Red Scraps and Green Beans

What a fun and hectic week!  The vegetable harvest is in full swing, which means too much time in the kitchen for me getting things processed. The weather has been hot, hot, hot. As usual, lots of errands this week. But Bruce passed his physical driving test to have his full drivers license issued with all the new adaptive equipment in the car as well as the requirement that he (naturally) wear his prosthetic arm. That’s been a huge relief for both of us. He is independent once again, and I’m not needed to be his chauffeur. Win-win. 

Bruce took this picture of the large basket of beans (wish there was something there to indicate scale) that he picked yesterday. This is the second basketful this week. He thinks we’re probably over half done. 

So, I’ve been sharing them with neighbors and my Weight Watcher friends. And I’ve been blanching, vacuum sealing and freezing them by the bagful for us. We’ve been getting peppers, too, but they’re easy to use and save. The Next Big Crop will be the blackberries, and I’m hoping they’ll wait their turn until after the beans are done!

There was a lot of red scrap sewing in the studio this week. First there were 6 Four in Nine blocks, all made this month with a navy constant and Kona White. 

And then six red Chaser blocks. 

As well, I finished up the last of the 19 large (12” finished) stars for the Christmas Stars quilt that will be sewed steadily over the next three months. 

That star center on the block second-from-left on the bottom row will be replaced. I lost a major point there. But I’ll wait until the end when I see what kind of scraps I have left over before I worry about it. Next up are the 40 stars in the 8” finished size. Those will be sewn using the 4-at-a-time method for making the flying geese star points. I’ll get all those cut out - and hopefully begin sewing them this week. Green beans willing….

All of these blocks fit neatly into the Rainbow Scrap Challenge’s color of the month. I’m linking up at our usual fun Scrappy Saturday party. 

Also on my sewing schedule this week is to finish the Red Ribbons top. I started this in August of 2021, and here is a reference photo from the blog from January 2022 when I finished the interior portion of the top. 

This past week I sewed the Seminole-pieced borders. Unfortunately I made the side borders all the same size, when the two sides should contain 9 red squares instead of the 7 that the top and bottom have. I don’t know how or if that will affect the assembly, but I’ve got plenty of fabric to use if I need to fix it. And a seam ripper. Blessed be Jack the Ripper, right?

The inner 2” border is shown in the picture, and after the Seminole border will be a final red outer border. I’m thinking this will be a good project for my Sunday Sewing. 

This morning - Saturday - is a Quilts for Kids workshop from 10-1:00. I’ll be sewing 6.5” red string blocks. 

Oh! I finished the International Sisters Quilt, but I’ll have to wait until next week for the unveiling. I haven’t been able to find a quilt holder or a good time or place to take some decent photos. I’m crossing my fingers that Ruby can help me with it on Sunday. 

And I’ll leave you with some garden pictures. In high summer, it’s difficult to get outdoor pictures that aren’t glaring, even in the early morning or the evening. 

Backyard corner: pink hollyhocks. They are biennial, and this is their “off” year. Last year there were three times the blooms and many more colors. But as long as they continue reseeding, we’ll enjoy what comes up. 

The echinacea on the side yard is blooming.

The flower pots on the front walkway are looking amazing!

And new flushes of blooming perennials have stepped up to take their turns as stars.

The only sad note of the week was when I accidentally knocked and broke my grandparents‘ old Delft vase. 😢😢  It happened in slow motion, as these things often seem to, accompanied by my cry of  “Noooooooooo!” But the universe isn’t giving me a do-over.

I think that wraps it up for now. See you back here next week, OK? Have a good one!