Yesterday in the Garden

I didn't get a picture of it all sliced up on the plate...it was gone too quickly!

I'm always learning something

Whenever I make something--a sweater, a quilt, even dinner--I almost always learn something. Sometimes it's about the process (Use more pins, add less salt); and sometimes it's about myself.

I finished my stash-buster disappearing nine patch quilt today. And I learned a lot.
I learned that I need to use way more pins when I sandwich. Or I need to invest in a can of that spray-baste stuff.

I learned that I'm just going to have to get over the fact that my machine will not free-motion quilt. I reminded myself that I'm usually happiest with simple. And straight lines are simple. And simple can be beautiful.

Wrinkles happen. Whether they're on a quilt or on a face--they're only visible from way up close, and then only if you're really looking for them. When you stand back and take in the whole thing, it's quite lovely.

Sew Connected: Catching up

June sped by so quickly, I never posted about Sew Connected! This was a fun one: Sarah didn't send any fabrics. Instead, she sent us straight to our scrap piles--not the stash, the already cut-up, just waiting for something scraps! Our mission: a wonky log cabin house. I ended up making two because I felt like I couldn't "see" the house on my first try (the one on the right). This was fun, and it had me coming up with all sorts of fun plans for all those scraps I have.

For July, Jacquie sent us solids. She posted her inspiration piece--a painting made by her son--and asked us to try our hand at producing something similar in fabric.

The brown strips are 1" cut, so they are 1/2" sewn. That was our only "requirement" for this month. She also asked for no diagonals. This was fun. My block ended at 10.5" square. I tell you, careful and meticulous measuring prior to sewing is not my thing--it if were, the block would have been 12.5". Anyway, this was another fun exercise and a chance to play with some pretty solids in a fun color combo. If you haven't been to Jacquie's blog before, go on over and be amazed at all the beautiful things she has done!

Rosettes and ranunculi

If you follow Erin's blog, you've seen her spectacular ranunculus, and you know that she posted a tutorial sometime last week. I read over the tute, and a few days later it was time to make some birthday presents.

I had decided that instead of stitching along the outside of the fabric strip, I would cut it wider and fold it in half. I wanted a finished edge, because I worry about how my t-shirt gifts will hold up after laundering.

This one above was my first attempt. I'm calling them "rosettes" because I forgot to gather it--the "folds" are really from me bunching the fabric as I stitched. Cute, but not quite there.

Here is attempt number two:

It went much more smoothly after I put in the stitching on the unfinished end. I was able to gather the fabric and it pretty much curled itself up! I love sewing on the Moleskines. Something about punching the needle through the cardboard is so satisfying. And this was not as difficult to do on a small t-shirt as I had feared. It went a lot more quickly than my usual applique. Each girl also got a matching pencil case with some pencils and an eraser. Happy birthday, Danielle and Ava!

A day in the garden

I have been doing some crafty things. I'm almost done with my quilt, and I've been making birthday presents again, so I will have crafty things to show you soon. But today, I took the camera with me out to the "garden" (a.k.a. the back yard).

Here are some beautiful beefsteak tomatoes. I go check on the tomatoes almost twice a day to see how many there are and whether they're ever going to turn red! Tom Petty was right--the waiting is the hardest part. I'm trying to be patient. I'm reminding myself that I'll be drowning in tomatoes soon, and I'm looking up recipes in the meantime.
This morning, I captured some little Black-eyed Susans just waking up.And at dinnertime, here were some of their bigger sisters.

Today I bought seeds for lettuce and spinach. I'm going to try planting for a fall harvest. This is a first for us, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Sweating my *ss Off

I totally set myself up for this one. We've been having awesome weather the last few weeks. Our power bill was at an all-time-low last month. And last night, I said out loud (fully aware that I was tempting the weather gods, but feeling reckless thanks to a chilled glass of Red Bicyclette), "I can't believe it's July 15th and we haven't turned on the air conditioner all month!"

Yeah. Now it's 82 inside and I just finished moving our huge sectional around...

I'm just not ready to turn the A/C back on--I wanted (foolishly hoped, more like it) to go the whole month without turning it on.

I don't think I'm gonna make it.

Edited to add: I broke down about 20 minutes after publishing this post! I'm much less cranky now that I'm not sweating!

Scenes from Summer

We are settling in nicely to a summer rhythm.

Going to outdoor concerts.

(Next time we'll pack a picnic dinner.)

Going berry picking.

And checking on the tomatoes every day. It won't be long!