And I was delighted that I beat “chipmunk” to these first ripe strawberries.
I am missing DIL Corinne Enright these “strawberry days” as she is usually here this time of year. AND she picks the strawberries for me—about twice a day as some ripen in the sun over the course of the day. She keeps the strawberry bowl in the kitchen full—and her girls snack on them as they drift through the kitchen.
I ate some, but with my histamine intolerance I can’t eat too many. Strawberries are legendarily high histamine. These are a Maine heritage fruit, “Sparkle” I think. They are so spicy and gorgeous this year. As it was, I had to take some benedryl, so I froze the rest.
It’s so sad to me that so many people today think that those large, red strawberries in the markets are good. I find them to be tasteless and sour for the most part. Bred as they are to be big, red, and to ship well, there is no way they can taste like a fresh-picked, organic, locally grown strawberry that’s a heritage type.
Fine your local farmers folks. You’re in for a treat if you do.
It isn’t ideal, but it is vastly better than nothing. And, the Zoom meetings have meant that we can continue our progress on our current challenge: Bee Inspired. Each participant lays out what s/he wants, and other participants strive to make something creative within those parameters.
In the Zoom meetings those who are participating in “Bee Inspired” AND who were on the Zoom meeting revealed the blocks they had made for two members.
SARAH’S CHALLENGE
Sarah wanted us to make “circles and sticks,” and she did a great job of giving us color samples that would provide what she wanted, including gifting us with the shades of background greens she wanted. Here’s what a “stick” block looks like—and I am not sure which member made this one. Sarah plans to alternate the “stick” blocks with the “circle” blocks.
You can see some of the blocks we finished on the Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild Facebook page. When Sarah has all the blocks, she will decide the layout, how to trim blocks, etc.
I chose to make circles, and I had a lot of fun experimenting with different circle forms. The top, yellow circle is 8 inches, and I made it with Latifah Saafir’s “The Clammy” ruler. This ruler is very nifty—and comes in various sizes. One cuts the backing as well as the circle, in two different cuts, and Saafir has videos to show one how to sew the circle into the hole created in the square. I left this piece big as Sarah, if she uses it, may want to trim it so the circle is off-center. Of course, LOL, when one cuts out the yellow circle, one has a yellow square left over with a hole in it, which begs for being used. AND a green circle left over from the green square cut, which begs to be used. It could be a never-ending process. Especially for someone who likes to use up leftovers…
One thing I found is that it is hard to find methods to make LARGE whole circles. Although I suppose that the cardboard method Tara Faughnan taught us in season 1 of the Color Collective would work, now that I think about it. And, the reverse machine applique method Irene of Sugaridoo used recently in her Bernina Quilt Along (we are now on row 8 of 12 rows) could work as well.
There are MANY circle of geese patterns online, and many are free. I saw this one from #jeliquilts on Kelly Lautenbach’s #itsjustsew Instagram gallery. She was using it for a temperature quilt where each circle has geese representing temperatures for the days in a month. Tia Curtis just recently posted pictures of Kelly’s quilt while she was quilting it. I really love this block. I was able to use four of Sarah’s blue choices to make the circle.
The purple circle on the right is, I think, 10 inches. There are all sorts of sizes of Drunken Path rulers online. And I was able to find the magenta/purples Sarah wanted from my stash.
The bottom two blocks are probably so NOT what Sarah wanted, but I had fun trying to hand cut the Drunken Path forms and then sewing them. The encouragement came from Sherri Lynn Wood’s book THE IMPROV HANDBOOK FOR MODERN QUILTERS. AND, I am getting much better at sewing free-hand curves on the machine. They are fun.
As always, I told Sarah to use or not use whatever she wants, to cut up blocks, to discard them, etc.
JAN’S CHALLENGE
Jan’s challenge was “squares.” We just did this Zoom meeting last Thursday, so these blocks are not yet up on our Facebook page. Jan received some really nice blocks, and it will be fun to see them again online and to see what Jan does with them.
Jan asked for blues and greens, with one other added color of our choice. And, we could use neutrals if we wanted.
I made her Tara Faughnan’s Radiating Log Cabin block from season 1 of The Color Collective. I chose the blues and greens and had my favorite color pop of a warm coral. Then I noticed that I was not stopping to make the blocks because I could not figure out the color order. I wanted the coral to be the center square and radiate outwards, but it was just so not working. When I switched to a softer purple, which I knew Jan liked, I was able to cut and sew the block.
I made some smaller blocks in the colors I chose so she could spread the color around if she wanted. Again, I told her she could NOT use whatever did not work for her, cut up blocks, trim them back, or whatever.
I love how these blocks came out, and it was fun to make them. Tara Faughnan’s use of this Radiating Log Cabin format makes a really handsome block.
Our next challenge reveal will be in September, so I guess I better start thinking about it.
A Maine “Soft” day. Coastal fog. A little breeze. Temps in the 60s. What a nice relief from the past two days where AC and I spent the days looking for cool spots and panting.
AC got no exercise yesterday, as I retreated to the quilt room, so he was “ready to go” this morning.
The yellow ball goes everywhere, especially when “we” are about to go somewhere. It got outside by mistake when he thought we were going out the back door, which took me out into the garden to retrieve it. I came back inside with these…
…and with a light heart from picking them.
There is just such abundance in the yard right now.
On a beautiful June morning AC and I made a quick trip up to Belfast to get a few things I can’t get locally around me, including locally produced one-pound blocks of raw butter, which freeze well.
I have been a member of the Belfast Coop for many years now, and I always enjoy shopping there. With the virus, the Coop wasn’t opening until 10 am and with an hour for “compromised shoppers” shopping, so AC and I had a little walk along the waterfront park, which just gets prettier and prettier.
Here is where the Passagassawaukeag River meets Belfast Bay, which is an inlet of Penobscot Bay. The resulting estuary is beautiful, and Belfast has been working hard to make a beautiful trail that runs alongside the river for some distance up the river.
AC had a little swim in the tiny beach along the river:
Afterwards, we walked a bit to dry him off before I did my shopping and we came home.
These cedar chairs and the little table are locally made by an Amish business. They will endure our winters and will not have to be carted to the upper floor of the garage for the winter.
And the best news: the brown tail caterpillar infestation has stopped (until a rehatch in the fall) so the fabric cushions can go out for the summer. (I already had the cushions from the old chairs.)
One of the old chairs and the matching table were rehomed to a friend. The other old chair had to go to the dump landfill, sadly
AC and I visited a local meadow yesterday, and it is carpeted with wildflowers. I’m sure it will be mowed very soon, so I couldn’t resist picking a few and bringing them home to enjoy, but also to identify the ones whose names I did not really know.
On the left are buttercup and blue-eyed grass. I separated them out as they are delicate and would be lost in the big mixture, and I wanted you to see them. The buttercup is actually a tall plant and can light up where it grows with yellow stars waving in the breeze. They are so cheerful. This one had been mowed, so the plant was small.
The blue-eyed grass is short and has one bloom that peeks out from the upper surface of the meadow plants. You don’t really see it at first, until your eye settles on it’s little spot of blue. It’s in the Iris family. I think of this type of wildflower as being one of the “quiet” ones, but whose presence makes up the richness one encounters in a meadow filled with wildflowers.
I’ve always called the white daiseys that are blooming everywhere now Marguerite Daisies. It’s really called an Ox-Eye Daisy and is in the chrysanthemum family. It is really a composite flower, as the yellow center is a grouping of disk flowers that are very tiny. The white pets are a ray flower that grows around the yellow center. Who knew? I didn’t. They pick well and last in an arrangement. Right now, they are knee high under my clothesline—which is not in use given the brown tail caterpillars.
The clovers we would all know: red and white. I was fascinated today with the fact that some of the white clovers were almost variegated with delicate, blush pink petals in the mix. This discovery actually requires slowing down and looking much more closely.
The orange flower is Hawkweed, also known as Devil’s Paintbrush. It’s very hairy! The stem, especially. Like the ox-eye daisy, the outer orange petals are really separate ray flowers.
The yellow version of the orange is called Yellow Devil or King Devil.
I quilted on my domestic with a 12-weight cotton thread I’ve had hanging around for some time. (I have some parchment color too. Yum.) And I used a titanium top stitch needle—size 90/14.
You can see how pretty this heavier thread is in the following pictures.
This project went really well, and I just trimmed it. So, on to the binding, which means I’ll have some hand sewing next week.
My little sewing space in the big room is working out well.
Last night I finished one-half of the OTHER side of this grid work—and little diamonds formed in the process.
I’m using a 12-weight shiny cotton thread in pale blue that I’ve had on hand for some years now and a 90/14 titanium top stitch needle.
It’s coming out really nicely—that’s a 3-length stitch:
For the second side, I’ve been able to mostly sew without the tape—by going from one corner to the next—which is making the job a bit faster.
It’s a beautiful day here this morning—after a day of much-needed, refreshing rain. I’ll be checking my caterpillar-stressed plants this morning to see if they need more protective treatments. And I’ll fertilize the poor, poor blueberry bushes.
It was a beautiful sunny day Tuesday. While running errands I just had to stop to take some pictures of the more flamboyant wildflowers I was passing. There are, also, smaller plants that can cover a field with yellow blossoms and quieter plants that prefer a smaller footprint. And then there are the grasses, waving in the wind in unison to create a living canvas of movement.
Dame’s Rocket has always intrigued me. I’ve gotten seeds and tried to get it to grow in the ditches next to my property, but so far it has not liked that spot.
The flower form is delicate and comes in a range of pinks. It feels a bit like a phlox form.
The lupine is in full bloom now—and displays so many different colors and variegated forms. Lupine is everywhere in the ditches alongside the roads. I in no way captured all the variety of colors and variegated versions of different plants. The colors here vary from purples to pinks to pure white and to versions that have purple and white, and so forth.
The meadows now have growth that is long enough to mow. It will be a good year for mowing as for the most part, it has been cool and dry.
I’ve never seen this moth before s/he flew into the house when AC Slater went out for his final lawn visit of the night.
It’s a moth associated with maple trees: the rosy maple moth, or Cosmoth.
From wikipedia, where there are some very pretty pictures:
“Dryocampa rubicunda. Dryocampa rubicunda, the rosy maple moth or the Cosmoth, is a small North American moth in the family Saturniidae, also known as the great silk moths. … Adult females lay their yellow ovular eggs in groups of 10 to 40 on the underside of maple leaves.“
One day soon I’m going to leave the outdoor light on the garage and check first thing in the morning to see what moths showed up. That exercise can be really fun.
Now!
I can tell you what is NOT A PRETTY CREATURE: the brown tail caterpillar.
While heaving diatomaceous earth at my blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry plants in an effort to kill the caterpillars munching their way through them, I got one on my shirt sleeve—a long-sleeve heavy cotton t-shirt. I did not take off the shirt immediately. By nightfall, here’s what happened to my skin under the layer of the sleeve:
Holy Cow!! It itched like fire—and still does off and on, two days later. Lavender essential oil helps a lot. Did you know that lavender essential oil is also great for kitchen burns—it stops the burn immediately.
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