I finally got into the studio today to continue work on the rails baby quilt. Finished sewing the block quarters into full blocks and sewed the sashing spacers between blocks to create rows. Took a break at that point to snap this poorly lit and possibly confusing (I just put the blocks up on top of what is already hanging out on my design wall) picture for today's post so you could see how it is coming along. Next step is to sew the long sashing spacers between rows and then the narrow border strips all round. I'll soon be layering for quilting.
Egging me on is this picture my goddaughter shared of her and her six month old baby that this quilt will go to at her graduation at Baylor in Texas. She has been working on this degree for at least 14 years, a lot of the classes taken on line, juggling a job and a growing family. How proud we all are that she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a doctorate of nursing practice (DNP-FNP). Now if only she lived closer so she could be my NP. . .
What else have I been up to? Well, I did knit those final few shaping rows of the purple sweater's back. While my yarn may be going farther than I originally thought, I still think I will come up short for two full sleeves. Still waiting for the yarn store to get in their next order of these mill ends but it did occur to me that this company also sells regular skeins of yarn and perhaps I can find this color elsewhere, although not the same lot. We shall see as knitting progresses on the front.
And between motorcycle races (and there were THREE different series racing over the weekend), I finally made the final decisions of how to distribute the last of the bedding plants bought nearly a month ago. I've been watching them carefully, placing them tentatively on the pots I think they will go in, rushing out to water when I see them drooping. They have been ever so patient with me. They went much farther than I thought they would, took more time to transfer than one would expect, and I had to pull three pots out of the garage that I didn't use last year. This is a tentative arrangement, and one or two of the pots may go out on the front steps to keep the pot of snapdragons company.
As usual, the star of the show are the geraniums. They never fail to please.
New to my garden are the begonias, which are giving those geraniums a run for their money as top pleaser. Two in this small pot, four in a much larger pot which is a candidate for out front.
The snapdragons and the mystery bloomer went in the long planter per spacing directions. They'd better spread out and fill the space. The matching planter has one of the mystery bloomers and two of the dianthus. The other two are in a separate smaller pot and although growing tall, have no blooms yet while the ones that waited so long for a home are popping a bloom.
The pansies looked so much more robust than they have in previous years so I snatched several up. Yellow ones in a separate pot and two rich colored ones in a bigger pot.
And marigolds. I don't generally add those because I've never liked the smell when you brush up against them. My college campus had them everywhere, no doubt because of ease of growing them and they do add bright color. I decided to succumb this year in order to add some orange to a mix that was heavy on purple and pink. One in a small pot, the other two in a larger pot which may be another candidate for the front steps.
It felt really good to get this done - I didn't realize how much it had been hanging over me for so long. I still need to hose down the deck to remove the spring pollen and the dirt I spilled (too much rain again), and then I will be ready to enjoy the heat wave expected this weekend as I sit on the deck and enjoy my spring flowers.
3 comments:
Congrats to your goddaughter -- that's a big accomplishment while also raising a family! I'm sure that quilt will be loved. I'm also a procrastinator when it comes to potting plants. Sometimes it never gets done and they finally die. I hate the mess it involves, but they sure do reward you when they take off. Unfortunately, not much does well here in the scorching summer except desert plants, so no geraniums or snapdragons for me. For my back patio I've settled on potted succulents that get mostly shade, but the brutal western sun in the front has killed almost everything I try in the summer.
Those marigolds will keep the deer at bay, if nothing else! Our neighborhood deer have chewed all of the deck flowers so now those barrels are under & behind fencing & wire. They were considerate (!) & didn't actually pull entire plants out so there's hope for those flowers to come back. Congrats to your goddaughter--slow & steady wins the race & she did it with honors!! Enjoy the warmer weather we're all going to have this weekend! Jan in WY
Sherrie, you certainly do now live in a challenging area regarding gardening. I applaud your efforts to adapt.
Jan, that wire fencing you see behind the geraniums - there was a year when the deer were snapping off their blooms to eat and one time that I had my bedding plants lined up along the edge of the deck to the left in preparation for transferring into pots and the deer must have thought I'd set up a buffet for them - the next morning I discovered they'd nibbled on every one. The wire and the whirligigs seem to have helped keep the deer away and I hope it stays that way. I know that marigolds can protect other plants from some insects but didn't know deer don't like them either!
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