Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Not crazy anymore

 
 I have been working on this block for a long time. I get all enthusiastic about a new block and then  there comes a point, where I'm out of ideas and I have to put it away. That's what happened here. Since this is the month to get things finished I picked it up again and continued the embroidery. The border will be a dark brown velvet, what I managed to find at a Fabricland. I also like to put a few more lace pieces on the border and maybe do some more bead work. But for now it will hang on my design wall. I like to have a good look and see if I can improve on it.
 By now I have used almost all of the lace corner pieces and cigarette silks I received from my English friend Janet. They added a lot to this block and the one on the Memories quilt.
The baby quilt for Jeanette and Tony has been bound and as of Sunday delivered. And it is nicely in time. The baby is due to arrive in the next few weeks. When I went to Greenwood Quiltery to look for a fabric to go with the blues I had a tough time. This lime green was one of the choices, but not my first choice. The more I looked at the combination though the better I liked it. And I'm glad I choose this piece. It makes for a bright combination . And it has Jeanette's stamp of approval.Our tastes are often not the same, but this one scored a home run.
The nice weather seems to be over for now. Today we had rain,even some hail. This is what it looked like outside the kitchen window at 6 o'clock tonight. I love the sun shining over the corn. I though we would be finished with the harvest for a few days, but at supper time it was announced, that the corn harvest will start tomorrow, weather permitting, so it will be back to cooking and baking!

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Finally, I seem to have figured it out, maybe!

 When I went to Blogger last week, I noticed that everything had been changed again. I was told, that it was for my best interest and that it all would be much easier. Well, not for me. Whatever I tried, I could not get the pictures uploaded. Tonight  I gave it one more try and up to now it worked. Don't ask me what I did. I might not be able to do it again, but for now here I am.
I have decided , that October will be a month to finish some projects and to start a new pattern for my landscape workshop. First one up was to change the binding on this crazy quilt.
 I would like to enter it in a show, but the size was not right.All it needed was a little extra on 2 sides. I took the binding of and replaced it with a split binding with ruffled lace in between. I also rounded the corners. The binding was hard to sew on. With the lace and the 4 layers of the quilt it got to be very thick. But I did manage. The sleeve has also been replaced. I have to say, it looks better. and I'm glad I put the extra effort into it.
 It has been 2 weeks since I went up to teach in Buckhorn and Brighton. I had a very good time and I think that the workshops went well. I find ,that quite often, quilters are also gardeners. I know, we just planted an oak tree, but I always wanted to start my own tree. At my first stop I collected some acorns and after I came home ,planted them  and then covered them with chicken wire, just so the squirrels  cannot get at them. Bogey also gave me 3 small chestnut trees. One had been planted , one will stay in the pot and one I gave away. And the last evening at Carol I could dig up some Russian Sage, also planted and looking good.
 Sunday I finally made it to the orchid show in Cambridge. It was a wonderful show was an unbelievable display of flowering orchids. My questions were answered by some very friendly members of the society. I behaved well and came home with only 2 new plants , some pots and soil. Finally I was told, how to prevent creepy crawlies to come in with the orchids. Monday morning I lined all 25 up , gave them a bath in a soap solution , sprayed them  and once dry, took them inside. And yes, I have just enough room to put them all in front of a window. The first ones have new flower shoots coming up already, but it will be at least a few months before anything will be in bloom.
Outside it looks like fall and most of my plants do not look very good. But the roses are still hanging in there. I love the combination of yellow and pink. They brighten up a whole room.