June has been a month of contrasts this year, bright starry nights with hundreds of fireflies flickering in rhythmic harmony over the hayfield, nearly 90 degree days followed by a killing frost last weekend, followed almost immediately by more sunny 80+ degree temps. Apropos for the year I suppose.
And this morning dawned bright and clear, the neighboring subsistence farmer who cuts, bales and takes our hay for his small farm finished baling a couple days ago. The bales were still in the field this morning, and how could I not take advantage of that for a photoshoot of the newest finish! Last stitch put in the binding at 10:30 last night.
Accompanied by my trusty friend of course!
And now I can't figure out how to left align the text after inserting photos. Oh well, onward!
This is Joseph's Coat II, the third of the tops pieced during Lori's Humble Quilts 2019 Stringalong Challenge. Hand quilted with my version of big stitch quilting with Aurifil 12 wt. thread in a variety of bright colors. Such fun, and to think there's another one, Joseph's Coat I, still awaiting a similar "organic line, nothing marked" quilting.
Gibbs and I walked around after these were taken, looking for other things to photograph. There was the quilt, in various poses, of course.
Interesting to see how the camera interprets the colors in sun vs. shady areas of the yard.
OK, now suddenly I'm left-aligned for text again. Wondering how that happened. There's not much blooming at the moment. The poppies are just about gone, and the peonies will be in just a few days.
The area in the photo above will be filled with black-eyed Susans and hopefully zinnias before too long.
Peonies are just about my favorite flower after daffodils, and this one outdid itself this year.
After our walkabout, the quilt went inside for its beauty bath, and emerged all soft and crinkly after a short session in the dryer. The top before quilting measured 55x72, the finished quilt is 51x68-1/2 inches. I'm hoping to finish the other similar quilt later this summer. I think the grandkids will love snuggling under these bright cheerful quilts when they visit next.
As for the new blogger, I much prefer the old version, so much easier to navigate, but I'm very grateful to my blogging friends who have posted tips on how to navigate this new quagmire. Some have found uploading photos to be cumbersome and excruciatingly slow. Out here in the country we only have access to HughesNet, the speed of which is sporadic at best, so that part hasn't been much different than in the past.
We're supposed to enter Phase III next week, depending on the whim of our state dictator. Wondering if life will ever reach some semblance of the real normal again, or if this is the never-ending year of the oxymoron. Nuf said about that!
Quilt on dear friends! Faith over fear!
