21 of 24 blocks..................

Since I have 4 background fabrics and both dark and light blocks it has been a challenge to get a good layout.  I need the last 3 blocks to be light blocks.  I might still move a few blocks although I'm pretty happy with the balance right now.  But the more I look at it, the bottom left block may move one space to the left.

Every day I do some weed control in the back garden.  I want to mow the area behind some of the Peonies so last night it was a lot of Creeping Charlie that was 10" tall.  It climbs up to the height of everything around it.

While watching the weather forecast I decided to finish one of the 2 dishcloths that were on the needles.  

6 more blocks..............

I made 6 more blocks last night with lighter fabrics in one direction.  I plan on making 8 more blocks so I will have to be strategic on color and value choices.

I picked my first tomato of the season yesterday.  This is a 4th of July variety which are usually about golf ball size.  It's mostly orange with a little green but advice from growers on websites say to pick them when they first start turning color because they have gotten all of the nutrients they need from the plant by that time, and also, why share them with the squirrels when all they want is one bite.  I have found that they ripen quicker in the house than when I leave them on the plant.

I cut a volunteer Forsythia bush and several small Redbud trees that were growing outside my crank-out kitchen windows.  I have a little more to cut on the Forsythia and then I may try to dig the roots out.  The branches were getting caught when I tried to close the windows.

10 blocks.................

While I was in the basement tidying up I cut more pieces for this quilt.  I needed to have some lighter blocks to look similar to the selection in the pattern.

Here is the full layout of the blocks.  I'm making my quilt smaller so I won't be following this, just using my own judgement which block goes where.

Back to organizing and cleaning today.

 

Cleaning and organizing..............

For the last few months I have spent the first week of each month doing clean up and organizing.  This group of fabric has been laying in a pile in my studio for over a year.  I had 2 leftover blocks from a quilt I made a few years ago and I really like the combination of gold, green and a little blue in them.  I will likely put this pile and the 2 blocks in a project box now in case I get motivated to actually make a quilt from them.  All fabrics are batiks.

I made a little progress in the basement while doing laundry.  I need to vacuum down there so maybe I'll do that today.  It got up to 85 yesterday and today is supposed to be just as hot and more humid so the basement should feel good.  It was still 75 at bedtime last night.  This is a little early for this kind of heat.  

No sewing.................

Yesterday I decided to start listing de-stash items on my Wandaful Quilts blog.  I'll probably add things once a week unless I get really ambitious.  If you find something you want and also have something else in mind, email me and ask if I have it available.

I did a garden walk in the afternoon.  I knew the Evening Primrose had started blooming.

I have the Evening Primrose in more than one place in the wild back garden.  Some people consider them invasive but I love them and don't mind that they spread.

This is my largest tomato plant.  It is the Big Boy variety.  I'm staking all of the tomato plants this year, hoping that will help them produce more with more air circulation through the leaves.

This is the most productive plant with tomatoes both low and high on the plant.  It is the 4th of July variety.

Sue and Mindy, you both asked yesterday about one of my plants.  You are both no reply which means you don't have your email address enabled in your Google profile.

I'm not positive which plant the red low growing one is but it might be one of these Sedums.  These photos show them blooming so I can't tell for sure.  Click on the photo to enlarge it so you can read the labels.

I have one Peony that blooms after most of the others are ready for deadheading.  It has very strong stems with many buds on each of them.  They smell so good! 

4 background fabrics...............

I cut enough background squares to make one block of each of the 3 new background fabrics.  It isn't that noticeable that it changes but it will be a lot more fun making the blocks with variety.  This will be a small quilt, just 4 x 6 blocks so I'm 1/4 done now.  I have all of the fabrics paired for the rest of the blocks.

We finally got some rain yesterday.  I have an old rain gauge and bought a new that I thought would be better.  Unfortunately they don't agree with each other so I don't know which one is correct.  One said .4" and the other .5".  I went out to check the front garden as it was close to sunset.

I'm continually surprised at how tall this Coral Bell gets.  It is the last to bloom.

This is the 4th summer for the Boxwood bushes and I have never trimmed them.  I have seen people trim them in a ball shape or a square shape.  I really don't want too formal of a look for them but wonder if I should trim them a little.

This is the darkest leaf Coral Bell that I have.  I love the variety of leaf colors.

I will have some flowers blooming soon.  I have a red shaggy center Coneflower plant that has several buds.  Next to it is Veronica which will be purple.  I also have Black Eyed Susan planted in this front bed.  I removed 3 Hostas last fall that were getting too sunburned in this east facing flower bed.

Before the first frost last fall I pulled the 3 Geranium plants out of the porch pots and put them in a small pail.  I put it in my heated garage which is usually about 55 degrees all winter and added some water about 4 times over the winter.  One plant had only one live stem but the others are starting to fill out now after I planted them in this pot.  I'm expecting them to look a lot better in another month. 

May 2024 monthly recap.................

There was only one finished quilt in May.  It is one of a series of solids and prints that I started several years ago. (Inspiration quilt and block directions here.)

This quilt is 36.5" x 56" and has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it.

Making tops is more fun than finishing quilts so there were 4 new tops in May.  From left to right: Marcia Derse "Glow" was just needing its outside edge triangles and then rows sewn together.  It is 47" x 64".  The pink/blue Kaffe triangles is 48" x 60".  Next is Interweave, a free pattern from Timeless Treasures, which I modified so it would be larger.  It is 55" x 74".  Last is the pink/green Kaffe triangles which is 60" x 84".

I went through the Kaffe light fabrics one more time and think I have 4 fabrics that will work in the blocks I showed yesterday.

Most of the afternoon yesterday was spent watering plants, cutting volunteer trees, trimming a bush and pulling weeds.  May was a busy outside month, planting porch and garage pots, mowing grass, planting tomatoes and lots of weeding.  June might have more sewing time.