bits & pieces

I'm having a cactus moment!

This plant has been living with us for over 2 years.

It showed no growth at all.

I thought it might be dead, I couldn't really tell if it was growing or had become petrified.  Not petrified as in scared, petrified as in dead and turning to rock!  Still, I watered it, wiped off the cobwebs, kept it in a sunny spot, and figured that even if it was going to die, it was a unique specimen.  Then, I started noticing something funny going on up on top.

Now it is sprouting out little clubby branches!

So we'll have to watch and see what takes shape!

Last night my quilt group, Ham Lake Piecemakers, had our summer picnic/party at the home of one of our members, Nancy.  After our potluck feast, we had a little socializing and show-and-tell.

Maggie showed this quilt, just back from the longarm quilter, Dawn.

It's a pleasure to see one of my patterns all sewn up by someone other than me!

This pattern is Connections and I think it was from 2015 for Quilt MN.

Yesterday also brought some work in our garden, and picking more green beans.

A few had been allowed to grow past their prime!  I much prefer them at a smaller, more tender age!

sewing and other stuff

I've got some random stuff to share with you, since I haven't been posting regularly it is a hodge podge.  I often do things, or take pictures, with the thought that I want to blog about it.  In fact, I kind of compose part of the words I want to write in my mind.  Then the moment passes, I get wrapped up in stuff, and it doesn't happen.  Today I'm clearing out some of the backlog!

Last summer I had a nice big outdoor planter dish full of thriving succulents.  By the time fall came, I brought them indoors and started a few smaller plants from the cuttings.  Part of the main plants still did well indoors, others not so much.  With the weaker light and short days of winter, they weren't real happy, but most survived.  In the picture below, that big healthy jade plant in the middle is from the last summer growth.  I uprooted all the rest and replaced them with all the little ones around the outside of the bowl.  As soon as we get more warm days, they will go outside again.  And I have more pots started with more cuttings.

When we cleaned out the garage, one of the more nostalgic finds was our original old tent, purchased in 1976, I think.  Still intact, and we even set it up in the yard to see what it looked like.  It brought back lots of nice memories.  Now it has gone to Goodwill and will hopefully bring more memories to someone else.

Yesterday was an exceedingly good weather day, plus Earth Day!  So I did a little digging and started getting rid of some of the old winter scum of dead leaves and even new weeds popping up.  I found a little bit of asparagus showing up!  Yum!

On the sewing side of my life, I am working on finishing up 2 things that will be offered as classes this summer.  One is called Mini Rings, and I don't have a picture here but if you look at the Bear Blog tomorrow you will see a bit of it.  And I'm nearly done with it, just finishing up the binding.  

The other is the big star quilt shown below.  I saw this on display last fall when I attended Quilt Market in Houston, and I was very impressed by the use of color and design.  It's called Star Storm and is by Victoria Findlay Wolfe.  The fabric is also her design, called Meadow Storm.  We have complete kits and the patterns for this at Bear Patch.  Now to get it quilted!

Since you had a bit of grandson overload on the last posting, I'll toss in some info about things that I made for little Leo's nursery!  I found some fabric that pulled together some of the colors that Brita wanted to use, and here's what I made:

A "boppy" pillow cover--it gets a lot of use with just about every feeding time!  With the first grandson, I bought the pillowform and it had directions on the wrapper to make the cover.

A little pillowcase (travel pillow size) that matches,
but for decorative purpose only at this stage of Leo's life. 

Matching crib sheets to spruce up his crib.
He's still sleeping in a little cradle in mom and dad's room,
 but will eventually move onto his own mattress.
Use this link to learn how to make them.

And his name banner, not finished in this picture but you get the idea.
You also get the idea of how many threads are stuck to my design wall!  

Last Sunday, Easter, Bob and I had the afternoon to ourselves and decided to visit someplace we had never been before but not far from home.  The Mississippi River is maybe 10-12 miles west of here, and there is a big dam and park that we have never visited.  It's called the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park on our side (the east bank) of the river, and we walked across the dam to explore the trails on the west side, too.  The dam was much bigger than we expected, so I'm glad we went there.  We came upon an area that has had a lot of recent beaver activity, in this picture you can see all the trees that they have been gnawing on.  Lots of carefully made wood chips!  We saw lots of people walking, some folks fishing in the river, and some osprey watching us!

artwork by grandsons that I'm sure Picasso would admire!

Not a lot of sewing has been accomplished lately.  Other things have been keeping my attention focused elsewhere.  I've been missing my sewing time, and when I've felt like sewing, there hasn't been much time.  I have found myself up in my sewing room, removing papers from half square triangle blocks that I have stacked up for a quilt that has been inching along slowly.  So at least I can do the papers and press the blocks when I need a fix of fabric!

I do have a fun little art project that I did with my 2 grandsons.  They are visiting for 10 days from their home in Charlotte, NC.  They are 2 and 4 years old.  My friend, Debbie, had done this with her grandsons, and although they were older, I borrowed her squirt guns and water color paints and gave it a try.  It's an outdoor project, but it was rainy the day we did it, so the garage had to do.  I draped a big sheet of plywood with a plastic drop cloth and leaned it up against the wall.  Make sure the drop cloth runs all the way down to the floor with a little room to make a "gutter" at the bottom.  Tape up some sheets of watercolor paper, pour the paints into squirt guns, and stand back!  They quickly got the hang of pulling the trigger, and I just helped with a steady hand to keep the paint going in the right direction!  They liked it, and any paint that got on our hands came off during bath time.

After drying, I cut the papers into pieces to fit on some blank cards.  I glued them in place and pressed them between heavy books to keep them from curling.  I have to say, I think they turned out great!  Without even trying or thinking of a plan, the painting was wonderful.

As soon as the rain stopped, we were outside.  So much energy packaged in these 2 little guys, especially when cooped up inside!  Digging in the garden was fun, I had planted some beets but had a crop failure with them, so we pulled up the tops that survived and dug around.  I did get 4 little tiny beets, and some greens, to add to our "Super Juice".  I don't know what I should have done differently with those beets to get them to grow better, most just had a fat root under the ground and not even nearly beet-like.

Jack did have one day feeling under the weather with a mild fever and attack of irritability that was only helped by being cuddled.  This followed a bee sting, so we aren't sure if it was related to that, or just one of his frequent little viral episodes that pop up.

Sad face when a little guy doesn't feel good.

Bob and I took care of the boys while their mom and dad went to a wedding in Lutsen, MN.  They had a great time up there, riding the gondola up to the chalet for the wedding and reception.  We had a great time back at home, in spite of the rainy weather.  Grandpa dook the boys out to pick kale during a shower.  They were wearing their little black hats that I got at an Amish store last spring.

The kale went into out Super Juice, and the boys got to help drop things into the chute.  We have been preparing the juice for a supplement to our normal diet, although sometimes I have it instead of a regular meal.  This batch included: 2 varieties of kale, beets and beet greens, romaine lettuce, apples, oranges, pineapple, carrots, celery and cucumbers.  I started this juicing after watching a documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  There is a short version of the video on that website, or a longer one on Amazon and it's free with Prime.

Just a few more days with these little boys before they have to leave, so we have many things to do!  I hope everyone reading this can feel the joy of time spent with little kids.  It's a good thing!  And then I'll get back to my sewing and quilting!

again with the home improvement!

 Reupholstery is now on my list of unknown talents!  I tackled the 6 dining room chairs, and we are nearing the finish line!  I say "we" because I couldn't have done this without Bob's help.  The upholstery business takes some muscle!  These chairs and table were purchased in the early 90's and have been our every-day eating area ever since then.  The fabric was wearing very thin and started fraying on the edges.

This is the "before" picture.

I had done a couple very easy things before, like recovering a foot stool.  But this needed to be done as neatly as possible and look close to professional.  I did some reading and scanning through some videos to get started.   I picked out a fabric that I really liked, even though I have some reservations about the light color.  But I decided to give it a go and see how it turned out.

Bob removed 1 million staples holding on the fabric, piping and dust cover.  And they were tough to pull.  I know because I started out doing it, but it was really hard on my neck and shoulder.  The staples needed to be pried out with a pointed tool, then removed with a second tool.  Those staplers were very thorough!

I had planned to replace the foam cushion, but struggled to get it to shape around the edges smoothly.  At that point, I threw up my hands and abandoned the project for awhile to think about what to try next.  By this time, however, 4 of the 6 chairs were missing their seats!  So there was no going back!  Still, I procrastinated for awhile, toying with the idea of just giving in and paying someone to do it for me.  But at that point, Bob urged me on with promises of help. 

So, I ended up just using the old foam padding, since it already was shaped just right to fit.  While the seats were removed, I washed and scrubbed the nooks and crannies of the wood frames.  There was a bit of accumulated spilled milk, squished vegetables and who knows what else in those hidden spots!  

After we were satisfied with getting the fabric all stapled down, I went to work on making the piping (welting) to finish off the edges.  The picture below shows what that will look like when it's stapled in place.  I cut the fabric strips on the crossgrain of the fabric, so it could be aligned with the stripes in the front of the chair.  So I have a few (quite a few) more yards of piping to prepare and then see if I can staple it neatly in place.

We did make a couple of rookie mistakes, but this has been a "learn as you go" project.  

One lesson learned:

Although I was very conscious of measuring and centering that wide navy blue stripe in the center of each seat, I did make one big oops.  This stripe is an uneven stripe.  The color pattern is not mirror-imaged.  If you look at the "before" picture, that stripe is an even, mirror imaged stripe.  Well, one of the seat covers got flipped around and stapled on in the reverse of the other 5.  Big oops!  But our mutually agreed upon decision was to not remove and replace that seat cover.  We were tired!  That's going to be our Amish chair, bearing a mistake to remember us to be humble.  And either be more careful the next time or hire someone else to do it!

Meanwhile, we have had a good period for our growing plants outside!  Two quite different kinds of purple iris have been blooming.

And the garden seeds that we planted a week ago are sprouting up.  Along with the weeds!  We had 2 days of temps over 90, so that really gets things going.  The garden is in full sun, so that's very favorable for growing but also prime sunburning.  So I look for less sunny times for garden time!

still learning my camera

A whole bunch of pictures taken today, as I learn more and more about using my DSLR camera.  Back in 1980 or 81, I took a course to learn to use my actual non-digital SLR camera.  It had film and everything!  I think it was in community ed.  I think I learned a lot faster back then!  Each week, our teacher gave us some homework and had us get our pictures printed on a contact sheet so we didn't have to pay to have them all developed and printed in full size.  Then we could do comparisons during our lessons.  Then, flash forward to digital, and they make it easy to practice because I can take LOTS of pictures and view them in larger sizes on my screen.  And I never have to buy film!

So, sorry if you came looking for quilts today!  There is one token fiber picture at the end!

A busy little iridescent insect scampered across the patio blocks.
If he would just sit still I would have a better shot!

Perennial geraniums and mosses on a short retaining wall.
We built this little wall by our backdoor in 1988, I think,
and it has retained quite well, with a little crumbling from age.
I guess I could say the same for myself!

This winter hardy shrub rose was planted at the same time as that wall was built.
It still blooms no matter how much I ignore it!

Hostas grow well in our yard because we have many
fully grown shade trees.  They thrive on benign neglect!

This little plant is a relative of the bleeding heart.  Its leaves are fern-like.
And that nasty thistle is doomed!  I love to pull weeds!
The sound and feel as those roots release gives me goosebumps!

One of the large sedum plants.  Beautiful big purplish flowers in autumn.

Your standard bleeding heart bush, near the end of flowering.
These bushes get so overgrown that we have to cut them back.

A little bit of asparagus still showing up in the garden,
but not for much longer.  My asparagus lunch was relished!

I have plenty of thyme, but no parsley, sage nor rosemary.

Rhubarb is on the chopping block!
 I need to harvest some more to freeze for later.

Not from my garden, but they are still beauties!  These are yarns I bought on vacation,
with some cuts of limited edition huckleberry batiks.
They are crazy for huckleberries in Whitefish.  Rightfully so, too.

fresh new things

A finish!  On Sunday, I was on a mission to finish up this new knitting bag for a store sample.  It's a pattern by Among Brenda's Quilts, and is named Wooly, Wooly.  It has zippered vinyl pockets and slip vinyl pockets, big pockets all the way to the top of the bag, some with divisions for tall skinny stuff (knitting needles and crochet hooks).  Inside, there are snap tabs for separating yarn strands.  There is a drawstring top closure and an adjustable carrying strap.  It has a lot going on!

I found the pattern to be pretty clear.  If I were to do it again, I would have changed some fabric placement on the outside to remove some of those chopped up apples, it's a pretty large scale print. I love the fabric, it's from a relatively new design/fabric maker, Cotton + Steel. Also, it's a heavier weight fabric than usual quilting cottons, which lead to some pretty thick seam build-up that was tough to manage.  I did some grading of the seams (trimming out layers) and even got handy with the hammer to flatten the thickest seams.  Although I love my Bernina for almost all my sewing, in this case, my Juki was a life saver.  It accommodates thicker things beneath the foot, and has a more powerful force behind the needle.  Even with that, I could feel and hear when it was really working hard to penetrate everything.  So it's perfect for something like this, but is limited by the fact that it only does straight stitching.  There are trade-offs in everything!  I'm lucky I have what I need for various sewing situations.

Now, just a pretty picture!  This English Paper Piecing project was draped over the chair to get it out of the way for dusting.  And it just looked pretty!

One of the fun things we did while Ian and Jack were visiting was indoor gardening.  The day after they arrived, great-grandma Sally and I helped them dig in some dirt and plant some seeds.  Everything but the tomato seeds sprouted, and the peas were the champs because they grew the most!  In fact, the peas and the few beans that sprouted are going to the compost heap now because they are too long and spindly, and it's not nearly warm enough to put them in the outside garden.

 The grass is ready for Easter eggs!  One thing that isn't seen in these pictures is the celery.  I think it was the first thing to show some growth.  I simply took an old wilted remainder of a celery bunch, chopped off the top leaving about 1" of root and base of the stalk.  I put it in a little pot and just barely covered the surface deep enough with dirt.  Now it's growing into a whole new celery plant!

wood tick wonderland

We have had a very healthy stand of hydrangea plants along our front walk for quite a few years.  They all started from one little bush.  And then they spread.  And in the late summer, they would be so large that they would block about half of the sidewalk, and we would trim them down.  And those bleeding hearts on the right would also lean over the sidewalk, leaving little space to walk.  This spring, I decided it was time to thin down the hydrangeas significantly.  We removed about half of them on the side near the sidewalk.  I think this should work out much better.

I have occasionally tried to dig up and start new hydrangeas in pots to give to friends, but they always died.  When Bob was digging up these bushes, he decided to stick some in the ground in another flower bed that needs some rejuvenation.  These seem to be actually taking root--

And here's a funny tree in our backyard--

This looks like the definition of gnarly!

And now I better check myself for wood ticks after being out in the bushes!

a little detour

While wandering the aisles of Lowe's last night, pondering what perfect paint color to purchase, which light fixtures would work and the proper wood putty that I need, I took a turn around the plants and gardening area.  Not the outside, since it's nowhere near time for that area.  But the indoor plants, in case they had a succulent or 2 for my house.  Succulents are a pretty safe bet because they tolerate neglect.  And if they do die, they take awhile to die, so they still look OK on the shelf!

So, I found this amazing looking specimen called the coral cactus.  I have never seen it before.  Really exotic looking, tinted with a little purplish red on the edge, curling around like a jellyfish floating in the water.  At least that's what I see!  Of course, it had to come home with me!

thanks to mother nature

We are testing out a change to our regular summer gardening--basically, we have no garden!  Instead, we have a share in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  The farm is not far from here, just up in the Isanti area, and is called Outstanding In Our Field.

Yesterday was our first pick-up.  We have only a single person share, to see how it goes.

We were given basil, sage, thyme and parsley plants.

Then Bok Choy, turnips, spinach and a big beet rounded out the selection.  I have spent the morning washing, rinsing, washing, rinsing to get all of the fine sand out of the leaves so we can devour them!  Actually, since my stove is not in place yet, I will take some to Brita's house tomorrow night to cook for dinner with them.  And I am starting to educate myself about juicing, something my son, Dan, is a big fan of.  So we will haul out the juicer and see what we can concoct from these and some fruits.

When I cut off the beet top, I saw this pretty design by Mother Nature--

Also, another part of nature's bounty, these came to us last week from Glacier Distilling in Coram, MT. Lucky for us, we have a connection via Dan and Lauren to obtain some of these fine distilled products.

But you, too, can order from their website drop by Coram to get these or other distilled adult beverages, so don't miss out!  The bottles alone are worth having!  The labels and design are beautiful.

On the left is Little Cottonwood, a cherry liqueur flavored with orange, cardamom and ginger.  This is delicious in small amounts over ice.  On the right is North Fork Whiskey, named for the North Fork of the Flathead River, flowing from British Columbia to Montana.  I have tasted this one, too, in little sips.  It is smooth and flavorful.  Do I sound like a connoisseur?  I'm not.  

It's hard to lay my hands on a decent glass around here, since everything is still boxed up.  We are using mostly disposable stuff, and I'm sure that the dixie cup that these beverages were served in added a special and unique flavor.  Sorry, Lauren, you might be cringing over the fact that your award winning distillations have stooped so low, but I can assure you that the good glasses will be located soon!

a good day here

 There has been a lot of griping and complaining going on around the area lately due to the lousy weather we have been having--cool, cloudy, rainy, etc.  But in spite of the elements, I did take a little trip with some quilting friends this week.  We went to the home of Sue on Woman Lake near Longville.  This is about a 3 hour drive north & a little west.  Not quite the middle of nowhere, but getting close!  Beautiful countryside with forests, lakes, rivers and winding roads.  We took part of a day for a tour of some quilt shops, about an hour's drive to Monika's Quilt Shop in Park Rapids.  This shop is a great source for "up north woodsy cabin" types of fabric, flannels and fleece.  Also yarn!

Right next door is one of those good old Ben Franklin stores, crammed with every kind of gizmo and gadget that you would ever care to have!  I could have spent much longer in there poking around in the corners, but there comes a time when it's just good to go!

Then we headed towards Park Rapids, and stopped at Front Porch Quilts.  A smaller space, but very nice displays and a good variety.  

Then it was back to the house and watching the rain and knitting!  It was a good trip, thanks to good friends!

I have been doing some cutting and piecing for a few things lately, but no finished products to show you yet.  I did, however, get the binding on 2 little quilts that I will donate to Quilts For Kids.  These both were made with fabric from salesman's samples that were generously given to the store to be used for just this sort of thing.  I made it up as I went, cutting down the pieces of varying sizes to one width but leaving them in longer chunks.  The pieces were sewn together into rows, I did a little math so I knew about how many rows it would take depending on the strip size.  Then I used a little strip of solid to separate the rows.  I think they turned out cute.  One is more girly, and the other is just right for a junior cowboy.  It is saddles and wood and barbed wire.

Bob and I have one of those rare days today when neither one of us has to go to work or anywhere else.  So this morning we went to a garden center and picked out the things we needed to get for our yard.  Now if they will just decide to grow!  This is late for us to be planting, but we will still get some enjoyment from them.

begonias and vinca vine for hanging baskets

petunias and asparagus fern for window boxes

marigolds for patio planter boxes