Flowers for the Hot Season

Hello,  everyone.  It is indeed the hot season for the garden. 

A year or two ago, we got some tiny Desert Rose plants at the home show. They had tags promising different colors but were obviously young seedlings. This year two of them are blooming.

This one had made a single bloom a month or so ago; now there is a whole collection of the ivory yellow double blossoms. 

This one has single blossoms  that start out dark and get a little lighter as they open.

The desert rose plants are happy in morning sun here. Unfortunately there is an ant colony nearby that is trying to raise aphids on the leaves. Fortunately the green lacewings have laid eggs nearby and I hope the lacewing larvae will chomp the aphids for me. Lacewings are fierce predators on aphids and white flies. 

Bonus Blocks!

Hello, everyone. There were bonus blocks leftover after the patriotic centerpiece was completed. They found their own purpose for existence. 

Several of these, on being stitched out on the white twill, proved not to fit into the petal template for the centerpiece. Also some are thematic in that they have lines from "My Country 'Tis of Thee" embroidered on them. (Not all the lines of the first stanza got embroidered. And one had far too dense of stitching in its test and has joined the scraps pile.) 

I had gotten the white cotton twill for making  Christmas gifts...still on the To Do list...it worked out reasonably well for this. The backing of these little flags is cotton from stash. 

Photographing something at the top of a window was tricky. I finally resorted to doing it after dark, using the room light for illumination. During the day the sunshine shone in and overruled the pennants.

Finished a new project

Hello, everyone.  I finished the Fourth of July project.

This began with a picture on Embroiderydesigns.com, which I looked all over the site and couldn't find it. I did find a similar shaped centerpiece with flowers. So began a hunt for directions and for suitable designs to put on it. 

This was all before they made the patriotic one available through their blog. The blog listing includes the suggestions for designs. The designs suggested are nice, but some of them also somewhat densely stitched. This seems to be a tendency in the "cute patriotic designs" category overall. I used two layers of stabilizer under most of them.

Oddly enough, this year the classic "spirit of '76" image has not been popping up.

It was fun to make this.

A new project in the works (edited to add links)

Hello, everyone.  There's a new little project on the table--even though I'm hip-deep in another one. 

The other one has a lot of embroidered pictures to make. They're using a lot of bobbin thread, and I'm running short of empty bobbins to load. I need to finish off the dribs and drabs of a number of mostly empty bobbins to continue with the project. 

Therefore I decided to start with the new passport-and-credencial case. It will have a zipper closure so the documents can't fall out. 

The prototype 

The inside pockets of the prototype.

I'm planning to do this in some lovely black X-Pac fabric I found at Ripstop By The Roll. The interior will either be some cute cotton or some ripstop. I haven't decided yet.

There was rain a few days back

Hello, everyone.  There was indeed rain, over several days, and now it's normal June weather with sun. 

An unexpected plant came up after the rainy period. 

This is a turmeric that I started from a grocery-store tuber. Last year it looked ratty and sad, then it died down after fading for a while. I was about to give up on it, but on feeling in the dirt found a firm tuber with little "eyes" that might grow, so it stayed in its pot, got water up until the rainy spell, and got blown rain from the weather. Lo and behold! A fine leaf came up, then a second one appeared on the stem, and there is a tiny green nose poking up that should become another stem. It looks much better this year. I'm glad I didn't give up too soon.

The crinum bulb clump that was here when we came is also happy about the rainy spell.

Two stems of buds have come up.

I didn't photograph it, but the lemon grass clump has put on a flush of growth and is now over 3 feet tall. 

New Sewing Club Project

Hello, everyone.  We're in normal summer weather in this region: partly to mostly sunny, and if it doesn't rain, the day's high temperature will be in the 90's F. 

In this weather, what we call "air conditioning season" we enjoy indoor hobbies during the afternoons. Like sewing.

This large quilted bow was our meeting project at Sewing Club. I finished the ladt topstitching and assembly after getting home. This purchased pattern required tons of 4" squares to make the bow pieces. It also involved fusible fleece batting for the support of the "ribbons." 

In the execution,  I discovered that maybe the seams of the piecing should have been pressed open, instead of to the side for nested seams like I did. The seams did nest, but they were very thick. Also there was a lot of bulk in the bow tails; maybe leaving out the fusible there would have been wise. 

Topstitching the edges meant stopping to walk the needle over almost every seam. 

After completion, though, the bow came out pretty. I suppose I could see doing another in a different color assortment. It does clear out stash fabrics.

More flowers!

Hello, everyone.  Summer has arrived, with our typical temps in the 90's F. 

Salad of cucumber, tomato, and garden pepper

Very low carb, dressed with viaigrette and some onion-y green sprinkle and parsley. 

Another of the desert rose plants is now in bloom.