It's been raining, so some of the lilacs are droopy. Some are very nice. Most of these are about 20 years old. We bought tiny lilacs at the Canby plant fair in the early 2000s, and move them to the country house about 8 years ago. A couple of them are starts that I took from existing lilac bushes. Those may have a more extensive history, but I don't know it. I also planted a few more starts this Spring.
I have been working on the disappearing nine patch quilt that I started in late March. Since that post, I starched and ironed the fabric for stiffening and stability. I learned that makes the fabric easier to work with, and with more precision. The I cut the chambray and the batik fat quarters into squares, 5 inches by 5 inches. I also cut batik fabric that is slate on black, the same size. I am thinking this quilt will need about 49 large squares, but I will re-count when I'm closer to sewing them together. There is enough fabric for three 9-patch squares of each color or pattern.
Today I completed sewing together all of the strips of three's. Those get made into 9-patches by combining three strips. This can all be whatever pattern or colors are wanted, or completely random. But I have a pattern in mind (see previous post, linked). Currently, I have 1/3 of the nine-patches made, and the rest are strips of three.
When the rest of the nine patches are done, they get cut into quarters, a slice down the middle vertically and a slice across the middle horizontally. Then I rearrange them to see what I like.
Meanwhile, here is the start of the men's shirt quilt. I want a quilt for my office where Rufus can lie on the bed and the quilt can withstand more washings than usual. The men's shirts are noticeably heavier, higher quality fabric. I raided my closet for some, and found some at thrift stores. Total cost about $15, whereas the same amount bought new at a fabric store would be several times that. I like the look and feel of these. Combining the shirts for the quilt blocks and one shirt for the border, this quilt uses 8 shirts with a lot left over for other projects.
To process the shirts, I wash and dry hot to pre-shrink them, although they have probably been through that before. They get heavy starch, the I press briefly. I cut through the seams. Then I cut the shapes that I want, in this case 5 inch by 10 inch rectangles. Later, if I want something finer, I could cut them down to 5 inch squares as in the 9-patch quilt, or something different. depending on the size and cut of the shirt, that's barely enough blocks for some shirts, and lots of extras for others.
This quilt will be sort of like a brick street or brick wall, in shades of blue, white, grey, slate. It's a simpler pattern than I've been making, with more muted colors. I've seen others with similar design on the internet, although have not found a pattern for them so am making my own.
I've been looking for fabric for the backing. If I can't find anything I like, I may do something similar but different pattern, for a reversible quilt.
These will need a few months to complete. I enjoy sewing them very much, but the time at the sewing machine can make my back too painful. So I have to pace myself.
Going around the yard, I think most of the apple varieties are blooming now. It's interesting - sometimes such a big deal is made about having the same bloom times for pollination. Right now, only a few are not in full bloom. Some flowers might not get pollinated. Then again, thinning the set fruit is a pretty big chore, so that's probably a good thing.
Finished blooming - only Dolgo Crabapple.
More or less full bloom:
Gravenstein, Airlie Red Flesh, Rubinette, Northpole columnar, TastyRed Columnar, Golden Treat Columnar, Jonathan, Jonared, Priscilla, Prima, Queen Cox, King David, Jonagold, WineCrisp, Zestar, Sweet-16, Redlove Era, Akane, Sutton's Beauty, and probably some I've missed.
These are the earliest apple blossoms so far. I have not checked down the hill. Maybe there are some there too.
Urban Apple Tasty Red
Redlove Calypso. Almost blooming.
Redlove Era. These surprised me.
Here is the start of my new irrigation system. There is still a lot of work to be done, and more parts to buy.
I buried the stretch of 1/2 inch tubing that goes from the tap to the garden. It's easily depressable, and I don't want to trip over it or mow it, so it's buried in 3/4 inch vinyl pipe that was lying around for years.
Here is the splitter. We still have access to the regular garden hose. The irrigation system side also has an anti-siphen valve.
This drone view shows most of the area I want to irrigate. I think I need four separate lines, each with its own shut-off valve. One for sweet corn area, and strawberries. Corn requires a higher volume output. One for miniature fruit trees, which I think I'll set up with soakers. The tomatoes will also get soakers, I think, which is good to prevent soil borne diseases from contaminating the leaves. The raised beds will get 1/4 inch drippers, which I think will be easier to judge the output. It will all depend on how I feel about each arm of the system. Maybe tomorrow or the next day, the section for raised beds will be completed and ready for testing. There are various complications in each area, which I will work out as I go.
