July 4th Weekend

This weekend, our country celebrated 240 years of independence with parades, concerts, barbecues, stage plays, and of course, fireworks. The weather has been simply glorious lately. On Saturday afternoon, two forever friends and I joined several hundred folks on the lawn of the estate next to Peacefield, the home of Presidents John Adams  and John Quincy Adams, to attend the world premiere of  My Dearest Friend - The Letters of John and Abigail Adams . . . An Opera for Soprano, Baritone and Orchestra. The words were drawn from a selection of letters by John and Abigail Adams, and the beautiful music was composed by Patricia Leonard. The National Park Service at the Adams National Historical Park always has wonderful programs on the July 4th weekend, and this was no exception.  I don't think they anticipated just how large the audience would be as every seat was taken under the tents and many folks brought their own chairs and blankets. Fortunately, I had a blanket in my car, so I was able to stretch out comfortably to enjoy the program. Not many folks were lucky enough to be close enough to see the orchestra or the performers, but we were all able to listen. :-) 

After the performance, we headed to Marina Bay for a meal.  It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon, and it also happened to be my birthday. :-)

Yesterday, I pulled out my red, white, and blue to prepare for a get-together at my house today.

My mom made this afghan for me when I was a teenager; I selected the colors.  :-)

 

Here's a quilt that I made a number of years ago. I think I will leave it on my bed for the rest of the month.

 

This afternoon, four of my friends came to celebrate with Emma and me, and a good time was had by all! I hope you also had an enjoyable 4th.

Spot of Tea, Anyone?

Tah Dah! Here's the garden art teapot on which I have been working.  I found the tutorial for this garden art teapot at a wonderful blog, Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer.   There are very clear instructions provided along with helpful step by step photos of the assembly process.

I'd like to add a couple of things. This adorable project is simple to put together once you get the right items. Specifically, the 1/2 inch elbow . . . who knew that there are so many types of 1/2 inch elbows???  First, I bought a 90 degree,  next a 45 degree, but I had to go back to the store a third time to see if there was still another type of 45 degree elbow that would fit on the end of the pipe. There was. You will need the "45 degree street elbow." Here's a close up of the correct type of elbow and its packaging .

Also, I didn't purchases a tubing cutter as one of the employees cut it to the sizes that I needed. I bought a five foot copper pipe, so my pieces measure two feet and three feet.

I tried both big box stores but neither carry crystal prisms any longer. Instead I used a string of glass beads that I purchased at Michaels. They were already strung on fine, clear fishing line, so I simple added to the length before gluing it in to the spout as the directions indicated. I like the effect of the beads in the sunlight as they look like actual drops of liquid.

As you can see, it looks adorable in the hosta bed. It's so cute that I just might make another one!!!

Garden Glimpses

 

     It's hard to find truly blue flowers for the garden, but this delphinium sure fits the bill. Isn't the color glorious? It's growing in my big garden which continues to be a work in progress. 

I'm pleased with my small garden which measures ten by eleven feet.

 

There's a solar fountain in the middle which I bought as a retirement gift to myself in 2009 :-). I store it away each fall, and it burbles and bubbles in the sunlight all summer long.

This morning I spent a few hours working in my big garden, but quit when the heat and humidity set in. The big garden is sixteen by twenty-three feet. Whew! No wonder it's taking me so long to get it the way I want it. This garden has all perennials except for a few annuals in the front. I've been making many changes to this garden; moving things around, making spots for the new plants that I have purchased, and it is finally looking pretty good. I'll post photos soon.

These two new guinea impatiens were inside on my sunporch, but they were not tolerating the heat well, so I decided to plant them outside in this old chair. Why the duck? Well, there was a space in the front which will soon fill in, but in the meantime, I grabbed one of my little ducks to fill up the spot.

 

Finally, here's a little thrift shop teapot that I plan to use in a piece of garden art.  Check back in a few days to see how it turns out.

Last Two Crazy Quilt Blocks

Here are the final two crazy quilt blocks for my piece, Photos from My Grandmother's Album. The caption under the above photo in her album was "Houghs Neck 1906." My grandmother is the young woman on the middle rung. She is second from the left in the wading scene below.
 

Once I finish zigzaging the edges of the twelve blocks to prevent raveling, I'll put them on my design wall to come up with a pleasing arrangement.

Quite some time ago, I had purchased Allie Adler's Crazy Quilting Class on Craftsy, but then never got around to watching it until last week. As I had hoped, in the last section, she discusses several ways to put blocks together and finish the quilt or wall hanging. So far, I've made a book of crazy quilt blocks with cigarette silks featuring actresses from the turn of the last century and a smaller piece featuring three photos of my father's mother, but nothing quite like this so her tips and information were invaluable. If you are new to my blog, and would like to see these previous crazy quilt projects, please click here  and here.

I really love crazy quilting whether it be selecting the fabrics, doing the stitching, or adding the bits of embellishment, and I already have ideas for my next two projects!  :-)

Glimpses of My Gardens

I've been spending hours and hours gardening in the last two weeks. Here's are few peeks at what's currently in bloom.

 

Yesterday, I saw an online tutorial for a fun piece of garden art. All I need to find is a whimsical or colorful teapot. I did check a local thrift shop with no luck, but I left with two colorful bud vases which I thought might be cool in my garden. I cut two different lengths from an old bamboo pole and simply slid the vases on to the rods. Now, if I could just find at least one more vase. . .

Speaking of garden art, my favorite piece is a black metal miniature schnauzer wearing Emma's old red collar.  Emma graciously agreed to pose with it in exchange for a treat.

Hawk Update: The family has left the nest atop the church that I attend. Here's an image taken last week. Hopefully, these avian parishioners will return again next spring.

 

Tah! Dah! Happiness Is . . .

Happiness is . . . finally finishing a quilt started over a year and a half ago. Back in the summer of 2014,  The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims offered its members a limited time access to an instructional DVD  by Jacqueline de Jonge. The subject of this instructional DVD,  How to Make a BeColourful Quilt, was her "Happiness" pattern. Jacqueline de Jonge lives in the Netherlands, and all of her quilts are truly stunning.

I remember being so excited when I found just the right background fabric; I already had a pack of rainbow colored batiks. After working diligently to complete the top, I was then too afraid to quilt it for fear of ruining it. It has been laying on a spare bed waiting for me to get up the courage to give it a go. That happened the other day when I realized that the design and the colors were strong enough that I really only needed to stitch in the ditch, and so, that is exactly what I did. (For non-quilters, that means I stitched in each and every seam line.) I finished quilting it in just a day, and I would love to show you the back, but the thread blended so well with the fabric that I couldn't get a good photo of it.

The piece measures thirty-two inches square, and yes, it is square although this photo cuts off the edges.  It will be one of the pieces that I will have in the Herring Run Quilt Show in Norwell, MA this fall. Mark your calendars for Sept. 17 - 18th as you won't want to miss seeing all of the beautiful quilts by guild members which will be on display!!!

This and That

 

My neighbors had a yard sale a few weeks ago, and at the end of the day some unsold items including this ladder were placed at the curb.  I saw the possibilities, so I took it home. After a bit of Murphy's Oil Soap to recondition the wood, it's now displaying some vintage embroidered tea towels on my sunporch.

Then I remembered this washboard in the basement, so I used the Murphy Oil Soap on it as well. Sunnyland . . . wouldn't that be a lovely place to live where I imagine the people would always be cheerful and bright? Emma seems to approve of this display as well.

 

On Saturday, after the last meeting for the season of the Herring Run Quilt Guild, I went with a friend to the Irish Festival in Canton. There were four stages with non-stop entertainment, vendors,  and activities for children. I had gone specifically to hear John McDermott, and he didn't disappoint. It was a lovely day and a lovely way to spend an afternoon. If you enjoy Irish music and culture, be sure to attend next year.  

Finally, yesterday there was nothing on my calendar, so I intended to spend the day gardening. I lugged out a shovel, a pitchfork, pruners, etc., but then the heat and humidity got to me and the tools went back into the garage for another day. With free time, I decided to use my time constructively and quilt a piece that I had last worked on back in October 2014!!!  Why so long? Well, I was afraid that I might ruin it when I went to quilt it. I'm happy to say that it turned out well, and I'll share a photo in my next post.