Of Quilts and Flowers

 We finally had a day or two of sunshine between long spells of rain and gloom.  Yesterday was a beautiful day for wandering about the yard a bit and taking some photos of this smallish finish.

Finishing at 57x60 inches, a good snuggling size but not too big for a youngster to carry along for a backyard picnic and playtime.  This will be going into our donation bins at quilt ministry next week.  

Poppies have finally begun to bloom.  Everything seems late this year, probably due to the dank and cold weather we've had.  

This quilt was born of a big pile of 2-1/2 inch leftover squares from who-knows-how-many other quilts from the past ten or so years. The maroon alternate blocks are from a piece bought online several years ago in a failed attempt to match some solid fabric that was running short.  It finally found its home here.

I don't think I've posted since before the holiday weekend.  We had a grand time with the grandkids, though they unfortunately brought along an unwelcome visitor, and we tested positive for covid a couple days after they left.  Granddaughter developed a sore throat the second evening here, and though they left for home the following morning it was too late.  Most of their family now has the dreaded plague, though everyone had been vaccinated and boosted.   We are now in recovery mode, only the lingering fatigue and occasional dizziness remaining.  But, and you know there's always a "but" - I probably also have contracted lyme disease.  Seems I'm a bit of a tick magnet this year, having been bitten three times in the past month.  This last one has produced the red bulls-eye telltale sign.  So, off to the doctor I'll go on Monday to see if this is the real deal.  Hopefully they will just call in an antibiotic script and that will be that.  Always something it seems.

Anyhow, back to the quilt - when it came time for binding, I had in mind something multicolored with pink or purple.  But, knew I didn't have the energy to pull all the bins from the closet to find something. Opened the closet and there right on top were two cut-offs from the backing of the purple quilt shown in my previous post.  Serendipity I tell you!  Not only that they were wide backing pieces - nice and long - and only two lengths plus a bit more accomplished the binding.  Yay for keeping things simple.

The hayfield in the background is now well over waist-high and prime for cutting.  We've not heard from our local farmer who cuts and takes the hay each year.  They are pretty much subsistence farming guys, and I'm sure are having difficulty finding the money for diesel fuel in this economy.  We've noticed a number of fields along our road that have always been planted are lying fallow this year. Hard times are coming, way beyond the imagination of the younger generations I'm afraid.

So, what else is blooming out in the yard?  A few peonies have begun to open.

And the gentian put out its first blooms yesterday.

The rain toppled our favorite iris but I was able to salvage part of the bloom for the little bouquet on the bistro table.

The porch is abloom with hanging baskets, always a welcome springtime treat that lasts all summer long.

One final photo for Lizzy, the quilt sloppily slouched across the garden bench we found at the local second hand shop, with the pillow covers stitched from someone's cast off home dec fabric from the early 2000s.  Just a bit of clashy boho madness ...

If you're still here, thanks for rambling along with this cloudy covid-brain.  Next time will be better ...