Then & Now

As you all know I have been spending WAy more time out in the Rock Garden then in the sewing room lately.

This is what my Rock Garden has looked like for a few years now. (the Then)  I always wanted to do something other than just a bunch of Rocks piled up,but it just never came to me,until a couple of weeks ago :)

This morning/afternoon we finally finished up laying the pave stone!!!  (the now)  It has been a long couple of weeks.  Most evenings we worked in the rock garden until dark,but the end result is So worth it!

A close up shot.  You can see in the right bottom corner of the photo where we ran about 20 short on the pave stones.  This is where the bird bath is going to be,as soon as the rest of the stones are purchased and placed.  WHEw!

After all that work it was time to take a break this evening :)  So here is my other finish this weekend!  My Sassy Connie bag!  Since the Rock Garden is finished,what better place for a photo shoot?

I did tweak some parts of the bag to suit myself ;)  It was pretty windy most of the evening,especially while I was taking the photos,so I had to snap them quickly,or the bag would have ended up in the fountain!

A look at the inside/inner part of the bag,at the front you can see part of the magnetic snap that holds the inner pocket closed.  Also down towards the middle you can just see the orange zipper for the pocket in this part of the bag.    Although I a very happy with how this turned out,it is not the size I was  thinking it would be.

I need/want a bag large enough to fit WIP'S,or finished projects in to take to guild meetings.  Anyone have a suggestion on a particular bag,or a tutorial for one?  Thanks in advance if you do :0)

This has been a super year for my cactus!  This one is so pretty,there are yellow flowers and also this peachy color on the same cactus plant.

This is the first year that this cactus has ever bloomed!  All the wild ones in the surrounding areas are already blooming,which is unusual,since they normally bloom in mid-late July!  I will try to get some photos of those and post them for you :)

Have a super Sunday!

Does your Dragon Fly?

How was the weekend at your house?  Around here it was super busy,as we are re-doing the my rock garden.  Lots of back aching work for sure!

This is how it looked before we started to try and make it look like the idea running around in my head.  Just imagine moving every single one of those rocks!  What Was I Thinking???

In progress,this is on the back left side of the garden.  We made a wall of rocks and then added dirt to make a flower bed.

The front and back left,there are flowers,bushes,and cactus in each bed.  I might change the arrangement but not until next year.  More on this later....

Are you wondering about the title of my post yet?  Well here it is.  While hanging out my clothes this weekend,this cool dragon fly landed on my clothes pin keeper!

I guess it thought that it was a flower :)

I had no sooner taken the photos,when off it flew!  It was so pretty,and it is the first one I have seen this year :)  Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Here is a parting shot,of the cactus that bloomed out today while I was a work :)

A little Green

Today it was all about the Garden,no time for sewing,maybe tomorrow....

The bed in the foreground has 3 different pepper plants off to the left.  There are also snow peas,and cucumbers not coming up yet.  Soon there will be Kale in this bed too.  The bed in the background has blueberries next to the fence,they are kind of scraggly tho.  My lemon basil is not doing to well either :(  The cinnamon basil is doing good,as is the lettuce,so far the beets are not up yet.

The radishes are getting close to being ready!  Would you look at those tomatoes?  I sure hope that we get a good crop again this year!  The blue barrel has my chocolate mint,which is doing great.

The squash,red,and walla walla onions are doing good,as well as the elephant garlic.  My tarragon is doing okay.  What I don't get is why my peony always gets so big and bushy,but never blooms!?

Check out the sunflowers!  These are all volunteers,crazy huh?  They are doing way better than the ones I planted from seed out front!

A parting shot of Midas and his friend (the next door neighbors cat) Boo,hanging out by my two gold leaf spirea plants!

WIP

Is it really Wednesday already?  Actually it is almost Thursday already!  This week it has really started to feel like late spring/early summer here :)  It has also been Super windy every afternoon/evening,which means no outside photos.  So tonight I decided to just take a few pics inside :(

Last month at my quilt guild we had a tumbler block swap!  Each person who participated brought 100 7 x 7 inch squares to the meeting.  During the meeting they were all cut on an Accu Quilt go cutter!  So cool!  When the meeting was over we each had 100 tumbler blocks to take home :)

This week I managed to sew all the tumblers into rows,and this evening started sewing the rows together. I wanted to break all the tumblers up a little,plus add a little extra length.  So decided to add a white strip between the rows.  The thought was to make it look kind of like tumblers on a cupboard shelf.

Also in progress this week is the top for my Gothic Windows quilt.  There are actually 4 rows of blocks sewn together.  I just didn't want to take the time to clip up the rest.  If/when we have a nice wind free evening where some photos can be taken outside,they will be posted,until then this will have to do.

The third work in progress this week is my Sassy Connie bag!  With the exception of the handles everything is cut out!  The plan is to get this finished this weekend.

Two string blocks,using some of my Sugar and Spice fabric... Love ;)

Lastly,a photo of one of the cactus plants in my rock garden.  Last year there were only a couple of blooms.  This year there were six!

Linking up with freshly pieced this week :)
                         

June Bee blocks

This evening I decided to sit down and work on my June blocks for Stash Bee.  We were asked to make five blocks,or more if we wanted.

Here are the six I made.  The only problem is that they are all a 1/2" small!  My mistake was that I cut out all the fabric pieces before sewing up any of the blocks.  Sad Face :(  Why the sad face?  Because the only Kona White I had was a FQ.  Not enough to make the requested 5 blocks the right size,after making the first six.

Here are the four that are the correct size!  Happy Face :)  Even tho I am one short of the correct size,I am hoping that Sara will be happy with them.