I haven't been posting for a while. It's been a challenging summer, and I can't do everything I once did.
I hope that continuing to post is a sign of resilience and hope for the future.
Gardening is as important as it ever was. Good for health, mental health, emotional health, nutrition, outlook, community, and the environment.
I wanted to make a quilt for Ning's sister, that I could make faster than the usual cotton men's shirt upcycle quilts. There are various versions online of disappearing hourglass. I decided to use batik as the deeply colored parts and off-white with grey markings for the background. I ordered precut 10-inch sampler bundles, but will also add some other fabrics.
First sew together a light and a dark square, facing together. Sew a 1/4 inch seam all around.
One thing I discovered, is the precuts are not all perfectly square. So it takes some finagling.
Then, cut corner to corner, both ways. (I didn't photograph the first one, so the color is different now.
Sew together. That's the hourglass block.
Then cut into perfect thirds, horizontal and vertical. That disappears the hourglass.
Now it's a nine-patch. Rearrange the sides, corners, and middle.
Sewn together like a nine-patch, the block at the top is the result. There are some challenges. All of the pieces are on the bias. The corners didn't come out perfectly on the first two blocks. I think it still be ok with practice. Also, the white backgrounds in the sampler aren't all what I want, so I need to replace some.
I've been wanting to try a drunkards path block, and wanting pillow shams to match a much earlier quilt made and like a lot. It turned out pretty easy. Here is the quilted pillow sham on the older quilt.
Now I want to make a few more.
The secret to getting those round seams to work, is first use a washable 1/4 inch basting tape to connect them. Then sew the curved seam. Nobody tells you that. It works very well.
Here is the red star quilt so far.
It's all pinned together with the backing and batting. I've been procrastinating actually quilting it, but I think I'm about ready to.
Also, I think I'll also make a multicolor, richly colored batik version of this quilt. I like the pattern and how it came together.
Here is the second planter box, so far.
About April 15
Not much has changed since then. Yesterday I used sealer to seal the inside, which will also be protected by a plastic liner. Then I'll arrange six 25 gallon fiber pots on a platform inside the box and fill with a soil mix. The main stumbling block is, I don't have the soil mix yet.
Most of the peppers will be in this planter. Also, it will have drip irrigation.
After a week or two of dry weather, I'll stain it to preserve the wood and to look better.
Here is the one I built last year, using the same method. Both are 100% repurposed fencing.
