Working on my Planting

With the onset of some early hot weather, it has been really different trying to get my plants and get them in the pots. I do not do heat well - and I know I have said that before - and find it almost impossible to work in the hot sun. I would rather be all bundled up in a heavy sweatshirt. Since all my gardening is done mainly on my patio, it is in the sun all morning and lots of the afternoon, so, unless it is cool or cloudy or really early in the morning, I just don't do my planting until evening. (Early in the morning is another thing I am not good at! I don't sleep late, but I don't get serious until after ten o'clock, at least. Any appointments I make for anything are always in the afternoon. I am much more likeable then!) However, on Thursday I did go during the morning to three nurseries and picked up some plantings. Then yesterday it was on to K-Mart where I found more, plus two nice hanging basket mandevillas that were half price. I think those will go in the pots on each side of the patio door.
The mandevilla is above - it's a red one.

Thursday evening I planted the long pot I have on my front stoop. Left out the impatients this year since the deer loved those so much. They didn't touch the New Guinea impatients so I hope they have not developed a taste for those over the winter.


I bought a pretty hanging basket of NG impatients and planted them in the pot between the bushes under the window. Added some sweet allysum and a pretty star jasmine (I think) so that should be pretty. Used the Miracle Gro soil with the fertilizer in it and that should get them up and filling in shortly.
Last evening, I did some by the patio. This one hangs on the privacy fence. There were some great scented geraniums that I bought. Reminds me of the ones that my dad planted. I also found some bushy little delphiniums and have one here and a couple in the pot coming up. Sweet allysum is in this, also, and it should be pretty when things get growing. Right now it is pretty "green".
Another with a scented geranium, petunias, allysum and another trailing plant. Still have five or six pots to go and will work on them this evening. In addition to the heat, my knee has been acting up, the old back aches from bending over and I huff and puff sometimes. I guess it's true what they say - old age is not for sissies! But, I have been and still am very fortunate and at least I am able to get out and buy my pretty plants and get them planted even though not as quickly as I could some years ago. There's no hurry anyway! (Click to enlarge)

Too Hot for May

After I got my haircut late this morning, I decided to stop and start buying some flowers for my patio containers and also hanging baskets. There is this feeling that I am way late and really I'm not - most people don't plant here in Michigan until after Memorial Day. Even planting at that time, you still might have to cover everything up at least once. However, I doubt if anything is going to have to be covered around here at least in the immediate future! It is way too hot for May. And, as I probably have said before, I am not a fan of hot weather at all. I got so hot looking at the plants under the plastic roof that it was no fun! So I will have to make some more trips to get more plants and potting soil.

I found these gorgeous double cascade petunias that should be good for pots or hanging baskets. I also bought a flat of sweet allysum that I always love with it's dainty white flowers and two pots of pretty yellow daisy like flowers that I thought would be so pretty with the pink and/or purple. The rest of the purchase today was the beautiful big hanging basket of Hawaiian bridal veil shown first in the post that has such delicate little white flowers. I discovered years ago in Illinois that you can pinch off some of the stems, poke a hole in the wet soil of a pot or basket of flowers, put the stems in and firm the soil around them and they won't even wilt. They will take root and grow nicely over the side for a lovely, lacy piece of greenery with little white blooms.

Another Change of Mind

The last couple of days have been kind of busy. I didn't do anything on the cogs and gears and, to tell the truth, I just am not satisfied with the way it has turned out. Quite a bit of work in it but I'm just not crazy about it and don't want to put anymore time in the one with the polka dot background. That sort of thing tends to keep you humble, don't you think? So I laid some of the pieces out on the fabric I bought in the first place and think I like that so much better. I would just do them random and not cut them up. Will have to cut out some more pieces but that isn't hard and, after laying them out on the size background I decide upon, it is just a matter of fusing, layering and quilting. Not everything always turns out as we expect.

It has turned way too warm here for still being May. It's forecast to be better by the end of the week so I will do some plant purchasing Thursday and Friday and then do some planting this weekend. I am getting kind of anxious to pretty things up now that it is warm.

Are any of you Dancing with the Stars followers? Tonight we find out who wins. Last year I was so unhappy that Donny won, but this year any one of the three couples can win and it will please me. It has been a fun season. Also, I watched Idol and they have the last two tonight so will have to tape it. Most of the shows that I watch have had their finales except The Good Wife is still on - and that is a great show.

If it's hot where you are, keep cool!! (Click to enlarge)

Cogs and Gears

Aren't these beautiful? What great color choices for the class taught by Carolyn on Friday.

I would give credit where credit is due, but I am not sure about which is which.

One great group of cogs and gears after another.

There was a lot of tracing and a lot of cutting and, for those of us who were paperdoll addicts, it was right up our alleys. An amazing choice of fabrics and backgrounds and an amazing display of blocks. There should be some very pretty pieces come from this class.

I love my polka dot background but almost went back to the black with the smaller dots. However, I have decided to go with it and think it looks pretty good albeit a bit busy. These pictures are just to help me decide which layout. Half of the blocks shown. The first one is a snaky finish and could be laid out several ways. The extra pieces are just things I laid out where the seams meet. That is a possibility.

This layout is one that I have used on New York Beauty quilts and it seems to work pretty well, also. For the binding, I plan to use a multicolored pieced strip. Since we are supposed to have the onset of a heatwave today (88!) I plan to get this all together and maybe even do some quilting. I am certainly not ready for temps almost 90 degrees! This old hag is a cool weather gal and I especially don't like it going from the cooler than usual weather to hotter than hades in such a short time and for the first time. I read an article that said this will be like going from the end of March right to July. And it is supposed to hang around. I haven't bought any flowers yet since just last week or week before that we were having frost every night. Oh, well, I am sure there will be some flowers left for me when I get there, and I have my ac to keep me cool and in good humor inside. In Kansas and Illinois, my planting was always done about the first of May if not a little before (there were times things had to be covered, though) but this isn't Kansas and most people plant around Memorial Day which used to be May 30th, right? So, stay cool out there if you are in the heatwave! (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

This is Betty and her little girl, Liz Ann. Betty was the young sister of Aunt Della, who married my mother's brother, Harry aka Ham. Betty and Della's mother died when Betty was still in elementary school and my aunt and uncle took her and raised her. This picture probably was taken in the early fifties and Betty wears a lovely summer frock, pearls and earrings, and cute hat.

Liz Ann is all dressed up for something - maybe a dance recital. She is wearing ruffled pantaloons and a darling dress with a scalloped finish around the hem. Such a pretty white collar and ruffled trim on her sleeves. It may have been a ballet recital since her shoes look so soft. A pretty ribbon choker completes her outfit. It is so evident that she feels just as pretty as she looks! (Click to enlarge)

Grey's Anatomy is

driving me up the wall tonight! And it is two hours long! I can't turn it off and I can't sit and watch it. I have to find out how it ends but I keep getting up and coming in here where I can still hear it, but then going back to the living room to see what is going on. I am just not made for all that suspense, gore, etc. Wow, what a season finale. Who will be left?

Some Things Old, Some Things New

From the old cedar chest - this is a piece of redwork I bought at a flea market in Germany when I was there about 8 or 9 years ago. I am not sure what it is, but it is fairly long and just has the embroidery on one end along with a fringe trimming. I don't know what it says!, but it is very prettyFour cute potholders, especially the dress. Can't remember where I got them, but they are so cute. Not place for displaying them in my little kitchen, but maybe one day one of the girls will love these also.

This, and the picture below, are from Ray's mother's things. She had pinned a note to it saying "This belonged to my mother". I don't think that her mother embroidered it, but really can't say that with absolute certainty. It is all done in a chain stitch.

The rest of the piece - it is very pretty. As with the first redwork, I don't know what this one was for. It is too large for a pillow.

I do know about this little piece - it is something I did fifty years or more ago and is stamped cross stitch. It was framed and hung in my kitchens for a long time, but finally I took it out of the frame and used the frame for something else. Fun to look through the old things.

On to the new - I was looking at someone's blog the other day and she was talking about a foot that shirred or gathered ruffles. I have seen some darling quilts made with the ruffles. One of our guild members just made one in blues. My Bernina did not come with that attachment. I entered a phrase in the search box that I thought would send me to a site that had these little gadgets. Bingo! I found one. The attachment wasn't too expensive - with shipping and all it was a little over $20. That's not too much for a new toy. It was here in less than three days. So, I have done some ruffling!

Once you get your strips prepped, it's amazing how fast and perfect the foot does the ruffling. It takes some time to do the edges of the strips, but it's not that bad. I just did a close zigzag along each edge. I searched for how to do a ruffled quilt and did find instructions for one done on a Babylok serger so that gave me guidelines on sizes, etc. Don't you just love the internet?

(Click to enlarge)