Wednesday, September 15, 2010

fall...

Traditionally, fall starts after Labor Day.  This holds true for most of the U.S., unless you're in Texas.  "Fall" in Texas means that temperature remains in the lower to mid 90's with a greater chance of rain and a higher risk of a hurricane hitting.  We don't have the trees that turns that really pretty red, we have trees that will brown in October. We also have a lot of mosquitoes after every rain shower... 

However, there are good things that happens in Texas during our "fall."  With higher temperatures and rainfall, I can still plant things without the fear that the cold affecting the growth.  A few weeks ago, I planted some jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, and some basil.  They're all thriving.  


See! there is a teeny tiny little pepper growing on my plant!!!!!


And the basil is sprouting well in my home made, self watering planter.



And I've found this growing in my chives pot.  I'm not sure if it's chives growing or some weed seeds that got blown into the pot.  To tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting the chives to grow since the seeds are from last summer and not quite properly stored.  We'll see what this grows into... 

and the back is done too!!!!

When I started this project, I intended the back of the quilt to be a solid color.  However, after making the quilt top, I ended up with a pile of scraps that were too big to toss, but too small to be used in anything else.  Then I came across this post by Elizabeth of Oh Fransson! on Sew Mama Sew about how to piece together small squares.  I think that I may be too lazy to become a truly good crafter, thus this post spoke to me.  So I modified this slightly to create the backing to the quilt. In the tut, she used interfacing to arrange and secure all the small pieces and then sewed a 1/4 in seam and pressed it open. It's pretty simple and *very* convenient way to arrange pieces that are about 1 1/2 to 2 in wide fabric. So I followed the directions and came up with this.




I had the full intention of scrap piece stretching the width of the backing, but I made a calculation mistake. I forgot to take the seams into consideration, and ended up with a piece that falls way short of the width.  instead of correcting it with another piece of the same thing, I decided to go with a lazy way out. I just attached more of the backing material to the sides to make it the right width.  So now I'm making the quilt sandwich and should complete the darn thing soon. 




Friday, September 10, 2010

OMG it is finally done!!!!

So off and on, I have been working on my first quilt. A small lap quilt measuring about 42x52in.  I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THE QUILT TOP!!!


I went with a blue and brown theme with a creme boarder. I think my first project was a bit taxing.  I didn't realize how much work it was going to involve. In the end, i'm happy with it, and I'm happy that it is done! Now I'm moving on to the backing. I'll post the process of the top and the back when I'm 100% done with it, which I'm hoping will occur within the next week. 

Thursday, September 2, 2010

What did I do today?

... a whole lot of nothing. I had the full intention of finishing up this brown and blue quilt top, but my friend called me up for lunch at this yummy tapas place.  How can I turn that down?! So i mopped around the house until it's time to leave. The gardening itch is starting again, so I ran to my local gardening center before the lunch date to get the supplies.  I've always been a big fan of container gardening because I've always lived in apartments with no where to plant my veggies.  Today, I picked up some jalapeƱo and tomato plants, and some herb and lettuce seeds.  As you can see, all my selection are edible.  I prefer to be able to use/eat all my creations. I mean don't get wrong, I <3 flowers, but they've just never tickled my gardening fancy.  I would show you what I planted, but they're not looking very pretty, yet.  It'll just be a pot with some soil. You can't even see the seeds. Soooooo, instead I shall showcase the third member of the Bunny family instead.

This is maggie at the beach. 


This is maggie waiting for a handout

Lastly, this is maggie waiting for her toy at the beach
She looks funny in pictures, but she's a sweetie in person. Also, to our dismay, she answers to the name "aggie".  You see Mr. Bunny and I are both University of Texas grads. And UT has a (friendly-ish) rivalry with Texas A&M (a.k.a. the Aggies). Thus, you see our disappointment in our dog...