Bonus Quilt & WIP work in progress

I've heard that bonus quilts are quilts that you make from leftovers. I've been organizing and straightening up around here. I found leftover pieces from 2 baby quilts while organizing. I took those pieces and some extra yardage I had and made this small baby quilt. This quilt will be for the 1st grandson of a dear friend of mine. He's supposed to be born in December. I love bow-tie blocks, they are so much fun to make. I started blocks for this project earlier this year. I put them up on the design wall a few days ago and I can't leave them along. I can't wait to see what the center of the top is going to look like when all the blocks are together. If you like the design, it's at http://www.quiltville.com/. It's a scrappy trip around the world quilt.

PLAYING with a new block

I saw a quilt online from a quilt show that inspired me. I saw the possiblity of a great quilt with hand dyes. The orginal block was a bit different. My camera doesn't read red and orange well and this is the only camera shot that came out well this morning. I have no idea how the orignal block was made but, I saw an off center log cabin in it. The following shot is one of the 6 that I came up with. I wish I had time to dye a color wheel for it today but, that's not going to happen. Diane in Tomball knew the name of the origanl quilt, "Colorful Rainbow" from a strip club pattern in 2007. Thanks Diane!

a surprise in the rose/hibiscus bed

Last night I saw something interesting growing the rose/hibiscus bed. We have several small watermelons there. The vines have climbed to the top of the hibiscus plants. We will be moving the vines down this weekend. We've never grown watermelons before.

Wednesday in the garden

ok, this going to be the last shot of this garden. We've taken the netting down. The heat and lack of rain have taken it's toll on the garden. The okra is doing well especially after the rain we had the last few days. I've learned that rain water is better for the plants than tap water. We have started collecting rain water in the garbage cans we no longer use for garbage since we recycle.

work in progress

This is a work in progress that is close to being finished. I started it this year and I hope to have it quilted this week. I love this patience block, it's quick and fun to make. I've made several quilts with this block. This is a section of the top. I've made these with borders and without borders. This is a shot of the whole top. It's very colorful and full of fun fabrics!

Wednesday in the garden

This week we're trying to make up our mind how long we'll keep the plants. We lost another tomato plant and several are looking bad. The pumpkin plant on the far left is doing well. The okra is doing well and I cut the green beans at the base yesterday. The green beans haven't produced since the 100 degree temperatures. I've got a problem with bugs on the tomatoes and okra. We're thinking ahead to the fall garden. I've already planted tomato seeds for the fall garden.

a bloom!

This is the 1st plant to bloom of the 13 that I am growing from hybrid seeds. I got the seeds from Sonny. The parentage is (Rosalind x Remembrance) x Smokey Mountain. The photo was taken in the shade, my hand is in the shot for scale.