crab apple tree

Friday Inspiration

| terriaw

I have had this stack of color wheel fabrics for a couple years, with the intention of making the color wheel project in the Last Minute Patchwork Gifts book by Joelle Hoverson. After seeing a few other people blog about that endeavor, I decided it was a bigger project than I had time for. So I continued to savor this pretty stack.

The first Dresden Plate block I made as part of the Sew,Mama,Sew quilting month gave me the idea to make this mini color wheel, using Elizabeth’s pattern.  It’s not quite finished yet because I still have to quilt it, but I love it! It was so fun arranging and re-arranging the fabrics so they lined up as close as possible to my actual color wheel. I can’t wait to hang it on the wall in my sewing room for inspiration.

I still have so much fabric left for more color wheel projects, since my dresden plate only used a tiny piece of 20 colors.

Spring has come early here, so our crab apple tree is in full bloom one month ahead of normal. It always reminds me of a giant flower, and it smells oh so good!

I am loving all the beautiful tulips blooming throughout our yard.

These blushing sunshine tulips are my all time favorites.

Enjoy your weekend, my friends, whether you plan to do some sewing, gardening, or visiting the market (three of my personal favorites).

Summer Opener

| terriaw

We are predicted to have a pretty nice weekend, weather-wise, which is rare for us. The year we got married, EIGHT years ago this weekend, the temperatures were in the 50s and it was very foggy.  Good thing we didn’t count on having the wedding outdoors.

On top of celebrating our anniversary, spending time with family from New York City, we will be busy planting more flowers in our containers.

annuals to plantAnd we will be digging holes for these new additions to our backyard:

one new treeThese were delivered this morning!

two new treeThey will block the neighbor’s house that stares at us over the fence, giving our yard a little more privacy. They are flowering crab apples, which will make our yard look even more like a giant blossom in spring.

I also wanted to show you these amazing columbines we have growing on the side of our house. We used to live in Colorado (and miss it), so we have a fond affection for these flowers.

amazing columbinesA couple years ago, my mom gave us a bunch of Siberian Irises, which have grown like crazy in our yard.

Siberian Irises getting biggerOne last section in the yard I have to show you before they fade until next year – these alliums were already planted when we bought the house. Aren’t they cool? I think they look like they are floating in the air.

Allium forestI’m off to enjoy the holiday weekend! I will be back in a few days with updates on my free motion quilting practice. (hint – I finished FOUR mini projects on my extra day off!) Enjoy your weekend summer opener!

In My Spring Garden

| terriaw

I have been taking a lot of pictures around our yard and gardens this spring.

flowering crab treeWe have these great flowering crab apple trees that look like giant blossoms in spring.

flowering crab in front yard

The bleeding heart shrub proves to be spectacular every year.

bleeding heart bush

Great close-up subject for drawing practice.

bleeding heart flowersSomehow, we even got white flowers out of the same plant. I think they are so mystical looking, especially with those rain drops on the leaves.

white bleeding heart flowers

We planted more bulbs last fall, which I had forgotten about, so these were a nice surprise.

new pink and white tulips

These tulips are my favorite!

my favorite tulips!

Check out these gorgeous dahlias I found at the farmers market today.

red and white dahliaI wish they were perennials around here, but our climate is a little too cold for them to last past summer.

purple dahlia

Isn’t planting season the best?! Once we get past the last chance for frost, I will be planting the vegetable garden, which will be strictly a salsa garden this year, and annuals in our containers. I can’t wait to get cosmos and zinnias too. I hope it looks as nice around here as a botanical garden by July!