack them. The big print is one of my very favorites. I decided that while straightening I would pull some fabrics that coordinated with it.
Then I came across another favorite. The turquoise version of this was the Hoffman challenge fabric back in the late 1980s. It is really a rust, not red as it looks here. I pulled a few fabrics to go with it too. Now I MUST use these fabrics and not leave them for my estate sale.
I dug out weeds and volunteer trees, dug up the hosta I showed a couple days ago with all of the other plants smothering it out. I cleaned up the area around it and replanted it. I also transplanted 2 purple coneflowers and a Pulmonaria. I dug up the Tiger lilies that were growing right next to my sidewalk and I need to either plant them in pots or back in the ground today.
I decided to empty another box in the basement last night. In it were two groups of Strips that Sizzle blocks. I put these up on the design wall, 2 pink edges, 2 green edges but it was too predictable.
I turned some blocks a half turn and came up with this. There were 74 blocks in this color range and this layout uses 70 of them and will make a quilt about 40 x 56". I think I made the blocks in 2009 so they are ripe enough to use. There are 84 blocks of the other color combination in the box.
There was only one TV show to watch last night so I started sewing the colorwash quilt.
I mowed the grass late afternoon yesterday while it was still cool. I'm happy for all of the rain lately and today I hope to do some digging.
I love hostas. It is so much fun to see them come up every spring. In the bottom right photo you can see that violets, cone flowers, Lily of the Valley, dandelions and Creeping Charlie are all competing for that spot. I will probably have to dig that one up and clear the area and replant it.
Jack-in-the-Pulpits are popping up in several places now. The leaves are finally coming up on the ones I showed about a week ago.
The Tiger Lilies are getting tall as well as the peony plants. Lily of the Valley has invaded my whole backyard garden.
The Red Penstemon plant in my front garden is so pretty.
All of the volunteer Lungwart/Pulmonaria plants are doing well in their little pots. I need to find someone who wants to start a patch of them in their garden.
The sewing I did yesterday was minimal and not worth getting the camera out for it. It is time to plan for the new month now. I need to add a few more things to my blog shop, Wandaful Quilts, later today.
I had three finishes in April, a Marcia Derse fabric Stack and Slash, a trip around the world tablecloth, and a wonky block baby quilt.
I completed four quilt tops. I'm calling the hexagon star finished but I still may explore border ideas for it in the future. I could have sewn the colorwash rectangle wallhanging together but I decided not to rush it. It is more fun to take my time and enjoy the process.
It was time to face the clean up around my die cutter yesterday. I sort the scraps into similar sizes for future cutting of smaller pieces.
