How Does My Garden Grow?
gardening · Ranch · Family Farm

How Does My Garden Grow?

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It has been a very busy past few days. We had some bad weather threats on Wednesday, and ended up with several people sheltering with us in our basement during two separate tornado warnings that were issued. Thankfully, all turned out well here.

My husband went on his days off Thursday thru Sunday. Thursday, our two youngest grandsons had their school field day activities and we went to watch those. Friday, we went to the ranch to plant my vegetable garden. I plant my garden in the same spot my grandparents grew theirs. My cousin, Dee, tills it up for me with his tractor. Since I can’t be there to water every day, we set up a drip irrigation system with a solar powered timer on the water storage tank attached to the windmill. This was the windmill and storage system my grandad built for the water supply to their home and also the garden when he and my grandma bought the property in 1939 or 1940. The storage tank is made from an old railroad tank.

We got it all set up and while Efren was working on reinforcing the fence, I planted just shy of 4 rows of sweet corn, approximately 30 feet long. I planted one row of stringless green beans, and in two weeks will plant another beside it. He dug holes, and I planted 6 tomato plants, and 4 jalapeño plants. I planted a row of okra, and some acorn squash and sugar cube cantaloupe seeds. I have some cilantro seed to plant, but I decided to wait just a little longer to plant those, as it always seems to be ready for harvest before I have tomatoes and jalapeños.

The drip irrigation system looked to be working well before we left to head home. I plan to get back over to check on it sometime this week. It was just a beautiful day to be working outside. With recent rains, everything is greening up so nicely.

In this photo, I’m standing where I plan to have a small barndo built so we can go and stay for overnight visits, extended weekends, etc.

The wild plum bushes are bearing fruit.

By the time we were finishing up, thunderstorms were beginning to build.

We were exhausted, but it was that good kind of tired. What a great day.

Saturday morning, we had a funeral to attend, and Saturday evening we went to a graduation party. Yesterday, we took care of the yard work here at the house. Today, it’s back to quilt work, house work and the other normal routines. Have a wonderful week, y’all!

longarm quilting · quilting · wild rose quilter

Saturday Stitching

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Whew! Just unloaded a huge client quilt from the longarm. 106” X 113” of snuggly flannel for a lucky little boy! Quilted with edge to edge digital design, Tire Tracks from Urban Elementz. This quilted up so nicely! I know my client will be pleased. She was so hard on herself about the quality of her work. This quilt is great! I’m telling her she needs to ease up on herself. Nothing is perfect, and it doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful, anyway! It was actually quite square and I had zero issues with it. Even being ginormous, lol. It was a joy to work on!

It pushed the limits of my leaders, for sure.

We missed the tornadoes Thursday, thankfully, but my heart breaks for those in Nebraska and Iowa that did not. Now, our neighbors in Oklahoma are under the threat today. Sure hope they are spared.

quilting · severe weather

Barn Star Sampler Update

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I finished two more of the 24” blocks for the Barn Star Sampler I’m making. This block was pretty fun to make. I didn’t have to use the seam ripper near as much as I did on the last block.

After I finished them, I took all the blocks I have so far and laid them out on the basement floor following the layout in the pattern. You can see I still have several little blocks left to make and two more 24” blocks to fill in the empty spaces. I mostly used fabrics from my stash, but I did have to purchase some extra background and some darker teal, as I just didn’t have much of that color in my stash. I think I’m going to be pleased enough with it once it’s all together.

One thing that frustrates me is that this one fabric isn’t photographing the way it looks to the naked eye. At least not the way it looks to mine. The fabric in the background of this smaller block looks like a nice dusty rose pink, very similar to the pink in the large block next to it, but in photos, it has an orangish or brownish tint, and just looks kind of yuck next to the other blocks. I’ve tried all different kind of lighting, and it doesn’t look good in any photos.

Finally, here it is again on top of the whole stack of blocks. It really makes me wish I had used a different fabric for the blocks I used it in, but I’m not going to remake them. Especially not since they look good enough in person. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have been working on client quilts, as well, and will catch up sharing some of those here soon. I’m also working on a very special t-shirt quilt project for a sweet local family, but that is super secret for the time being. Eventually, I will get to share about that here. My “sewjo” seems to be in full swing lately, and I’m here for it!

We are under the gun today for potentially very severe storms. Some rain sure would be nice, but praying we dodge the bullet on all the bad stuff. They are saying on the radio, as I type, that we could have large hail and tornadoes. They are saying that we should actually hope for no rain today, because if we “break through the cap” enough for moisture, we will also see bad storms in this one. We have a 40% chance of wind, hail, and possibly tornadoes. 😬 😩

family · making memories · quilting

The Highlight of my Week

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I have been very busy this past week. It was a good week, just busy. I started and finished a custom quilting job, but it’s going to a guild challenge, so can’t share just yet, tho I doubt any of the guild members are reading this. Probably better safe than sorry. I started yet another project. I can’t seem to stop starting fun new projects before I finish others. This was the absolute high light of my quilting week…one of my sweet grandsons wanted to do some of the sewing on this latest project I had going. I have been wanting to try the fold and sew method of making blocks with a layer cake and charm square pack. I chose the Strawberry Lemonade collection from Sherri McConnell and Chelsi Stratton. Here is my little helper at work.

And, some of the finished blocks.
They are fun to sew, but I’m wondering if the seams are going to be a bit too bulky once I start sewing to to each other. Also, some of the prints on bottom do shadow through the top charm square, so I will probably trim out the center on the back of those. It makes a nice size lap quilt.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

quilting · quilting notions

Sunday Funday Quilting and a Fun New Notion

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I didn’t get too very much accomplished, but I did get the blocks for my great niece’s quilt all laid out and ready to stitch together. It’s another Strip Mirage, (pattern from Sew Yeah Quilting) and I used a jelly roll I have had in my stash for quite a long time. A little bonus stash busting with this one.

I got the all the pieces for the next block in my Barn Star Sampler cut out. These will make two identical 24” blocks. And, I got to try out this nifty notion I ordered from Belle Bruner of Seams So Me. I follow her on Instagram and she posted these cool clips she designed to organize your quilt pieces. I love them!

They came in this cute little bag with a cute little sticker.

Here they are keeping my block pieces organized and identified.

They come in a set from A – N, and N was the only one not used for this block set.

I’m very happy with this purchase! They will join my list of favorite notions. Wishing you all a great week ahead! Thanks for stopping by!

longarm quilting · quilting · wild rose quilter

Convex Illusions Quilt

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I finished the custom quilting on my client’s Convex Illusions quilt and she is coming to pic it up today. It’s a gift for her one of her grandsons. This was a really cool one to work on. I had a lot of fun watching it change throughout the quilting process. 😃

Have a fabulous Friday! My plans today are some housework, some personal sewing time, and washing up a wide quilt back I purchased for a commission I’m working on. Thanks for stopping by!

longarm quilting · quilting

A Blue Ribbon!

Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

I mentioned a few days ago that I would have some exciting news to share soon regarding a client quilt. Every year, the Ogallala Quilters Society hosts the Ogallala Quilt Festival in Dimmitt, TX. It’s a prestigious show and I have some clients that enter something every year. This year one of the quilts I collaborated on with a client won a first place ribbon in its category. I was so excited when she texted me saying “we won first place” on her Vintage Dreams quilt she entered. The category was Mixed Technique, wall hanging. Anyway, its just so fun and exciting to see a ribbon hanging on any quilt you had a hand in finishing! This totally made my day when I got the news. I didn’t want to share pictures until after the show. Congratulations, Cynthia Shattles on your blue ribbon! What a privilege to get to do the quilting on a stunner like this!

quilting

The Crinkle

Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

Thought I would share pics of the quilt I made for my great-nephew before and after washing. I love the post wash quilty crinkle glow up. What about you? Do you love battings that give that crinkle, or do you prefer the less crinkle. To me, the crinkle is part of what makes a quilt a quilt.

Before washing
After washing 😍

Thanks for stopping by. I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Have a wonderful Wednesday!