Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Just popping in

Gardening has sucked me in the last few weeks so I have been in blog land very sporadically.  I’m rushing to try to get plants moved and divided before it gets too hot, though the heat is already here, just without the crippling summer humidity.  It has been a very odd spring.  Our spring weather came about 6 weeks early, and all the perennials came up far ahead of the normal schedule and far ahead of our frost-free date.  We had a three hard frosts in late April and though we managed to protect plants overnight with lots of plastic sheets, it made me a little wary of moving and planting things too far ahead of the last frost date.  By the time I was confident there would be no surprise freeze the heat was here. My divided plants are looking a wee bit stressed.  There has also been no rain.  It’s only May 23 and the grass is already turning brown and crunchy. 

With all the digging going on I’ve been tired in the evenings so there hasn’t been a lot of sewing going on.  I did manage to piece together a runner, though it still needs quilting.  I may add a border first.

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I don’t love it, but maybe I’ll like it better once it is quilted and bound.  The pinwheels get lost, though a bit less in person than it appears in the picture. I just see irregular jagged edges instead of the pinwheel corner I envisioned. I thought I had enough contrast between the whites and creams for the effect I wanted, but apparently not. 

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I started doodling ideas for this after Katie posted about her twister quilt. She mentioned there were not a lot of patterns in blog land for the Lil’Twister tool.  I was surprised, went looking and had to agree with her.  I am beginning to think that there are not a lot of patterns out there because the tool is better suited to masses of interlocking pinwheels where some will fade and some will shine, at random.

Today I’m taking a holiday from gardening.  First I’ll go vacuum.  After that I’ will indulge in quilty time.  My Canada quilt needs borders and a pieced back.  The blue Kyoto Garden hasn’t seen any progress in a while.  Whimsy is only 1/3 quilted.  Hmmm.  Choices, choices!!!

6 comments:

  1. Enjoy your quilty time and have some fun. I'm sure your gardens will be gorgeous later in the summer with all the hard work you put into them!

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  2. The season has been the same down in my neck of the woods, too! (Pennsylvania) Everything bloomed weeks ahead of schedule and then it got hot for a few days. It is one of the few springs that I can remember when ALL of my daffodils where blooming at the same time. It looked wonderful, but I only got 2 weeks of bloom when I usually get 6 to 8. Now, the peonies are done, the irises are done, the roses are in full bloom and I haven't even gotten out there yet to put in any annuals. Ah, well, there is always next year.

    Liri

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  3. I like your table runner, despite the lack of contrast. I like it being not symmetrical, which works great with the sharpness of the pinwheels. (If that makes ANY sense at all... And I'm sure you'll quilt it and it will look even better. Enjoy your day off from gardening. I'm going to take a night off from chores as well to get a baby quilt quilted. Last night I pulled a huge mound of what we called "stick weed" as kids out of my flower bed, so I think I've earned it! (As kids, it was a fun weed because it stuck to whoever you threw it at and they didn't know...ah, how times have changed!)

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  4. In Texas, it always gets too hot too early, and most years not a lot of rain. We did have some very good rains early on, but not lately. Your table runner is very unique! Great creativity!

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  5. I think the table runner is very pretty, and it probably has much more contrast up close than the picture shows. Yard work is fun, but wears me out! Seeing the results does make it worth it! ---"Love"

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  6. You need to post some photos of all that gardening you have been doing;)The runner is still pretty even it is didn't do what you had planned.
    Happy Quilting!!

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