Table Topper This Week

Last week's sewing project was an alteration, a pair of my grandson's wool suit pnts becuse he's taller than when he bought the suit, and he also needed a couple of inches at the waist.

We thought he could just buy a new pair of suit pants, but the color had been discontinued.  it's a very, very dark navy.  I'm grateful that th jacket still fit and now the pants do too.

I wanted to start out this week with a mindless project before going back to comforter binding - four mor to go, my goal for this week is two.

I had four blocks left over from the Moda Blockheads project, so it was easy enough to sew them together for a table topper, then quilt and bind.

I'd never tried out the laser feature of my sewing machine - it projects a thin red line to guide the sewing.  This quilting probablly wasn't the best project for using it, but it was fun to try it out.  I'll come back to it  again.

Enough?

It's almost August - and maybe this is enough flower shopping..

Maybe.

When I lived in Michigan, a frost could come any time after Labor Day.

But this is Kentucky, and I'm looking forward to a nice long fall.

Once, many years ago, my husband was mowing the yard in Kentucky when his sister called from Michigan.  They were shoveling snow there.  And my husband, in typical youngest child fashion, took great delight in this.

Future Monarch

 

This year there are three milkweed plants in my garden, but so far just one monarch caterpillar.  I keep looking hopefully for more, but so far there is only one.

Lots of seed pods, one faithful bee, but just one caterpillar.  Maybe there's still time. Maybe I'll have to be happy with just one.

Every morning, I look.

Marigolds

 

It's been a long time since I've had pretty marigolds, but this seems to be their year.

Of course they came marked down at the big box store, looking just a little unhappy, but they've thrived in a tub of Miracle Grow potting soil.

I added a couple of day lilies which languished on my back porch all winter.  They don't seem to be doing as well as when they sat in their containers on the porch.  Maybe they like just plain dirt rather than the good stuff.

There is a new butterfly bush growing happily in the "just plain dirt."  I know it might b a little invasive, we'll see.  But it's all by itself in a spot where nothing else seems to grow.  It's in the back yard, away from the pollinator plants.

If you have concerns about it, Master Gardener Joanne, let me know.

Rain

 

It's raining on and off, and when it rains, it rains hard.  It seems like we've had a flood watch for days.

I met my cardio goal for the week sweeping water in the basement toward the drain, so there's that.  Not a flood, don't worry.

My only trip out today was to the quilt shop, I'd been thinking about that all week.  I picked up the fifth block of the month (and still haven't started the first one.)

Then there was a pattern for a zipper bag, a very simple one that I'll use again and again.  And a kit for a table runner that I've been admiring in the shop.

I rarely buy kits, but the sample looks so pretty and I can use the basic design for other projects.

But first, an embroidery job needs to be started.

Comforter Binding

 

I'm way behind on sewing binding on comforters for Mennonite Central Committe.  Our group got a nice stash of comforter tops some time ago from Indiana and we've been knotting those, one or two a month.  

Only thing is, there are only two of us who can sew on binding, and we've both ended up behind because of various health/travel issues.

This week I've binded five, which put a nice dent in catching up.  I need to pivot now because of an embroidery job, then I'll be back.

My favorite binding method is machine sewn, starting with sewing the binding on the back, then flipping it around to the front and turning it under.  A hot iron is so, so helpful for getting the binding flat.  Binding clips speed things up, just a quick pinch instead of putting in a pin.

A three-part zig zag stitch ensures that the binding won't pull loose if it gets snagged.  That stitch slows down the process but it's totally worth it.

As I stitch, I enjoy thinking about where the comforter will end up, it could be anywhere.

Raccoon Saga

 

For my birthday, around the summer solstice, my neighbor gifted me with a beautiful bouquest.  And now, on this seventh day of July, some of those flowers are still looking pretty and summer-y.

Like many others, I'm glad that last week's heat has lowered about ten degrees.  We've had a few nice showers.  I'm no longer itching from misquito bites that come with summer watering.

The raccoon saga - a neighbor saw a raccoon going in and out of my chimney.  After a while I had a chimney cap installed, the chimney guy didn't see raccoons, and the projected time for raccoon babies to be born and grown had passed.

Only thing was, mama and babies must have been hiding in an L at the bottom of the chimney flue.  After a few days, mama got desperate and worked at the flue covering in the basement and was able to work it loose.

She ate a couple of bags of Cheetos I had on a table, also sampled most of a bag of flour, drank toilet water, and went back to the babies.  Her tracks were in the flour and she left a mess behind.

I don't do critters well, two neighbor men nicely helped make sure she was back in the chimney, and they wedged the flue cover so she couldn't make her way back.  My daughter helped me clean up the mess she left behind.  Thankfully, the basement is unfinished.

The chimney guy came back and removed the chimney cap so mama could come and go and the babies could get bigger.  And now we wait.  A couple of nights ago there were still little squeaks, so the family is still there.

Apparently several neighbors have had similar stories, chimney caps have appeared, and mama moves on to the next house.

July 4

 Happy July 4, everyone.

I made this table topper at least twenty years ago and I enjoyed making it so much.  The fireworks are rayon embroidery thread.

There are no special plans at my house, and that's ok.  I have some beer for celebrating, one bottle missing.  I drank one last night to hopefully mark the end of the raccoon saga at my house - we'll talk about that later.  (Diana, it's Yuengling, from your area.)

High today here in Northern Kentucky is 91, which sounds hot enough, but is actually welcome after week's heat.  Then we slide into the 80's for next week, with maybe some showers here and there.

Fallen Tree

 

Not my fallen buckeye tree - it's at my daughter's house.

It's a big tree, it could have caused a lot of damage, but it didn't.

It fell on the shed and took out a single section of the neighbor's fence.

It didn't fall on any other structures, didn't fall on the pool, there is no broken glass.  Most important, it didn't fall on any people or pets.

Deep breath.

Arboretum Art

 
This summer's Arboretum exhibit is my favorite indoor exhibit so far.  And of course I love this photo taken by Sarah.

Employees and friends could check out digital cameras and take pictures around the Arboretum.  Some were framed, like Sarah's, and those were displayed together.

Others were printed and displayed around three walls, hundreds of pictures, no blank spaces, tops in a wave pattern that followed throughout.  Each picture was the same size.

The word that comes to mind is dazzling.  I could have spent so long just looking.  So much color, each photo diffeerent.  The other word is stunning.

Good job, everyone.

On the Sidewalk

 

On a sidewalk in Asheville:

IMAGINE

THE LOVE

WE COULD

HAVE

IF WE

LEFT OUR

EGOS AT

THE DOOR

    @POETRY

    BYBOOTS

New Washer

 The washer I'd been using came with this house, and I've lived here for nineteen years. I didn't really use it all those years, I'd brought a washer with me that I used for about eight years.

The washer that came with the house - was made in Ohio, around 1990.  It was made to last, as these things were back then.

A couple of month ago, it stopped spinning out quite all the water.  There was a work-around, I love work-arounds, and I could just turn the dial for a few extra minutes of spinning.

But earlier this week it started leaking water, and that was the end.  If parts were still available I'd have fixed it, but not even ebay could help me out with what I needed. 

So today the truck pulled up with a new washer,with nice warranties and a projected life of twenty-five years.  My projected life isn't twenty-five years, so I'm hopeful that I won't be buying another washer.

It isn't especially beautiful and it doesn't do many tricks, but I'm in love.  It's so, so quiet.

For My Daughter

 My daughter wanted a gray wall hanging for her hallway. 

And I was luckky enough to score a scrap bag at the local quilt shop.  Inside were gray and gray-green fabrics, with several half square tringles already made.  Those triangles wwere pretty precise, more than mine would have been, and mine are pretty precise.

From there it was easy to piece together the wall hanging.  I realize sit-down quilter was happy to get a bit of a work out, so that was a bonus.  I realize that many quilters take their quilt tops to be quilted by someone else on a long arm with digital stitch patterns, but I like my own stitches.

My sit-down quilter has a stitch regulator that evens out the stitches, but it's still in its package.  Maybe some day I'll try it, for now, once again, I like my own stitches"..

Size is 28" x 28".

Love This Place

 

There is a restaurant in the Northside community of Cincinnati that I love.  Ruth's Parkside Cafe.  If I lived closer I'd be there every week or two.

The building looks like nicely renovated industrial, definitely a casual vite.  There are sweet little lamps, art work, and awesome food otions for me.. Lots of the menu is plant based with protein that can be added for folks who want that, but there are plenty of meat options too.

Yesterday I had a "sandwich" with sauted vegetables served over whole wheat bread and topped with Swiss cheese.  The portion was gigantic and I had the leftovers for lunch today, with my own artisan bread.

The staff is so friendly.  When I was there on a recent Saturday afternoon there were two couples playing cribbage.  No one asked them repeated if they wanted anything else, n an effort to move them along, just left them to their game during an uncrowded time.

On raccoon news, no littl squeaks yesterday or today.  Of course I don't hang around long listening.

Fireflies

 This year for the first time in ages there are so many fireflies in the front yard garden and even some in the back yard.  Apparently they like pollenator plants.

So much nicer than raccoons.  It really is a treat watching their tiny flashes.

They remind me of the years we saw the synchronized fireflies at Elkmont in the Smokies.  Their show would happen for just a couple of weeks in June.

Eventually they got to be sso popular that we stopped going, but they are probably still flashing.

Not Happy

Apparently I have a raccoon living in my chimney, and I'm not happy.

My new neighbor told me that he's seen it crawling in and out.  I don't  have a fireplace but the chimney was used for the original heating system ventelation.

This has turned into a neighborhood project.  The original plan was to trap the raccoon and relocate her, but it turns out that if I go behind the furnace I can hear babies squeaking.  Mama gets a reprieve until the babies leave.

Surprise Iris

 

This pretty iris appeared today.  Sarah said she planted it last year, beside the front porch so I could easily water it.  She said it needs a lot of water.

In fact it has received next to none.  It's surrounded by day lilies, which get minimal water from me.  I'll be more diligent going forward.  It's such a lovely flower on a long stalk.

The small local nursery has no milkweed.  The nice man sitting in a chair just outside the door said he had tried three or four suppliers without any luck.  He said that seems to happen every three or four years.

There has been gentle thunder rumbling for the past hour.  Somewhere, it is raining, just not here.

False Indigo

 

Joanne mentioned the plant false indigo in a reent post.  She inspsired me to admire mine, very big this year.  You can see both leaves and seed pods.

Sometimes called baptisia, these plants are drought tolerant, good pollenators, and (drum roll) deer resistant.  And, they're pretty.

Because I'd read that they are self seeding I tried to start my own from seeds in the refrigerator rolled up in a damp paper towel.  It didn't work.

Misfits

 When I finished piecing the Moda blocks earlier this spring,  three misfit blocks were left over - and one block was keft to do.  The one on the lower left.

In the interest of really finishing, and in getting the three misfit  blocks off the table, I pieced that fourth block and stitched the bocks together.

The blocks still look like misfits, but with some quilting they will make a pretty enough Christmas table topper.

When I was telling you about that lower left block, I was reminded about how long it took me as a child to learn right from left.  (That, and tying my shoes.  My mother dispaired.)  I'm pretty sure I was the last in my class to learn both

I remember sitting in the second grade classroom trying to puzzle out right vs. left, a concept that made no sense.  It was a combination second and third grade classroom and I'm sure I was supposed to be doing something else, but I was easily distracted.

I finally learned by looking to see on which hand women wore their wedding rings and translating that to other situations.  

To this day, I'm always happy for a work-around.  I think it's related to math appreciation.  There are different paths to the right answer.

Morning Glory and Unrelated Stupidity

 The back posch morning glories reseeded themselves, and - bonus - they are flowering much earlier than last year.  Their brightness cheers up each morning.

Now for the stupidity - A few weeeks ago I had my sewing machine serviced, and I'd used it a few times since then.  All was good, until I got really stupid.  I realized I hadn't engaged the dual feed foot and promptly did that.

The backstory is that that feature hooks up to only one of the many feet that come with the machine.  And I chose the wrong one.

I should have looked at the manual, just to be sure I had everything right.  But I didn't because I'd done it many times before.  And then I felt so, so stupid when I went to the dealer because things weren't working.

All the more so because I was an educator for that dealer for many years.