Quilt Garden

I took updated pictures of the Wakarusa quilt garden on September 7. I would have assumed they would have sprinklers set up to water the flowers but it doesn't look like the flowers got water when they needed it.

Some of the flowers they used this year didn't last the whole season and some went to seed. They normally remove all the vegetation the end of September. I often think the flowers would look nice into October but not this year!

Here are links to the quilt garden in July  and August.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss

Welsh Beauty

Another swath across Welsh Beauty has been quilted. And it looks like Blogger has actually placed them in order, from right to left!

As you can see in the center pictures, the next swath across will finish the top of the center medallion. Then it will be just cross hatching most of the way except for the right and left side borders.

As usual, a link to the first post about Welsh Beauty. 

Kathy from Sewing Etc, is hand quilting this same quilt! She hopes to have her quilt finished by November. Happy stitching Kathy!

I was recently in Wakarusa and took photos of the quilt garden.

This garden is one of many in the Quilt Gardens, Along the Heritage Trail.

The Quilt Garden journey was started during the recession of 2008. More RV's are manufactured in Elkhart and LaGrange Counties, Indiana than anywhere else in the US. 

The RV industry was extremely hard hit and had to lay off most of their employees. Some of these factories employed over 10,000 people!

The Heritage Trail was developed to draw tourists to our counties to bolster the economy. I don't know how well that idea worked but I do know people (quilters) who come to our area and drive the trail.

There benches located in the park for people to use.

Another small town close to Wakarusa is Nappanee. Connie lives there and wrote a post about the Nappanee Quilt Garden.

I'll take pictures again later this summer when the flowers are larger.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday

Quilting Blue Stars

This week I quilted the top of the pieced blocks and the borders of course. Pictures in order from right to left.

This was a 4" swath across the quilt. Now I've rolled and will quilt the sashing row which is a 3" swath. Then I'm ready to start quilting the white border. There is a narrow blue border which doesn't show yet. 

I estimate it will take me 4 weeks to finish the quilting. I've quilted quilts all by myself before but for some reason it seems like this quilt is going very slow. I have another hand project I would like to start but I won't let myself until this quilt is finished!

School is out for summer and both local grandsons are under grandparent supervision several days a week.

One day we went to the playground in Wakarusa.

Several weeks ago I showed you a picture of the younger grandson standing beside the sign that said clean up after your horses. This time I took a picture of the horses and buggies.

In our area we have the Quilt Gardens. Tourists come and look at all the quilt gardens in various locations. There are even bus tours that come!

Here is the quilt garden in Wakarusa, it is close to the playground. The flowers haven't been planted very long, I'll try to remember to take updates as the summer progresses.

Besides the quilt garden, a mural of a quilt is normally attached to a building. Here is the mural.

Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching,  Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, BOM's Away

A Pillow & the Pastor's Attic Quilt

In April, my friend Carol asked me to make a pillow. Carol's sister had embroidered quilt blocks and then gave them to Carol. Carol sewed the blocks together and hand quilted the quilt. There was one block left, so she quilted it, then asked me to make a pillow with that block because she had never made a pillow. I said yes but you know what? I've never made a pillow either! I can finally cross this project off the list. I think she turned out pretty good but I don't want to make another one. Carol is going to stuff the pillow, I didn't have to do that.

Slowly, a little sewing each evening, and the next Pastor's Attic quilt block has been completed. I like this block, the embroidered stems are a nice change. The embroidery in the vase looks good too, so much easier than appliquing narrow strips of fabric.

The next block has been prepped and I've started on her. When this block is finished, I'll have completed the first 2 rows of the quilt, just 15 more blocks to go!

Everyone has their own way to applique. I see some people glue all their pieces on then applique them down. I can't do that, I need to just applique piece by piece. The stems for these red buds will be back basted applique. 

When I was in Wakarusa last week, I took a picture of the Quilt Garden. I was unable to get the whole garden in the picture. Sorry.

The design is 1895 Star Puzzle. Click the photo for more information.







What is going on around the farm and garden?

I've always enjoyed driving tractor. One day, while the farmer was running errands, I mowed down a field of hay. The next day I raked the rows double; this is what it looks like. Rows that are already raked are on the left. On the right sides the hay is flat in the windrows. The rake turns one row onto the next row. 

This hay is high moisture hay. The baler bales them into big bales then they are wrapped in plastic. It ferments and turns into baylage which we feed in the winter. The cattle love it!

I wrote a detailed post dated May 28, 2014, about baling high moisture hay on my Word Press blog. You can read that post here. 

The wheat kernals that fell from the combine during wheat harvest have sprouted. The stems are 3" - 4" tall. Every morning several flocks of Canadian Geese fly into the field and graze. I was able to get pretty close to them for the picture. The different groups do not co-mingle, they stay in their separate flock.

I'm still freezing green beans but the plants are slowing down. I don't pull the plants when they stop yielding. After several weeks they will start blossoming again and there will be more green beans.

In late spring I plant my Amaryllis bulbs in the garden. Some summers some of the bulbs bloom. I would rather they didn't bloom in the summer but save their energy to bloom in the winter. The flowers are more appreciated in the winter than summer. Behind the Amaryllis are potato plants.

I'm linking to - Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Quilting is More Fun than Housework, Em's Scrapbag, Love Laugh Quilt, Super Mom - No Cape!, Esther's Wednesday WOW!, Sew Fresh Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, A Quilting Reader's Garden