A New Quilt

In the middle of all the canning, weeding, gardening and other fall outdoor activities, I finally managed to finish the quilt for the tv room.

The pattern is 'Two Block Hop'.  Pattern and fabric all came from Connecting Threads.  Love that place!

I'm still learning the free-form quilting technique.  I think I need to make a quilt a week so that I have lots of practice.  lol.  That's not going to happen.

In (And Out of) The Garden -- September 29

Although there is still much growing and going on in the garden this time of year, the real focus, for me, has been bringing it all in and processing it for future use. The truth? I'm getting pretty tired of chopping, canning and freezing, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be happy I did it all come January.

I've been so happy with the carrot crop this year! The variety of color has been so much fun and the taste is absolutely delightful. I've sliced, shredded and/or cooked over 25 pounds of carrot this year. The truly amazing part is...

..not how huge some of the carrots are, but that they are still so tasty even when they are  huge.  I am not a fan of enormous vegetables generally (ask Senor Gringo what happens to oversized zucchini around here), but these huge carrots are every bit as good as their skinny counterparts.  And the carrots were not the only veggie to get enormous in the garden this year.

The 'Big Bertha' peppers have really out done themselves this year.  I had planted them in the new garden bed along the fence.  I was worried that they might not get enough sun there, but it looks like they got everything that they needed.  lol.  There are still dozens of peppers left on the plants that we may have to pick still green if they don't hurry up!

Another big success this year has been the 'Pink Chintz' time that I planted last year between the stepping stones just off the patio.

Each plant has close to two square feet of ground coverage.  Pretty good spread for a plant with leaves less than 1/4 inch long.  I was so happy with the ones I planted last year that I added three more this fall.

Love that fall sale at Willard Bay Gardens!  I also found some ruffly new pansies that I'll get planted when it cools off a bit.

In The Garden - September 15

Although I've spent most of my time lately in the kitchen canning, the garden is still growing like crazy. I haven't had a lot of time to work out there, but I have taken a few pictures to remember what's going on this time of year.

I planted 'Only The Lonely' nicotiana again this year.  I only plant it every few years as it takes a long time to get growing, but I love how it looks!  This photo was taken as the first stalk began to bloom.

A close up of the flowers shows how long and tubular that they are.  Perfect, of course, for hummingbirds to visit.  We've had lots and lots of them in the yard lately.

Now there are many stalks, many blooms and much fragrance!

'Betty Boop' has looked extraordinarily lovely this year.  For several years after I first planted it, it only bloomed in the fall.  Then, for a couple of years, it bloomed in the spring and then again in the fall.  This year, it has bloomed all year.  Started in the spring, bloomed right through the heat of summer and now it's sparkling in the fall garden.  Love it!

The 'Sweet Autumn' clematis is stunning this year.  And it's humming, too.  No, really.  There are so many bees in there that the whole plant hums and vibrates.  lol. 

A close-up of the clematis flowers.  They smell lovely, too!

Class Quilt 2012

It's finished.  I've finished this year's Free Block Class quilt.  This year's theme was all things Japanese.  Although I've loved the colors since the beginning, I wasn't really fond of some of the blocks.  Due to their really strong geometric shapes, the blocks were hard to put together into a pleasing arrangement.  I finally came up with something fun...half the blocks had pale blue borders added, half had white borders with navy cornerstones.  Setting them all on point made room for the navy print.

I did run into difficulty while machine quilting.  This is the largest quilt that I have free-motion quilted in one piece.  Some times, I felt like I was wrestling a bear.  I need a LOT more practice with the free-motion technique, too. 

Next week we'll be starting 'Dusty Trails' blocks in class, Southwestern themed blocks and colors. Can't wait!