More quilting, garden moments and painting possibilities ...

" I dwell in possibility"......Emily Dickinson

What to do today....work on paintings? I have several canvases "gessoed" and ready....the studio is pleasant, too!

This bouquet I keep working with.....enjoying the process....

I have some quilts in progress too...the one below is another low volume, Sunday Morning (from the book by that name) quilt...should I put it together?

....One thing seems to be emerging....from my possibilities.....I will work on a blogging post! LOL!

...flash back to the last post...I have finished the strawberry pink binding on this quilt...my scrappy, chunky, perle cotton quilted, English floral quilt! love it, it is so light and fluffy, not weighted down with heavy quilting!

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Yesterday, when I got home from work, I sat in my quiet garden corner....doing nothing for a while...just dwelling and resting.

Drinking in the lovely evening ...

[you know iPads have a super resolution camera when they capture wrinkles and pores which don't show up in the mirror! LOL!]

Looking at my little garden patch, I found some strawberries starting to ripen! Wow!

I wonder if some creature will get to them before we decide they are ready to eat?

From this little patch where I scattered leaf lettuce seed in March, we are getting several salads per week now!

Reading is another possibility.....I was reading this book this morning....

I got it for $1.50 at our library used book shop. It was published in 1973. I love books from that era...I was a newly wed bride. Making quilts for my home was something I really hoped to do! This book reminds me of the beginnings of that adventure!

I smile as I read..."Quilting has certain advantages over other forms of needlework. For one thing, it's far less expensive than most. There is no need to go to an expensive shop for supplies and instructions. Once the basics are mastered, the crafter can duplicate any quilted item simply by studying it. The materials can be cut from old clothes,* sheets! and slipcovers that had been intended for no better use than dust rags. At worst, materials can be purchased for the most nominal sums as remnants at fabric outlet shops. The most extravagant piece of equipment is a sewing machine, which most women probably already own.** And even that is not absolutely necessary. After all, our ancestors did some remarkable work without them."

Oh, for those frugal times, not spending $11.00 /yard for designer cotton fabrics resulting in quilt tops alone which cost upwards of $150.00... !

* I did cut up some summer pj's to use in my "low volume" quilt! along with lots of remnants!

**over the years I have had several sewing machines! I think there are 6 down there now....no wonder I feel that I should always be doing/making something, to justify having them! Oh my!

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Back to those canvases now...maybe while listening to an audio book! One way to do 2 things at once!

 

A garden, a quilt and strawberry pink.....

The flowers along the driveway are really pretty today! We have had a rainy spring!

Knockout style roses and "Stella Dora" day lilies are neighbors to petunias and yarrow.

This thyme has been here many years and is doing well, I would never have imagined that it would develope a woody, branching interior!

A bush full of pink roses is just past peak bloom!

As I walk across the yard, I notice dramatic clouds moving across the sky.....

It seems I have little sunlight remaining next photo, of some pink lilies...the background has become so dark along with the sky!

In the backyard, I photograph my yellow snapdragons and pink strawberry plants. I think some other creatures are eating any strawberries that are developing.....

 

 

Just now, friend comes by, after a trip to northeast Arkansas, bringing us a quart of berries grown there!

Delightful! More flavorful than the big California and Florida berries, these are a real treat!

Here they are, with a quilt for which I am choosing a binding fabric, the strawberry pink fabric, on the chair arm, is my likely choice.

This is a "chunky", "scrappy" quilt with 5 inch pink red aqua and green squares set among Cath Kidson and Laura Ashley fabric scraps. It is quilted with big stitches using perle cotton in a deep pink shade!

Now to make some shortcake to go with the vanilla ice cream and beautiful strawberries!

 

Sewing this week...

Enjoying using this retro machine. A Singer from about 1965. Made in Glasgow, Scotland. All metal, an early zigzag stitch model # 337.... And I LOVE the aqua color!

Piecing a "chunky" pastel quilt top with British florals, Cath Kidson and Laura Ashley fabrics included.

Finally, (below) ready for safety pin basting the three layers together. Should I hand quilt with perle cotton and big stitches....or machine quilt myself? I will decide......

love that pink and red look!

Making quilts is so much fun for me...AND I love seeing my grandchildren sleeping with quilts which I make!
Here Nina naps with her special blanky...the soft pink "minky" and satin, which I did not make, and a wedding ring quilt, which I did make!
Soon, I will have to visit these sweeties again....now they are sleeping on a pallet...Sophie and Nina are out of the cribs (since they were climbing out!)

I will post on my quilt blog about quilts I am sending the girls to use in their new sleeping area! [In this photo you can see the tangled crib quilts with ruffled pink edges which are now a little small.]

today's project...or I have too many hobbies!

Yesterday I found a coupon for a free 8 oz. jar of Valspar paint in one of their premixed "summer" colors....I chose the green called "Crocodile Smile".

Now mixing it with calcium carbonate to make chalk paint.

I have a small wooden chair waiting for the paint....no prep needed with chalk paint. Don't strip or sand, just a general wipe off (dusting) and it's ready for the paint!

Still needs a second coat of chalk paint....but looking great with my Cath Kidston patches quilt!

 

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