A Meadow Walk

Turkey Tracks: June 14, 2020

A Meadow Walk

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.

Ready For Binding

Turkey Tracks: June 13, 2020

Ready for Binding

I finished this quilting project last night.

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.

Quilting a Grid At Night

Turkey Tracks: June 12, 2020

Quilting a Grid At Night

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.

Maine’s Parade of Summer Wildflowers Begins

Turkey Tracks: June 11, 2020

Maine’s Parade of Summer Wildflowers Begins

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.

A Pretty Creature

Turkey Tracks: June 10, 2020

A Pretty Creature

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.“

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryocampa_rubicunda

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.

Oh No!

Turkey Tracks: June 9, 2020

Oh No!

You know that pretty picture I posted with the blueberry bush with all the flowers on it?

At lunchtime I went outside to get some fresh herbs for my lunch salad and discovered it COVERED with brown tail caterpillars happily munching away at all the leaves on the two bushes. They have nearly been denuded.

I had just put diatomaceous dirt (which looks like a white powder) on the new blueberry bushes, which were suffering the same fate, and had dusted the new raspberry canes and the strawberries, which are blooming heavily and forming fruit. Yes, some of the new raspberry canes showed signs of being chewed, and I could see some of the caterpillars in the strawberries.

I brought the herbs inside and turned right around to get more diatomaceous dirt for the big blueberry bushes. LOTS of caterpillars on them. Ugh! I did my best. Now I just have to wait and see. I came inside to wash up (again) and found a caterpillar on my shirt. More Ugh!

Here was my reward, topped with fresh dill, chive flowers, chopped chive stalks, and tarragon. The lettuce is from my garden, too. The protein is roasted chicken.

I need to buy rosemary plants…

June 2020 is Here

Turkey Tracks: June 7, 2020

June 2020 is Here

Where did May go?

June is not quite “summer” in Maine. Summer usually comes around July 4th. But everything outside is so lush and green, and it is definitely warmer. I put some houseplants outside just yesterday.

I spent a lot of this week cleaning. I can’t even begin to tell you how much grease had accumulated in my kitchen cabinets near the stove. And, everywhere else in the kitchen too. I would not dare take a picture of what they looked like before I cleaned as I would be way too ashamed.

Everything has been washed and scrubbed now, and the whole kitchen looks so sparkly and pretty! Looky, looky! How shiny.

There is a kind of contemplative value in this physical work, a kind of karma yoga. And, of course, enormous satisfaction after the work is done.

Inspired, I went around the garden and organized a new crop of flowers for the kitchen window: Star of Bethlehem (white), red clover, and chive blossoms. The darker blue/purple plant is blooming, too, but I always forget its name. A porcupine ate it to the ground two summers ago. I planted the Star of Bethlehem because WAY back in the day my grandmother planted this one in the yard in the front of her house. The last time I saw her house in the spring, which now out of the family, the entire front yard was covered with this little white flower. Now, every spring I am strongly reminded of her and reminded how much I miss her.

Outside, the brown tail caterpillar is being terribly destructive. Look at these totally denuded oaks near the house:

Trees can withstand a pruning like this for a time or two, but likely not three years running. I have a friend who has lost 20+ acres of her hardwood trees. Last year there was some damage here, but this year… There are caterpillars EVERYWHERE outside.

And if you missed my descriptions before now, these guys have bristles that are incredibly toxic and can produce itchy blisters. The bristles break loose and float in the air. They can get on laundry on the line, on cushions left outside, on YOU as you walk around, etc. You can breathe them in. The toxins remain potent for as long as three years. Ugh!

On a happier note, the creeping phlox has been so pretty this spring:

And I love the quiet beauty of the smaller blooming things in my yard, like this Sweet Woodruff plant:

The one established blueberry high-bush blueberry plant is LOADED with blossoms this year. It often takes 5 to 7 years for blueberry plants to fully come into their own. Something has eaten all the leaves on four of the new blueberry bushes. I’ll put diatomaceous dirt on them today.

I can’t get enough blueberries and raspberries this spring—they aren’t here yet but are in our markets. I eat a big bowl of them every night—with about a tablespoon of local maple syrup drizzled over the top.

The black flies are mostly gone now, so I’ll be able to get outside and to start putting beds out there back in order. Mowing the other day was pleasant.

This winter I fell in love with an herb mixture from Penzey’s Spices. I CAN eat most herbs, onions, garlic, etc., and Sunny Paris REALLY floats my boat. I order dried herbs from Penzey’s in the fall for the winter—I have tons of fresh herbs in my garden here in the summer. Sunny Paris was new to me, and I fell in love so much that I just ordered it again for the summer!

Purple shallots, chives, green peppercorn, French gasil, French tarragon, chervil, bay leaf, and dill weed.

We finally got a decent RAIN last night. A lot of it apparently. Every growing thing outside will be so grateful because it has been so dry.

Be safe! Be well! Take care of yourselves in these very challenging times we are…enduring.

Gumdrops Quilt: Done and Hung

Turkey Tracks: June 6, 2020

Gumdrops Quilt: Done and Hung

I have enjoyed making this quilt so much.

Tara Faughnan of The Color Collective, Season 2, designed these blocks (there are 6 different ones to use and combine), assembled her own quilted version, and curated the color palette. The block pieces are printed on to cardstock, cut out, covered with fabric, and sewn together with English Paper Piecing. With each project, Tara makes a video to show us up close how to make the project, and I have found the videos to be really helpful.

There will be a Season 3, starting in October. The online class is hosted by Amy Newbold of Sewtopia, and Amy mails each month’s fabrics to class members. Plus, Amy discounts any extra fabrics one needs if members’ projects start to get bigger. (If you go to Tara’s web site, you can join her newsletter and get details on this class when details are available.)

I quilted with matchstick lines, which I have never done before. And I have to say that I think this quilting gave the quilt a lovely texture. I’ll be doing this type of quilting again, for sure.

The backing was in my stash. The print is an older Carolyn Friedlander fabric that I had left over from another quilt. It’s PERFECT for this quilt.

I hung my Gumdrops downstairs in the room where my tv lives. (My quilt room—which is where I do most of my sewing—is off this room and houses my longarm, design wall, and another sewing machine.) This space where Gumdrops is hanging had a bookcase, but remember from recent posts, I cleared out most of my books a week or so ago. I plan to house my Janome, on its Sewezi table, permanently in this little nook. It’s all set up with a walking foot ready to put on binding or to quilt a quilt I want to grid in some way. I also often use this machine for making knit fabrics as well, and I have two dresses cut out and needing to be sewn together.

I thought a long time before moving a machine to this spot and keeping it there. But most of the time I am here by myself, and I would like to be able to sew at night some times. I can see the tv from this spot, and I actually quilted Gumdrops at night. Usually I hand sew at night, but I was out of handwork at the moment, and there are three quilts in the pile that will need to have binding sewn down.

Everything’s a bit of a mess right now in this spot because I’m quilting another quilt and things are spread out. I can use the back of the couch to help support a quilt as it runs through the sewing machine. I hung the quilt high so it would not get knocked accidentally. (That’s not my kitchen you can see to the left—it’s a laundry sink. My kitchen and living room are upstairs.)

Here’s my view:

So, I’ve now completed four of this season’s 7 quilt projects. Two of the remaining projects will be wall hangings for me, and one will be a lap quilt. The block for the lap quilt was designed by Denyse Schmidt as a guest designer for the seventh month, but was made by Tara with fabric she curated for us.

I have more than these Color Collective projects going on. I’m doing the Sugaridoo QAL in TWO different versions. (Whose idea was that?) And I’ve been catching up with making blocks that will go into an improv quilt one of these days. These blocks are my real Play Time. And, somehow, there is a flying geese project growing on my design wall. Sometimes projects just will NOT leave me alone, and this one is one of those.

But, Tara’s Bedrock quilt is all lined up and ready to be started.

Turkey Tracks: End of May 2020 Update

Turkey Tracks: May 27, 2020

End of May 2020 Update

It was a “masky” weekend. SIL in Boston needed some mask help. Like me, she wears hearing aids, and the simple elastic used in masks that loop over the ears do not work well with hearing aids—in that they can dislodge them so that you LOSE them. If you have no idea what hearing aids cost, you are in for a rude shock if you ever need them.

I have been at kind of a loss with what to do with knit scraps—often big pieces—left over from garment making. FLASHLIGHT! Try some in masks. I had already been told that just cutting knit for ties, stretching it so it rolls up, and using it for ties is THE BEST. They stay on your head without slipping for one thing. And they don’t need any pressing, turning, and sewing down to hide raw edges, etc. YES!

The green mask below has a pipe cleaner in the top to cup the nose—which is why it is kind of curved. I found the metal wasn’t really needed. I use an inner layer of quilt batting—not much gets through two knit layers and cotton quilt batting. Of course, the edges leak… But these guys are sturdy as can be. I made one for me, too, with knit ties, and mailed off 8 masks to SIL and her three housemates.

WASH YOUR MASK AFTER EVERY USE! Otherwise the mask harbors a lot of bacteria from YOU and you breathe it deeply into your lungs. Bad idea, especially with these knit masks which are really thick.

Looky! This quilting is really handsome. I’m pleased. I’ve never tried matchstick quilting before—I have to use the domestic of course. But this is HANDSOME!

I have two quilts to quilt on the domestic piled up—and one for the longarm. I moved my stored machine—which has its own SewEzi table—to an area behind the couch so the couch catches the quilt as it moves forward. And I can see the tv.

This machine can live now in a spot vacated by a rehomed bookcase. In the pic below the table is pulled forward so the quilt can go over the couch for support as I quilt. Otherwise, the machine table just tucks back into the bookcase space and does not impede traffic. A pretty bookcase or a nice sewing spot already set up—it’s a no-brainer for me these days. This is “Gumdrops” from Tara Faughnan in the online class, The Color Collective, season 2. Mine will be a wall hanging.

There will be a THIRD season of The Color Collective, hosted by Sewtopia. Go to Tara Faughnan’s web site and sign up for her newsletter for information on this third season. While you are there, take a look at her AWESOME quilts in her gallery.

I have been super busy these past days. I culled the books again. This time I put any book that has not been touched by SOMEONE in the past 16 years in 11 banana boxes and 2 orange boxes—they have lids and are easy to get hold of. (Thank you Hannaford’s, our local grocery store.) I slid the boxes down the stairs—many from the third floor—and used the dolly I bought last year to get the boxes to the van.

Whew!

My kids will thank me someday for this job. There are two bookcases remaining, but all others have been leaned out and other objects put on empty shelves.

Oh Lord!

I more or less escaped this critter last summer. It’s the brown tailed caterpillar, and it is DEVASTATING trees, bushes, ground plants, and so forth here in Maine. I have them on my front porch right and probably elsewhere.

See all those bristles? They are wildly toxic and can cause rashes and blisters and itching like poison ivy. The bristles come loose easily and float about in the air, lodge in the ground, get breathed into our lungs, and so forth. They have a little barb on one end. They can remain toxic for about THREE YEARS. No one is hanging laundry on the line up here these days. And I took down the hammock frame yesterday with the help of a friend.

On a happier note. This fellow guards the front porch. John bought him at the Common Ground Fair the summer before he died the following January.

Of course I have a lot more sewing going on and a lot going on in the garden. But those are posts for another day.