Around the Garden - despite the rains!

We have had an inordinate amount of rain this season, and not so much with the hot temps.  Some flowers thrive, some do not.   Here are a few around the yard photos.

 

 Butterfly bush, right outside the front door!   My favorite color!

 

We planted new grasses along the driveway edge.    The lawn got beat up pretty bad from all the snow plowing over the winter!   I had always wanted to do a line of grasses - this was the perfect impetus.    The task next winter will be to keep the snow plow from burying them.

One of my favorite daylilies - they are about to be done blooming for this year.

A garden in process - near the back of the property.    Trying to get some height and fullness.

Black-eyed Susans are EVERYWHERE here!    And they are prolific this year!

A view down the southern border garden.   You can see the black eyed susans with coneflowesr in the foreground, some salvia and that tall green leaf plant is an oak leaf hydrangea.    Those leaves will turn to gorgeous shades of pink, purple, red etc when fall gets here.

Hydrangea at the corner of the house.

  Closeup of hydrangea flower.

And what would a summer garden be without coneflowers - purple ones - they are prolific here also.

Trip to Letchworth Park

Saturday we took a trip to Letchworth Park.   This is a photo of the footbridge at the Lower Falls.   We were quite a distance away...... Thank you zoom lens!!!

Daylilies in profusion

My daylilies are performing quite well right now,   It's a constant struggle to keep the deer from eating the blossoms,   They don't bother the leaves, but do like the flowers.   I find it very interesting that a flower so beautiful blooms for just a day.   It's a good thing there are lots of buds this year!

Here are the ones blooming right now,   I have a couple more that will come a bit later.  It's hard to pick a favorite....the first one has such exquisite coloring, the second one is so delicate with its stripe of pink in the middle of a pale yellow, the third one is a nice deep color....but oh that last one....you have to know the purple one is my "WOW",

Artcgirlz art project

Last night at our meeting we played with sharpies on ceramic plates.  The deal is we each started a drawing. After 5 min we passed to the next person for them to add to we started.  In all 7 people added their art to each plate.  It was fun to see how they changed when the circle was complete and to figure our who added what element!  

It was a very meditative exercise.... Some doing zentangles, some doing quilting patterns and some just drawing!

The first one is mine.... Lots of purple, no surprise there!  

This is Lori's

This is Mary Lee's

This is Martha's.... She is our zentangle queen

This is Mary Ellen's... She started very pictorial

This is akatji's.. She started patriotic

This belongs to Beth....

Tree Stump interpreted in art!

This quilt is as yet unnamed.   While wintering in Florida this past February and March, one of the places we visited was Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon.   It is a gorgeous park, gorgeous blue water, but like so many of the parks, it has fallen on hard times and upkeep is difficult.   Still, I found it very beautiful and found much inspiration for my art quilts.

This is a picture of a tree stump.   Nothing special, except it really attracted me with the circling vines of leaves and the colorful fungus.   I took about 20 pictures, hoping to get just the gith view and coloring, (most people are used to me taking photos of weird things).

This is my interpretation in fabric.   The total quilt is about 23 x 35. 

I made my bark out of about 5 different fabrics, using the Karen Eckmeier method of cutting curved strips, folding under and pressing a 1/4 inch and then doing top stitching really close to the folded edge.   This allowed for some texture on the "bark".    Rattail forms the vines and the appliquéd leaves are attached only by stitching the veins.  The "fungus" is made using batik and doing some scrunching if the fabric.  There is a small amount of beadwork only for a little visual interest,   I decided to add the green fabric to give the depth of a forest,

I am humbled......and honored!

A few posts down I wrote about a quilt I had made and I called it "Circular Motion".

Yesterday I received a request from the creator of this pattern to feature it on her blog.   She had been alerted to my choice of color ways by someone who had seen this on my blog.   Her choice was red....mine...naturally.....was purple!  No big surprise there.

I don't know how to use "links" on Blogger, so will just post the URL and hope you will follow it to check out her blog also.

        http://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.ca/2014/06/the-power-of-purple.html

Her name is Karen Neary and her blog and patterns are under "Sew Karen-ly Created".   I hope you will peruse her blog and some of her ideas,   I follow her regularly always find them interesting.  

Thanks Karen, you made my day!!!

A new baby on the way......and a baby shower

My daughter Heather .....my very pregnant daughter.....has been home from Kansa for the past 3 weeks.  While here, her sister, Karen, hosted a baby shower!  🍼.  It was outdoors and it was windy and cool, but we had a great time.   Here are some photos recapturing the day:

This was Karen's favorite must do decoration.   The baby's name (yes it is a girl, named Elaina Karrington) was alternated with "onesies"!   It was also the one decoration that withstood the wind that day,

Of course I had to make her a quilt.....

But this was my favorite quilt I gave her.   This was her baby quilt, made by my mother.   The embroidery withstood time and was in perfect shape.  The backing, not so much.   My mother wasn't a great quilter so I had to remove the backing and take out the flannel sheet she used for batting and add uilt inn thru all the layers.   I named it "Grandmothers and Granddaughters"and wrote the history on the label, ending with "this quilt has been touched and loved by 4 generations"

This is our family.....all gathered for the special day!

Finally, my two girls....."sisters"!    💜

Henri Matisse inspired portrait challenge

Recently a small group of us from my RAFA ( Rochester Area Fiber Artists) group visited the Matisse drawings exhibit at the Rochester Memorial  Art Gallery.   We were so taken with the simple lines used to denote a face we decided to challenge ourselves to do something in art quilt form.  We were to use 2 colors and it was to be 12 x 12...and due at our next meeting.

I used 2 hand dyed fabrics in blue and purple color ways.  I cut curved line strips in various sizes and shapes and used them to form the face and it's features.  The rest were spread around the face....possibly denoting hair.   My technique was machine appliqué,   I have always loved the half face/full face portraits and this fits right in.    Pretty pleased with how it came outl

Gardens, gardens and more gardens,

I have completed one quilty item, but it is a challenge and can't be shown yet.....but soon.   I have been working everyday in the gardens!   I needed it...I love my gardens and I was spring starved since getting home in March for Florida,   It makes me happy to work outside and make our property "landscape lovely".    Here are a few of my favorite new things the past few days,

I'm trying a living wall.   Not completely confident yet that it will hold up, but we shall see in time.

This is my most favoritest new planter.   I love this lady and the plant is perfect for "hair..

My husband picked out this heart shaped planter.   The lantana fills it right now....it may need to be thinned out later.

These plants were all over in Florida.   I think they are a "Ti" or something like that.   I brought one home.

2 more things from the zen garden.   Buddha playing his lute and a planter that looks like it tipped over!

Another UFO quilt off to the quilter!

As part of our guild UFO challenge, another one is finished and off to the quilter.   This is one of Anita Grossman Solomon's patterns...I believe called the Old Italian or Old Italian Tile...I forget exactly.   I started piecing it her method from her book and them a guild member showed me an easier and more efficient way to cut and piece.....hence, not all the blocks matched up exactly whe piecing rows,   I squared exactly, was very proud of my exact squaring.....but still some mismatches,   But.,,,as they say,,,,for a a galloping horse it probably doesn't show,   This will most likely be a recliner quilt...my favorite colors, of course!

Circular Motion.....a quilt of circles and angles.

I saw the pattern for this quilt (Rythmic by Sew Karen-ly Created) and was so taken by its contrast of colors and use of circles and angles. I knew I wanted to make it, but mostly I wanted to make it to do the feather quilting.  It was a great learning experience.....far from perfect, but it's done!   Piecing circles was hard, joining all of them with multitude of seams was hard, but the hardest was the binding.   I am most proud of the quilting...totally free motion and unmarked!

This is center of the quilt, feather wreath

I learned to free motion quilt feathers upside down when needed so as not to bunch the quilt in the machine.   I think you would have a hard time determining which is which....right side up or upside down!

And, the center diamond shapes!

Sunroom....day 2

And this is the progress tonight.....the south wall of windows is out and studs are going in.   I can't believe they world today, I don't think the temp ever got above freezing!   I wouldn't be out on the sunporch today anyway,

Sunroom!

The sunroom is my favorite room in the house.  I love and crac the light...and it feels like we are right outside!    Its all cleaned out and ready to be renovated,   Day 1 brought in new insulation and new fan/light.  A slight repair is needed in ine corner,   And.....now it stops because of course we have to have a return to winter.   So no windows can come out and be replaced until the precipitation stops.   But....at least it is underway!

Amherst Quilt Show.

Yesterday I went to the Amherst guild quilt show near Buffalo.   It was a wonderful sunny day (which was long overdue) with a couple of good friends.   The day was easy and relaxing and a stop for ice cream topped it off just perfectly.

There were more than a few quilts that caught my eye....but here are a few!

Ina Randall is one of my favorites from that guild.....this is her take on the ever familiar beach scene so many of us do.   She uses some unusual items.

The modern quilt movement is big right now and they had several of them,   The big part of this movement is the use if negative space.   Some used it quite well, others.....not so much.

This "orchard" was my favorite:

Another favorite because of color was this one.

And a couple of others...just because I liked them.

I liked the use if circles for the tree in this one,

This is a wooden puzzle made by one of a member's husband,   It is an auction item and sure to go for big bucks!

Finally.....this was my favorite "do not touch the quilts" sign!