Saturday, May 26, 2012

A Calla Lily!

Look what I discovered in my flowerbed this week!
I'm delighted! 


Honestly, I had no idea I was growing Calla Lilies ... but I think this is awesome!
Just the one. 
There are only a few leaves on this plant, but it looks like I'll get at least one more bloom.


I discovered it hiding among the already-bloomed purple irises and the not-yet-bloomed red cannas.

So, the mystery is: 
Did I dig it up out of my woods along with the irises I knew I was getting?
or
Did my neighbor give it to me with the clumps of irises and cannas she gave me last year?
Probably the latter.  


Last year, my lovely neighbor asked me if I wanted any more flowers. Of course, I said yes. (The more, the better, right?!) So, the next time she was dividing her plants, she gave me some. They were all just leaves and roots at the time, but she cheerfully explained that this was a lily, and this was a different kind of lily, and this was a lily also ... Sounded great to me, so I planted them. 

So glad I did!



Friday, May 25, 2012

Almost-Invisible Progress

Recently, I've picked up my Vintage-Inspired Diamonds project a few times ... and I've made a little headway - another star, and a ton of little diamonds in the border section.


Here's how it's looking:

If you reeeeeealy closely compare the photo above with last month's photo below, you'll see the differences. 


I'm still loving these fabrics ...


... and the colors ...


... and the edges ...


... and all the diamonds. Yeah. That's a lot of diamonds, but who's counting?!
(Well. After saying that, I had to estimate: There are well over 400 diamonds in this thing. Already. Even I am surprised.)


At its most-finished points, the quilt top is measuring 33" x 30" ... The plan is still to add a lot of white/cream border, and then a row of colored diamonds, and then more white/cream to make it a nice throw size. We'll see.

A little at a time.

It is fun to see the progress that's happened ...

December 13, 2011
January 30, 2012
February 6, 2012
February 15, 2012
February 27, 2012
April 11, 2012 -
mentioned in the April 19, 2012 post 

April 19, 2012

Present day ... :-)

There's a new link party for hand-stitched things, at a blog I follow, so I'll be linking this post there. Take a look at this week's Handmade Parade to see more great projects that are being handmade!

There and Back


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The 100th!

This post marks my 100th blog post!





As a way to celebrate, I'm starting a "My Quilts" page, with pictures of some of the quilt projects I've worked on. (See the page tabs under the blog heading.) It's a colorful collection of some of my quilts ... I'll be adding to the little photo gallery as I have time (and as I come across the pictures!)

It's fun to see how my quilting styles have changed, and how they've stayed the same, over the past several years.


I realize that reaching 100 posts is just a tiny milestone, comparatively speaking. But at the same time, I feel like patting myself on the back for having made it this far!





Saturday, May 19, 2012

Blue and Brown Circles ...

Those blue and brown "circles" I mentioned in an earlier post ... They're coming along!


I love the way the light blue background ties it all together. 







So far, so good.


Having fun with my English Paper Piecing, as usual!


There's a new link party for hand-stitched things, at a blog I follow, so I'm linking this post there. Take a look at this week's Handmade Parade to see more great projects that are being handmade!

There and Back

Friday, May 18, 2012

Finished Carolina Panthers Quilt

It's done! The Black-Jeans quilt with my rendition of a Carolina Panthers logo (I mentioned my inspiration in my post a couple months ago) is all finished!


I realize that the above picture looks a lot like the picture from my post a month ago, when the quilt was not done, but there are a lot of differences ...

Some quilting ... 


Diagonally through most of the squares ... except in those spots where pockets and labels made that impractical. 




Since the backing is awesome, sturdy velvety-plush-fleece, and since there's no batting, the quilt didn't need much quilting, just enough to hold it together.


I love the backing! Super-soft and fuzzy.


The edging turned out pretty cool. I decided to go for simple, and just turn the already-finished edge of the fleece to the front and zig-zag.














The corners aren't perfect, but I'm OK with that.

 


As usual, I love all the fun jeans-y details in the quilt ...


Oh, and since it's enormous (80" x 80", I think, but I forgot to measure), this quilt weighs a ton. I think we're going to especially enjoy this when colder weather comes ... which will be just in time for football season ... 


Really happy with the way this one turned out.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Another T-Shirt Yarn Rug

... in addition to the one I mentioned a few days ago in this post ...


Made from several t-shirts, recycled into "yarn" ...


Again, I enjoyed the fast-crocheting of a bulky-yarn project ...


It's hard to tell it from the pictures, but it's navy blue, with whites, grays, and browns.


Lots of fun to make. 


This one's 24 inches long, excluding the fringe.


It's likely that this one will be showing up on eBay or Etsy, when I take the time to list it ...



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Blue and Brown English Paper Piecing ...

Fabric in blues and browns ...


And a sky-blue background fabric ...


Tacked around some cardstock papers ...


Turning into my latest English Paper Piecing project ...


The circle kind again ...


This time, all the background pieces (hexagons, triangles) will be the same color ...


Loving it already!

Linking to this week's Little Quilt Monday at Pieceful Life.


Saturday, May 12, 2012

Butterflies on Flowers

 One of my favorite things about flower gardens: BUTTERFLIES!




While I'm not really a fan of the caterpillars that chew holes in my plant leaves, I LOVE the butterflies that show up in my flowerbeds.


This is the first big butterfly I've gotten a picture of this year ...


And this butterfly actually stuck around and posed for several pictures!




~ * ~
When I consider thy heavens,
the work of thy fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which thou hast ordained;


What is man,
that thou art mindful of him?
and the son of man,
that thou visitest him?
Psalm 8:3-4
~ * ~


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