Disappearing Hourglass Quilt Block in Batik. 5,6.23

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.

Then open what are now half square triangles, press, rearrange to make hourglass blocks.

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.

Drunkards Path Block, Pillow Sham. 5.6.23

 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.

Red Star Quilt. Ready to be Quilted. 5.6.23

 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.

Planter Box Made From Cedar Fencing. 6.May.23.

 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.

Tomatoes are Planted. 5.6.23

I had to take three weeks off due to eye surgery and recovery, retinal detachment. The ophthalmologist has given me the OK to resume activity now. 

I had started tomato seeds about April 15.  They grow quickly.

I planted the fresh-eating slicing, beefsteak type, and salad type tomatoes in last year's onion bed.  Fortunately I already had it cleaned up.

These have been in the ground for a few days.  Soil temp above 60, night temp mostly above 50 and day temp in 70s.  

Varieties from my saved seeds -

Reisentraube, Dwarf Brandyfred, Extreme Dwarf, Dwarf Champion Improved, New Big Dwarf, Livingston Dwarf Stone, Dwarf Golden Champion, Ukraine Purple (Not dwarf), Dwarf Johnson Cherry, Dwarf Tanunda Red.  The dwarf types and Heirlooms are all open pollinated, so I can (and do) save seeds. They are also all really good, and hard to find seeds for them, and the dwarf habit is really helpful for me.

Open pollinated, new to me - Dwarf Chocolate Champion, Dwarf Muliagul Moon, Dwarf Eagle Smiley, Puck.  

There is also an Early Girl Bush hybrid as a standby variety.  It was my best producer two years ago, but last year didn't do much.  Also, it's multi-disease resistant, which is important.

The bed for sauce tomatoes was a bigger challenge.  This was last year's garlic bed.  The corner stone blocks had tipped over and the sides splayed open, not holding the soil. To repair them, I had to dig the soil from the sides and pile on top.

Then, level the soil under the corner blocks, replace them, put in longer rebar center pole but leave some sticking out the top.  Replace the plastic lining to better preserve the wood - chicken feed bags, which are a reinforced plastic.

Now comes the important part.  I cut lengths of recovered, treated 2x4s about a foot longer than the side planks, and drilled 1/2 inch holes to fit over the rebar.  After sliding those in place, the bed looked like this.

Then I leveled the piled up soil.  There is also a big bag of coffee grounds added to the soil before leveling.  Ready to plant tomato plants.

I think those 2x4s will really hold this bed together for a very long time.  The corner stones just cant tilt or move now.  After other chores are done, I'll clean them more thoroughly and stain them along with the sides of the beds.

Then I planted the sauce tomato plants.  Five Supremo and seven Roma VF.  The Roma are my saved seeds, maybe four seasons (generations) of saving the seeds.  Supremo is a modern, multi-disease resistant hybrid.  I expect it to be more productive than the Roma, but I always like to grow two types as well as keep saved varieties going for independence.

There were some extras.  I always plant extra seeds then I don't know what to do with the plants.

I wanted to get the cardboard in place early to prevent weeds and prevent fungal disease.  I'll need to work around that when I install the irrigation.   I'm glad they are planted and mulched and the raised bed refurbished and repaired.  There are some hot days ahead.