Zig zag time...............

I got my zig zag after all on the third pink quilt.  It is a little brighter than this photo, deeper pinks.  I had a lot of the pink and red heart print and wanted to use as much as possible.  I ended up with 7 blocks leftover which can go in the orphan block box.  It should be about 40" x 48" when finished.  I have a big piece of flannel by Valerie Wells with huge peachy-pink roses on it that may go on the back of this one.  I have another more mottled pattern pink flannel for the back of the Hugs and Kisses pink quilt.

I cut down most of the black raspberry canes last year when my painters were here painting the window trim.  This is 3 canes that I left there and they have lots of leaves so I'm hoping there will be raspberries this year.  There is one more cane leaning into a bush and it has leaves too.

My Brunnera is so big this year.  There are a few more scattered small plants so it self seeds in addition to being a perennial.  It blooms for quite awhile while the ground around it is bare, waiting for the Hostas to grow.

Tonight is the last below freezing night so I hope my Redbuds will still look this good this morning when I get up. (This was written 11 p.m. last night.)

 

Pink again.............

When I cleaned off my sewing table I saw the pile of pink squares leftover from the second pink quilt.  I counted and there were 65 sewn plus 40 light triangles.  I decided to cut more pink prints to match up with the 40 triangles and got them sewn last night.

Here is another fabric from the purple shelf.  I have a half yard of it and think I need to use it this year. 

My Hostas are still at several different stages of growth.  This one is just barely up.

This one is right next to the one in the photo above and it is way ahead of it.

The Lungwort/Pulmonaria continues to bloom with the green and white Hosta behind it.

No snow so far but cold predicted overnight.  
 

Colorwash sewn...........

I finished sewing the floral colorwash last night.  It is 30" square.  I had the iron on beside me and pressed after I sewed each row and that worked so much better than pressing after it is all sewn.

I wanted to show you some of the fabrics that were on the purple shelf.  The leaves on the one on the right are more of a periwinkle lean toward purple than they show here.  It is from the 1990s.

The one on the left only has a little purple in it but it ended up on that shelf.  The one on the top is purple and pink in the background and I bought it at the end of the 1970s at one of the first quilt shops in our area.

I bought it in 3 colors but I don't remember right now what the 3rd color was.  I'm thinking maybe brown.  Back in those early days of the quilt shops some of the fabrics didn't have any company name printed along the edge and most did not have the big white selvages that are prevalent now.

This was probably created to be garment fabric because most of the available quilting fabrics in the late 1970s were little calicoes.  The owners of this particular shop chose lots of unusual fabrics for the quilters.  

My earliest peonies are getting really tall.  They have about another month before they will bloom.

We haven't gotten any snow yet.........but it is still in the forecast.

 

Partially sewn..................

I have the floral colorwash 2/3 sewn in one direction.  Maybe I will get it finished today.

I went through the Kaffe flying geese box and pulled out all of the ones in the colors of the orphan blocks.  I don't know if they will remain on the right edge or if they will stay in the order they are now.  Just in the gathering stage right now.

The Redbuds are just ready to open and we have a small amount of snow predicted for tomorrow.  It is going to go down below freezing two nights so I'm hoping it won't freeze all of the buds.

My white Bleeding Heart has flowers forming.

Two of the Dianthus plants had one bloom.  It is such a hardy plant and comes back year after year.  There are usually Columbines right near this and I don't see any signs of them.  
 

Final layout............

After going through over 150 purple fabrics I found 4 to cut and try in this floral colorwash.  I did some rearranging in the brown/rust/red area and think I have done the best I can for a smooth transition.  Now I will sew it.

I removed a quilt top from this double design wall so I put the friendship star blocks there.  The last 5 blocks are mostly duplicates to these so I might not have to do much rearranging.                                                                                     

I picked a small bouquet and it shared the windowsill with some newly potted cactus starts.  They are the ones that have been in a cup with an occasional drink of water for about 3 or 4 years.  So far I only see one that might not make it.  The bigger cactus is one that has been looking a little sick and I thought maybe being near the sink (and extra moisture in the air) might perk it up.

A fun close-up shot.
   

 

TV time sewing...............

 I didn't get all of the new colorwash squares cut or any more Marcia Derse fabric cut so the only thing I had ready to work on last night was the scrappy Friendship Star blocks.  I have 15 sewn now but they aren't pressed yet.  I need to clean off a design wall to decide on the layout.

I found a few more Kaffe fabric orphan blocks in the same color scheme as the arrangement I showed last week.  The 4 patches on the right aren't necessarily in the order I would sew them and also the plain blocks might change to another fabric.  I have a box of flying geese to look through to see if there are any in this color range.  I might make a few new test blocks in this color range with cutting dies that I haven't used yet.

Colorwash filled in, star block progress..............

I finally came up with enough pieces to fill in the holes in the floral colorwash.  I can see one place I might need to change but I'm fairly happy with it.

I am really low on purple fabrics that work well and I haven't seen any online that I would want to order.  I'll go deep diving in the purple shelf one more time.

I got in my exercise yesterday mowing the front yard.  Two neighbors had mowed so I decided to join the crowd.  The back yard won't need mowing for a week or more.

Last night I sewed two of the blocks with the Marcia Derse fabrics and I really do like them so I'll cut some more pieces. 

I found 2 marbled Benartex fabrics from way back in the mid 1990s that I can use for light colors in the blocks above.  I won't sew any more blocks until I get them cut and sewn to a partner so the variety will be spread all through the blocks.  6 light fabrics will make it more interesting than 4.