A bit of progress from the quilting Scouter

Scout camp turned out to be rainy and sunny, hot and cool, fun and work, and a lot was accomplished during (and before) the Scouts' attendance.

Not finding a clean, large, work space, I finally shoved five tables together in the craft room (six would have still been too small an area) and basted the batik quilt. Since the space was too small for the entire quilt it was a bit hard to get the batting pieced to my satisfaction.

For the basting I had to place the top down and struggle a bit with the softer tenugui up on top. I pinned it first and then had to crawl up on the table tops to baste it in sections
I guess the whole thing took about five hours but I was happy that all parts seem to come out flat and even. The room is very poorly lit even in brightest daytime and I used the evening hours when other duties were out of the way.

I also used odd moments during the week to work on the third edition of the table runners. For fall, I decided to use an idea once passed to me by my sister for tessellating maple leaves. I had tried this once before and ended up making it into a bag.

My favorite patchwork is making blocks and then laying them all out and arranging them to my satisfaction. This pattern is the antithesis of that, as each block has to include a piece from two of it's neighboring blocks. Even with the pieces all pinned in groups, I had to un-sew a number of seams as I put the wrong neighbor in several times no matter how carefully I planned. The total will be fifty blocks plus a border so the top is more than half done. With HOT weather setting in, this will be better than quilting the big bed cover. I remember vowing never to do this pattern again after the first time but that is what I said about several other patterns in the past and ended up eating my words.

As for the toe, I got by. Flip-flops were a bit more comfortable. By Wednesday I tried boots and Friday sandals with my Scout socks. Today it was crocks. I have no idea what I will try for tomorrow when I go to school. Whatever it is, we don't wear shoes in the classroom anyway. I am hoping this will not last too long as my back hurts from limping along.



Saturday I arrived home only to dump my gear and head off to an obstacle course with my Cub pack. It is part of our summer program and the rain held off long enough for the boys to have a blast. It was fun to watch the boys try the obstacles so carefully at first and then ,by the time they were playing the closing music, to see them racing madly to try things one more time. If I could capture that energy and sell it I would make a fortune!

My lily was nice enough to hold off for my return. It was tall but still in bud as I carried things from my car to the door but this first picture was taken Sunday morning as I left for Church. I ran (hobbled) back in to get my camera lest it be bashed to bits by someone on a bike while I was away.



When I returned later in the day, I found some string and tied it to the fence. In store-bought lilies used in arrangements, the ends of the stamens bearing the pollen are all removed so the dark pollen will not soil whatever it might touch. I am happy to be living in a neighborhood where my flowering plants are not vandalized.
At my last house we also had plants along the street and someone passing in the early morning ripped off the flowers on almost every plant just as they were about to open. It was very sad and frustrating even when I had tied things back away from the street.











You can see there is still a lot to look forward to on this mighty lily.

Also, there are a few more getting ready to do their stuff. You might also notice the gardenia adding it's perfume to the scene.






Lastly, I was in for another surprise. The plant my Grandmother called "rabbit ears" and others called "mother-in-law's-tongue", "snake plant", or in Japan, "tiger's tail", (Sansevieria trifasciata) ... was sitting in my upstairs window with a flower spike! I have had that plant forever in windows of every house but never seen any sign of a flower. I looked on line to see if that was common and noticed in Chinese it is called "Tiger's tail orchid" and there was a picture of an opened flower, a rather orchid-like spike. I don't advise running out to buy one and waiting thirty years or so for it to bloom unless you have a space that can use a tall bit of green. On the other hand, here is one plant that thrives on neglect and I learned it is also one of the best plants for improving indoor air quality by passively absorbing toxins. That, in itself, is enough but it seems I am to be blessed with flowers as well.