Thursday, May 24, 2012

Show and Tell

Not much going on around here. I am in a Modern quilt guild and I am participating in a doll quilt swap. Here is a peek at my quilt so far. I will show the whole thing when I finish it. I need  to have it done by the second week of June to exchange. 
 Here is another show and tell from my garden. I meant to show you the insides of the beets on the last post but forgot. These are about the size of a golf ball. They are really good raw even though I sauteed them. They are sweet and crunchy.
 I went to my applique bee this morning and there was some show and tell from some of the ladies in the group.
Here is wall hanging made by Charlotte.
 This little bunny wall hanging was made by Rowena.

 These two quilts were made by Jane.
 So many different ideas for quilts. Quilting is so much fun!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

things are slow

(Warning:long post) 
Nothing much going on around my place. I have been doing physical therapy twice a week plus at home.   Still some swelling which I found out from my physical therapist that it could last up to 12 weeks while the inside of my knee heals. I am now walking normally but I still take the stairs one at a time when I come down. 
I have been upstairs to my sewing room and was working on the borders again for my Hop To It quilt. While staying downstairs I did get some pieces stitched in place on my Harrington and Hannah block. Now to add the embroidered details to this block.
I thought I would show you the progress of the garden so far. I don't have to spend too much time in it yet. Things are growing really well.
Here is the garlic bed. If you look close you can see some curly things growing from some of the garlic leaves. Those are called scapes. I will use them just like garlic in some spaghetti sauce tomorrow.
The bed in the foreground is potatoes, next bed has bell peppers and some flowers. The next is zucchini along with some hot pepper plants. On both sides of that bed are some sunflowers which will be opening soon. They are a small variety. The bed way in the back is full of three different kinds of beans.
I bought some asparagus this spring but these won't be ready to eat for 3 years.
The bed in the foreground of this photos has a beans in the back, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. Unfortunately one day I went out there and saw the plants in the middle had been eaten by a
 rabbit. I had the row cover over them but there was an opening where he found his way in. Needless to say I was a little upset.
The bed in the back is full of really yummy lettuce and carrots which the rabbit ate some of the tops of those too. I did have a bunch of peas along the back of that bed which were growing on a fence. If you look at the far right top corner you see just a few plants left because the rabbit ate all the other pea plants. I did manage to save those plants and got a bowl full of snap peas which were so good. We ate them raw in a salad.
Here is the bed with two kinds of beets. New to me.
More potatoes and onions. Look, Candace, the bed on the right are the ones you sent me and they are doing well.
This bed has tomatoes and tomatillos. More onions too.
Here is some lavender I have growing down by the house.
Look close and you can see a tiny pea growing. It has some of the white flower on the tip.
Check out this moth I found on some plants in my front yard. Pretty cool!
We finally got our deer fence put up this past weekend. I don't think the rabbit can get through those holes now that it is bigger. I pulled some fabric out of my scrap bag and tied ribbons all along the fence.This is so the deer will hopefully see the fence and not run into it.
Some of my harvest. Lettuce, beets, and carrots. I pulled up these carrots because the orange part was showing and they were a little crowded with some other carrots. Not much to them yet. 
We planted corn this past weekend. We also have melon seedlings coming up. Still waiting on sweet potatoes to come in the mail.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

May For Me

 Taking time for myself. That is what May is all about. I have definitely been taking care of myself since my knee surgery. I went to physical therapy which was okay while doing it but then last night my knee was really aching and it was hard to sleep. I know it is going to take time and I am trying to be patient.
 Because May brings my wedding anniversary, 36 years yesterday, I decided to take time to make some very rich dessert from a new cookbook I bought last month. It is called Pots De Creme. You can also get this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. It was really quick and easy and I didn't have to be on my knee to long. My husband loved it.
 The one thing I have taken the time to do on the internet is check my Bingo card. I have sewed on some vintage black buttons while I would ice my knee on the spaces that have been called so far.
 I have finally replied to all your get well comments which I so appreciate. It warms my heart. So now I am finally feeling like doing some hand work. I think I will work on my Harrington and Hannah BOM. If you haven't seen it yet, the new block is now available.
So now I leave you with this beautiful Iris photo because when you are recuperating from surgery you really do have time to smell the flowers!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Monday, May 14, 2012

No gardening for me because...

I have been recuperating from knee arthroscopy. I had it done last Wednesday morning. I knew this day would be coming because I have had troubles with my knees in the past. Everything went well and I have already started physical therapy. Lots of icing of the knee and just resting so it will get better so I can get back to the garden and upstairs to my sewing room soon.
 The Tuesday night before my surgery I went to the Modern Quilt guild meeting that was held at Karen Gray's quilt shop. Look who came to speak! Quilt Dad. He has only been quilting about five years and he has become very popular in the modern quilt world.
 Here is his first quilt.
 More of his quilts. He brought more quilts than I am showing but maybe when you have a minute you can check out his blog to see more of his quilts.

This quilt is not really pink fabric. It is white but for some reason it looks pink.
I thought you might enjoy some of the show and tell from some of the members of the guild.






With Passion,
Carrie P.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Nothing Much Going On

Just chain piecing the sashing blocks for my Hop To It quilt.
Finished another block from the Clover and Violet BOM.
And I got a fun little package in the mail because I won a giveaway. I won this beachy fabric from Patty D who is also from North Carolina. I went hopping on Madame Samm's table topper blog hop. There sure were some great little quilts during the hop. Patty D made a Cape Hatteras table top quilt. Seems we both like to visit the Outer Banks for vacation. Thanks Patty D for the bringing back memories of our trips to the beach and for the fabric.
With Passion,
Carrie P.