Deep diving the stash...............

I pulled a stack off my shelves of Kaffe fabric and went through it piece by piece.  I found a few more pieces for my pink and green Tussie Mussie quilt.

I could go through some more stacks but I think I'm good now.

I showed my Kaffe Fassett stash last June when I brought it all up to the main level.  The empty crate at the right is filled now.  The shelf that I searched through is at the bottom on the right behind a small crate.  On the left on the bottom is the Spot fabric, dots in many colors.  I pulled one from that stack, the pale green with pink dots.

I also went through the Tula Pink stack and found these 4 that should work.  The turtles and rabbits are pretty large so they will be sliced into pieces.

This is the Columbine in the back garden.  I bought it at a garden club sale about 15 years ago.

The center is a very pale yellow.  The wind was blowing so I had to hold onto it to keep it in focus.

I thought my white Bleeding Heart got trampled last year but it came back.  It has one stem with flowers and more to bloom later.

There were a few white star flowers in the grass.  There are also lots of Violets and Creeping Charlie in the grass.  It's all green and in a shady area where the grass is sparse.  I would rather see something green than bare spots.

On the way back to the house I noticed the red Weigela has a few blooms.  The medium pink one is about done and the pale pink one has a few flowers on it.

I'll try to remember to get a photo of the whole bush with the red blooms.  It is pretty showy.

Still pairing and sewing triangles..................

I finished sewing 84 pairs of triangles last night.  I have only sewn the pink/blue combination so far.  There are 6 squares of each combination of fabrics.

I opened up one square so you can tell what this pile is; they will finish at 6".  If I follow the pattern I will need 80 squares and the rest would be the pieced border, shown on this post.  It will depend on whether I can find enough of 2 blue Kaffe collective prints for consistent border fabrics.  I would be just as happy making more squares in a variety of fabrics but I'll give it a chance as I look for fabrics today.

I have 14 pinks and 14 greens already cut into triangles.  I have another pile of 11 greens that I intend to cut so there is a dilemma.  Do I repeat some of the pinks or look for some more?  I could easily find 11 more that aren't Kaffe collective, such as more Tula Pink fabrics.  I know there are some more pink fabrics in that pile.

Look closely and you will see my squirrel deterrent in this pot.  Yesterday morning I opened the front door to check my rain gauge and there was a squirrel with a walnut in his mouth, sitting next to the pot.  He was just as surprised as I was and he ran away.  When I checked the pot I could see where he had been digging, right between the plastic pieces.  I found some more of them in the garage so I'll put a few more around the perimeter.

It looks like all three Columbine plants are the burgundy color.  The leaves on the front shorter plant look a little strange so I'm wondering it it was frost bit.

Behind those Columbines it looks like a whole bunch of new plants coming up.  There is a good chance all of the seed from the dried flower heads fell back there last fall.

My pale pink Columbine in the backyard is blooming too so I'll have to get a photo of it next.

 

Finding more fabrics for triangles.............

Yesterday was errand day so I didn't get any cutting done but I had a lot of fun searching for more fabrics for the 2 quilt plans from yesterday's post.

I was looking through the Philip Jacobs stash and found 2 more that I think will work.  The pink should work in both quilts and the other 2 in the pink/blue quilt.

I found quite a few more greens with the triangles from yesterday here with them.

I sewed some of the triangle pairs last night but haven't pressed them so there is nothing to show there. 

Cutting and planning.............

I cut a lot of 6" finished half square triangles yesterday.  I have had the pile of pink and blue fabrics sitting on a cutting table for more than 6 months.  The greens were leftovers from another quilt and were already pressed.

I cut 10 layers at a time with my Accuquilt Studio die cutter so the piles of 10 were layered with many different fabrics.  It took 1 1/2 hours to sort them while I watched TV last night.  All are Kaffe collective except for one Tula Pink.

Here is the variety of greens.  I have some more to cut today.

Here are two of the inspiration quilts for my projects.  I'm not using all of the same fabrics as were used in the books.

Here are the two books those quilts are in.

This is the first pink/blue quilt of Kaffe's that I saw back in the 1990s.  It is in his Glorious Patchwork book and is made of lots of florals....not his fabrics because he had only designed the yarn dyed woven stripes when this book was written.

Look at what I found when I was watering my plants on Saturday.  It was on the side facing the window and I hadn't even seen the bud growing.

 

First quilt top for May 2024

The last 2 seams were sewn last night and I pressed the top.  I'm really happy with the border triangle fabric.  It needed to be something that just contrasted and filled in but didn't stand out.  I was pretty sure it had to be a gold tone too.  Luckily my Marcia Derse stash had the right fabric.  This top ended up 47" x 64".  The size wasn't determined ahead of time; I just worked on it until I was tired of it and that was the end.  I have enough of the dull gold stripe to use it for the binding too.

This is the view from my computer chair as I'm typing my blog post.  The top looks brighter in real life.

I worked outside for a little while yesterday.  It got really warm and humid in the afternoon and then a brief shower.  I have started clearing some of the area where I will place the tomato plants. Today is supposed to be a little cooler and that will feel good.

 

 

3 sections.............

It was an odd size quarter square triangle that I needed to finish the rows on this Marcia Derse fabric top.  Once I got the measurement right I cut strips and cut the triangles from them with a ruler for quarter square triangles.  I needed all of the stripes going the same way.  I sewed while I watched TV last night and got this far.  2 more seams and then I can press it and photograph it.  I'm glad I put this top into a time out so I could come up with the perfect solution for the outer triangles.

My Weigela bush with the pink flowers is starting to bloom.

This is the first Coral Bell to bloom.  There is another one with buds on it that might bloom over the weekend because we are expecting very warm weather.

Lots of Coral Bells and low growing Sedum are doing well in the front flower bed.

I did some trimming of dead branches on my Viburnum bushes in the backyard.  I was going to dig out all of the black raspberries and waited too long.  Now I might as well wait and have a crop of berries and then dig them out.  They are in a flower bed and kind of a nuisance.

Back from time out.....................

I was working on this Marcia Derse quilt back in January and couldn't decide on what fabric to cut into triangles to finish the edge.  The rows have been pinned on top of each other over at the side of my design wall for over 3 months.  I have a beige piece tucked into the edge here and it is a contender.

This dull gold fabric looks better.  I had decided I want a stripe so my choices are limited.  I need to figure out the size to cut the quarter square triangles and cut a few so I can see more of this one.

There are buds on the 2 of the Columbines in my front garden.  They look like the deep burgundy.

This shorter Columbine is in front of them and it looks like one of the new plants I got last year.  I think there are signs of another one to the side behind this one.  I had 2 that died and I got new ones to replace those.  I lost track of what I planted in this spot.

A little farther to the left is where I planted the Flare Hydrangea that I got for $8 at the end of the season last year.  It is looking really healthy.

I took this photo late in the day so it's a little dark.  This is one of the hanging pots in the backyard.  

I couldn't find 2 arrangements alike so one is pink and the other red.  I hang them for the hummingbirds and butterflies and I'm sure they won't care what color they are.

My Zinfin Doll Hydrangea is starting its fourth year in my front garden.  I am so happy with this variety.

The little neighbor girls brought me this May basket on May 1st.  They rang the door bell but didn't run away.  They wanted to see me reach inside for my gift, a handful of cherry tomatoes.  These are the same little girls that I plant the tomato plants for every year since the oldest was 2 years old.  She is 6 1/2 now and her little sister will be 3 at the beginning of June.