Flag Day and stitching

My grandmother, Rhoda Ann, hand-pieced this Broken Star quilt top. It is at least as old as I am and I've always loved it. It became my mother's and when she retired, she hand quilted it (with a bit of help from me) twenty some years ago. We quilted at my house because I had the floor space for the quilting frames. It just kind of stayed at my house upon completion and when I moved to my current home, it found its way onto the wall. The quilt became the focal point of the family room/kitchen and directed the color scheme of red, white, and blue and a patriotic feel.

My mother had inherited several of her mother's hand-pieced quilt tops. She managed to quilt them all before her death. My five siblings picked from those. They were kind. They knew that the quilt I wanted was already hanging on my wall.

I decided that this quilt was good to share on Flag Day with its patriotic colors. But I also have a greater reverence for all of that hand-piecing.

This morning I finally tackled Civil War quilt block #5, Kansas Troubles. It did indeed cause lots of trouble. There was much unpicking when I discovered that some of those little triangles were pointing the wrong way after completing two of the four base blocks.

Bottom line, if I hadn't found the Civil War Quilts blog on the Saturday morning when Barbara Brackman posted block # 23, Illinois Roads; I don't think I would have tackled this project. I easily completed #23. That gave me courage to go back and try the others already posted, skipping those that looked harder. If I had started at the beginning on January 1st, I probably would have given up!

Now I feel tenacious! And the new fabric worked out so well!

Civil War quilt blocks, batch 2

I am really enjoying the Civil War Quilt blog and making the blocks. My 12 fat quarters were feeling a bit limited, so I found myself back online at Autumn Rose Quilting looking for more. They are closing up shop at the end of June and everything is on sale. I found some fat quarter bundles which included fabrics I had already purchased but which also had more neutrals, blues, and reds. I'm so excited to work on the next batch of blocks with more options!

Here are the next six that I made while waiting for my mail the last few days.

Block 9, Birds in the Air

Block 10, Lincoln's Platform

Block 11, London Square

Block 12, Louisiana

Block 14, Fox and Geese

Block 21, Underground Railroad

As you can see, I am still jumping around trying to gain some confidence for those blocks that look harder. I'm also hoping for some new inspiration with more fabric!

What's Red?

We've had consistent 100 or plus degree highs the last few days. It will soon be red hot and blistering (no bare feet!) My garden gnome is dressed in red, so this morning I took pictures of what is red in the garden.

The red Texas salvia may have small blooms but the hummingbirds love them!

The red climbing roses are climbing ever higher for another burst of color.

I pulled the red and white stripped petunias from the window box and replaced them with red and white vinca. Vinca loves our heat and comes in many colors which have replaced most of our winter time annuals.

We also planted red and white vinca in the pots holding the post baskets as well as in the baskets.

One day, a few years back, I opened the front door to find a delivery of crape myrtle trees. I wondered at my husband's sanity but have learned that he can grow many things not normally found in our low desert climate. As you can see, the blooms are lovely.

This red geranium plant has been prolific. We bought the vining Mediterranean vinca to replace it, but how can one justify pulling up something so lovely? I wonder how long it will last.

That's my favorite gardener and lawn mower in the background.

I call this the "fairy duster" bush. The main gardener calls it a "bottle brush" tree.

A gerbera daisy continues to send up new blooms.

This year was the first that we have planted begonias. They have done very well so far. We are waiting to see if they can survive the coming heat.

Hubby's favorite kind of mushrooms.

And the Anaheim chiles have turned to red!

The coleus may appear to be maroon, but there is no mistaking that red door!

Civil War quilt blocks

In an earlier post I shared a Civil War Quilt blog which was posting some history and a quilt block from the Civil War period each week of 2011, the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the War.

I soon found myself online looking for fabric. I found a sale of 12 fat quarters for $20 which arrived on Tuesday. I have been in my sewing room a bit since then making blocks. I love that I can take my ipad back to my sewing table and have each week's block and history as well as others helpful tutorials right in front of me.

This is Block #23, "Illinois Roads," which was posted Saturday. It looked simple and was a great place to start to build my confidence. Here is the tutorial that I found at Lillian's Cupboard.

This is my version of Block # 1, "Catch Me if You Can," which was posted on January 1, 2011.

Block #2 entitled "North Star."

I skipped to Block #6, "Richmond," because #3 involved applique and #4 and #5 would require more confidence. "Richmond" was still a bit of a challenge.

Block #7, "Log Cabin" was fun and I used 9 of my fat quarters trying to have enough lights and darks.

Block #8, "Cotton Boll," was also a bit of a challenge but I used my square ruler with angles to change my rectangles to elongated hexagons.

This is my first try at "a block of the month" or in this case "week" and I'm finding it enjoyable. It will be interesting to see how far my fat quarters go (I already needed to add a white to make "Richmond" pop.) It will also be interesting to see if I have what it takes to make all 52!

Thor and family have arrived

The two missing grandsons arrived for a visit a year to the day since they arrived last summer. A year between visits is too long. They have grown and changed. Thor's mother took him to the wall behind the laundry room door where we have marked growing children's heights for twenty years and found that Thor has grown four inches this year.

They have been enjoying the pool, but freeze when they get out. There is a difference between humid St. Kitts and dry Arizona. When the water on one's body evaporates in seconds, it cools one off quickly.

So they laid out in the sun.

Thank goodness these brothers have had each other while being islanders.

They brought back a souvenir from their time on St. Kitts. Charlotte, the dog, was rescued and nursed back to health by the Ross Veterinary School students on St. Kitts before be adopted by my daughter and her family and brought back to the States. They say it was easy since St. Kitts is rabies free.

Tonight the cousins came to reconnect, eat pizza, and swim.

Julianna's photo smile, just like her dad's!

There was some squirting going on.

And on . . .

And on! Fun times!

Now we just need to get Oscar back in the country! By next weekend, we hope to have all the grand kids in the house!

Mellow Yellow

This past week, there seems to have been a predominance of yellow in the garden.


Including a "foot" of yellow fleshed heirloom tomatoes. So delish I eat them straight!

Glen found this on Memorial Day at Berridges Nursery. It is called "mascagnia macroptera" or butterfly vine. The seed pods are supposed to be an orangish colored butterfly shape.

There are also ever faithful day lilies.

Hanging in there pansies.

Black-eyed Susan vine which is coming back from our hard freeze.

A type of chrysanthemum that I'm really surprised to see blooming right now.

Little, dainty blooms on the back patio. I forgot their name :(

Asiatic lilies in the front.

Tiny little puffs of the lightest yellow under the Asiatic lilies.

And the night blooming chocolate flower. A chocoholic's dream in the morning.