Design week

The cutting bender I was on last weekend continued and I cut out a couple more quilts.  

This is one that Rob and I designed in the car on the way home from the quilt show where I bought the fabrics.  There's a print in it with triangles and I wanted to blow that up and out a bit.  It should finish at 24" squarish.  A lot of math went into that calculation, so I hope it's right.  

And a little Christmas table runner from a fq bundle we got at JoAnn's a while back.   There's a nice green and a white with trees on it for borders.  It probably won't have the curve in it when it's finished, but I ain't makin' no promises.  

I also cut out and started this little Lone Star kit that I've had for probably 15 years.  They must have made a bajillion of these kits.  Mine wasn't new when I bought it and I still see them on eBay.  It was popular.  I put the strip sets together as leader/ender then cut them yesterday.  I'll have to mark the 1/4" seam line, then I can start pinning and assembling (no!!!!  not more pinning!).

I also have a ringer that I decided not to show today.  It's too cute and nearly finished...I told Rob I might have to take part of the morning off work to finish it, I'm so excited about it.  I also finished piecing this little top.  It's about 32" square and I'm looking forward to some really simple quilting.  It feels very spring-ey and should make a nice wall hanging.  

And, on Saturday, I laid out the wedding ring to look at it for placement.  I realized that with this much busy-ness, the mistakes I was worried about can't happen.  There are no spots of too much or too little color.  I'm such an idiot.  I laid it out that morning and when I got to the end, there were three blocks that didn't fit and I moved wedges around to fix them.  Then, I came in later and realized that I'd laid it out wrong and instead of joining rows with S seams, I was going to be joining rows by scalloped seams, which was going to be much harder.  So, I laid it out right, and guess what.  I had three blocks that didn't fit and I had to move wedges around to unfix them.  I need to remember that sometimes, my mistake is in the execution, not in the original plan.  Because I do this a lot.

There is one (and only one) purple piece of fabric in this quilt.  When I laid it out the first time, it ended up near the center and once my eye found it, I couldn't see the rest of the quilt.  All I could see was that purple piece.  I've moved it now, but don't look for it.  You won't be glad you did.  

And, there were flowers this week.  I finally got around to feeding yesterday.  It was late.  Now the plants will be thriving in July and I'll spend a fortune on water.  If I'd fed in March, like I was supposed to, the peak would be ending in July.  

This Iris came from my Mom's.  When they called me home last year because she was in hospital, these were blooming next to her driveway.  And, I just told my Dad I was taking one.  I picked a young one that wasn't blooming and dug it up and brought it home.  I think I found a nice place for it.  I think it's only going to bloom this one flower this year, but that's okay.  It's a pretty one!

The last poppy.  I enjoyed these.  I hope I've found a place they'll be happy.  I've never been able to grow poppies before.   Full sun doesn't mean full sun here.  

The first yellow Iris.  it was a little early and there should be more soon.  

I don't often buy pink flowers, but this geranium looked so cheerful that I had to have it.  It's just adapting to its new spot and is blooming happily.  

These are called indigo spires.  I have this clump and a smaller one that needs moving.  These came from the neighbor's trash pile 3 years ago and are having their best year.  Rob's rule of thumb is 'the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year, they leap.'  

Another early Gerber daisy.  I have four, in different colors.  The instructions said full sun.   I don't think growers realize what that means here...or maybe they do and are expecting everyone to replace plants frequently.  These struggled for two years.  I moved them into a shadier spot and they appear to be recovering.  

One of the places Sydney lived had these Iris growing out near the curb.  There are also some purple ones that bloomed last year, but no stalks this year so far.  Anyway, I think it's beautiful.  It didn't bloom for a couple years and I nearly forgot about it, then last year, it went nuts and this year, is going to do the same.  

And, the first daylily was this Stella D'oro.  It's cute and small and put on a real show this year.  There are daylily scapes everywhere now and they'll be blooming any day, but Stella is always first.  

Today is Rob's birthday.  We're only one year apart again and he has to stop calling me old man.  This was his battery powered birthday and he is tickled beyond measure.  He's excited about his new toys, but I have a motive.  In the summer, he waits til after 8 to mow so he doesn't disturb the neighbors.  Sometime in September, I'll say screw the neighbors and make him start at 7.  This new lawnmower is so quiet, he can mow as soon as the sun comes up.  Instead of being out there at 11am when it's 102*, he can be done, showered, and ready to take me to run errands at 11am, as is his duty.  Seriously.  We're too old to be working in the yard when it's over 100*.  We'll leave that to the young people and maybe set a good example for them to follow when they're older and sleeping late is less important.  

Blower, trimmer, mower, it looks like a showroom display.  

Syd went with us to dinner on Saturday.  Mexican food and laughs.  It was nice.  This is one of the new dresses we bought a few weeks ago.  She looked so good, we had to get a picture.  But for some reason I don't fully understand, it's not a picture of her with the birthday boy.  Why didn't anyone think of that?

Tonight, he'll get his favorite dinner.  Swiss steak.  Do you remember Swiss steak?  It was one of those really big recipes in the 70's.  It used cheap tenderized round steak and cooked it in a tomato sauce to help tenderize it even more.  I found a recipe that Rob says is just like his Mom used to make, and I make it for him on special occasions.  Or when I need to butter him up for something.  

Everyone have a good week.  Try to find happy things to do.  I'm at the point where it doesn't really matter what it is,  or how impractical it is.  I'm just squeezing all the joy out of every day that I can.  I finished a couple big projects at work last week and am feeling pretty good about that.  I'm managing to keep the scaries at bay.  Hope you are too!  

Lane