The month of August is just about over and things have been beyond wild!
The first part of the month I was in the Midwest visiting with family and then I drove to Southern Indiana to teach longarm classes. The classes were a LOT of fun and I met some wonderful quilters. One student drove all the way from Eastern Tennessee to attend my classes.
(I am in the process of working on the details for another teaching trip to the East Coast in mid October. I can’t say too much yet, the plans are not firm yet. As soon as I can, I will post the information.)
My Mother had her knee replaced in May. Of course we had to compare scars – her knee vs my hips! And, as I promised her last year, I gave her a quilt for her surgery.
I had the top pieced for a while – it just needed quilting. I quilted free hand feathers and swirls in the body of the quilt. In the border I quilted half circle wreaths and the “math” came out perfectly! I didn’t plan the placement of the wreaths that way, but I am glad it worked so well.
Here is a closer view of the top border. I used Soft & Bright batting and Signature threads.
And best of all, my Mom LOVED it!!!
FWIW – I used the Longarm University 8 inch Feather Guide template set to quilt the border designs. For more details about this template set Click Here
When I was in the Midwest, the weather here in Seattle was amazing! While I was gone my garden went crazy! (A huge Thank You to my neighbor Ellen who watered my garden while I was gone.)
My sunflowers are amazing! The zucchini are fabulous, the green beans -delicious.
Here are some photos. Click on any photo for a larger view
This year I planted two different kinds of sunflowers. These are my “smaller” sunflowers. (Note: The top of the arbor they are against stands least 6 feet off the ground. ) These sunflowers are darker, smaller and have many more flowers on them.
Then there is the “big” sunflower which is at least 9 feet off the ground! I am a little disappointed this year. Most of the seeds I planted of the big sunflower didn’t grow. So I have only this one big sunflower and one more that hasn’t bloomed yet. I’ll post photos of that one when it blooms.
The plants that have taken off like lightning are my “Jack-be-Little” pumpkins. When I left they were scraggly little plants. When I returned, they had nearly taken over part of the yard!
The photo below was taken yesterday and they have taken over most of the area behind the sunflowers and over my cinder block garden area.
I forgot how much these plants spread! And there are lots of little pumpkins on them!
Here is a close up of one of the pumpkins. (That is the garden hose next to it.) I would say that the pumpkin is about 6 inches in diameter and about 3 inches high. It won’t get much bigger.
These little pumpkins make great decorations and I will be giving them to the Grandkids in October.
They say it is going to rain over the weekend – I truly hope so! It is SO dry and in Eastern Washington the wild fires are awful! They REALLY do need the rain!
I hope your summer was wonderful and that you enjoy the last few days of summer.
I’ll post photos of pumpkins soon!
Your mom’s quilt is beautiful!! Yes, please, send the rains over the Cascades…we haven’t had any rain over where I live since June – longest dry spell in history. Fires all around me, so I am only dealing with lots of smoke – I’ll take smoke over fire any day!!!
LikeLike
Cindy, the quilt you made for your mother is stunning and the quilting so sweet and fitting. 🙂 Thank goodness for Ellen because your garden is amazing!! Thanks always and happy end of August to you. Sending rain to farmquilter!
~ Christina
LikeLike
[…] Before I had my hip replacement surgeries (almost 4 years ago!!) I told my family that if anyone needed a joint replacement, I would make them a quilt when they had their surgery. Last year I made my Mother a quilt when she had her knee replaced. (You can read about that by Clicking Here). […]
LikeLike
Love ..your mom’s quilt and socks!
LikeLike