Jelly Roll Quilt Race

So last week in clinic, one of our regular patients asks me if I've ever seen a Jelly Roll race.  Blame it on the fact I've been dieting, but I envision a plate full of nice sweet jelly rolls with a bunch people having some sort of contest shoving them into their mouths.  Anyway, after my brief delusion, I said, "Oh yeah, a jelly roll... gotcha."  Now maybe my brain was still on the edible jelly roll, but I didn't quite get the full concept, so I Googled "jelly roll quilt race".  Boy was I in the dark!  Very cool, fun and hey, why not?

Joan's didn't have a full jelly roll and what they had was not to my taste.  Our local quilt shop here in Monticello did not have any jelly rolls, so I decided I would "design my own".  I chose 11 different cathedral batiks in a variety of colors.  The quilt shop lady inspired/insisted I throw in some brighter colors with the more muted colors I was choosing.  Anyway, after some trial and error, I chose 11 colors from the cathedral batiks.  The cathedral batiks are very cool in that they go from dark at one selvage to a lighter shade at the other selvage.  They actually look like they were gradient dyed.

Anyway, after purchasing too much (1/2 yd each), I went home and cut my 2 1/2" strips and started sewing them end to end.  After a couple of  "oops" sewing the strips together, I was ready to start the strip sewing.  Before I started sewing the strip together, I ironed the seams that joined them.  As I worked my way down, I kept folding the strips back and forth on top of each other.  When I was done ironing I had a neat fan folded pile of the strips.  I was able to take both ends, one at the bottom of the pile and the other at the top, line them up and take the whole mess to the sewing machine.  Unceremoniously I dropped the fan folded pile into a box to the left of my chair.  My eight year old son volunteered to sit beside me and kind of line up the strips.  In some ways, that just slowed me down, but for the most part I did sew pretty fast.  I did goof and run out of bobbin thread and that slowed me up to.  However, HOW that lady in the video did it in 25 minutes, I have NO clue!  I wasn't really "racing", but it took me about an hour and 15 minutes.  Even if I hadn't stopped to wind a bobbin or had to resew the area that I did with an empty bobbin, I don't think I would have been in contention.

The overall design came out fairly pleasing.  The kids are calling the Joseph quilt based on Joseph and the coat of many colors.  It also challenged me to work outside of my comfort zone.  The process is totally random and even if you try to "plan" your randomness, it is just not possible.  If you're like me and want everything planned and plotted, this will challenge you. 

The lady at the quilt shop here in Monticello had not heard of the jelly roll quilt race until I told her and so she was anxious to see what it looked like.  I took the top in today and she said she liked the way the colors came out.  We were talking, and as it is smaller than a twin quilt and my son seems to like it, I think I'm going to do some "piano keys" with the remaining fabric and then get some black to set of all the colors.  Working.....

Snowdrops have appeared!

We went out to the cottage today.  It was a "balmy" 41 degrees but wet and a little breezy.  Many of my bulbs in my yard at home have been peeking for more than a month now, so I was shopping for signs of bulbs at the cottage.  The few daffodils I planted are showing here and there about 1/2", but I saw no signs of daffodils elsewhere.

Imagine my surprise when I found two separate little clumps of Galanthus in the front yard.  One clump was by the front drive, so you could assume maybe someone had a flower bed there at one time.  The other little clump was in the middle of the yard.  I probably should have done an unethical transplant right then as now I will probably not be able to find it again!

There are certain spring bulbs that I really enjoy simply because they poke their heads out and defy nature's cold.  Galanthus, or snowdrops is one of them.  When I was out at the cottage yesterday, I either simply didn't notice the mentioned clumps, or they blended in with the scattered bits of snow that was still hanging around.  The foliage is a distinctive spring green that looks fresh in comparison to the grass that still looks tired and winter worn.  And then there is the obvious.... If the Galanthus can dare to grow and bloom, then others.... the crocus, daffodils and grape hyacinths will surely follow!

Now if you are thoroughly excited about snowdrops, you may check out Snowdrops: A Monograph Of Cultivated Galanthus (by  Aaron Davis, M. Bishop, John Grimshaw).  Personally, I am happy knowing that to enjoy they need to be planted in the fall with other spring blooming bulbs.  They do great naturalized as well as many of the other small spring blooming bulbs, such as glory of the snow (chionodoxa) or grape hyacinth (muscari).  However, after looking up the hillside to the cottage today, I think that naturalizing some snowdrops in the woods would definitely be a great idea.  I will definitely be doing some online shopping next year for an affordable source of bulbs.  And just so you know, if you want these, you will probably have to mail order or hope that your local garden shop will stock them.

 

Winter Blues

One would think winter blues are pretty blah.  However, winter greys are worse!  Earlier this week we got the 50 degree teaser weather.  Today was rainy and drizzly off and on.  It did stop raining long enough that I could go outside and clean the chicken coop and chicken run, but the sun refused to fight it's way through the clouds. 

I took a couple of pictures of a red squirrel, but even a red squirrel looked grey today!

Drove out to the cottage, desperately hoping to find some sort of relief from the grey, but the drizzle came back and even though it was 38, the wet cold permeated your clothes. I didn't see any deer, any turkey or even a squirrel.  I think they were smart enough to seek warmth and shelter.  I even looked to see if any of the daffodils I planted were peeking, but I didn't see a one.  Here at home there are bulbs peeking, but I guess I'm just overly anxious to start planting. 

I did find some bladdernut pods with their seeds in them.  Laying out in the cold like that, I'm assuming they will germinate easily.  Anyone need a bladdernut?

In a few weeks my kids have a week off from school for winter break.  I have taken that week off and although there is work around home to be done, I hope to go clean up some branches out at the cottage and cut up a couple of downed trees.

I will probably go set up my seed starting stuff tomorrow.  I have plans....  Maybe some little green seedlings will chase away the winter blues/greys!

Seed time!

January 31st.  Wow.  My greenhouse is still sitting outside... unheated.  I'm trying to be frugal and hold off heating it, so I think I'll get the seed mat out this weekend and start some seedlings downstairs in the basement. 

     I have a pile of seed packets from the local farm supply store.  Some annuals, some perennials, some vegies.  I also have an awesome order of native plant seeds that I recently ordered from Prairie Moon Nursery out of Minnesota.

     I ordered some anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) which is a great plant for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  I've grown it before and it makes a great perennial for mid to back of the border.  I like it paired up with daisies and the butterflies definitely don't mind!  It's also commonly referenced as an herb as the leaves can be used for teas and have a licorice like scent when crushed.


     For our wet, marshy area at the cottage, I'm going to try Alisma triviale (water plantain) and Calla palustris (water arum).  According to Prairie Moon, the water plantain has oval basal leaves about 12" tall and form a rosette.  A whorled panicle of small white flowers blooms during summer. It prefers full or partial sun and mucky soil or shallow, slow-moving, even stagnant water. It withstands drought better than most aquatic plants.  I'm thinking this will be perfect for the area I have in mind.  The seed does require cold moist stratification, so they are in the fridge!  The water arum also requires cold stratification and has dark green leaves with a white spathe style bloom.  I'll get back to you on the germination and growth for both of these.  I think my biggest concern will be if they dry out too much in the greenhouse once the bright spring sun start warming the greenhouse. 

    I'm also trying out some native shrubs.  Buttonbush, or cephalanthus occidentalis will be a great woodland shrub for some of the moist areas.  It will grow in full sun to partial shade and has interesting white flowers, again attractive to bees and butterflies.  It will even tolerate some flooding, which is a must for the edges of our wet area.  It gets 5-12 foot tall and 4-8 foot wide, so I have some ideas where to use it for a great screening plant.  The seed doesn't require any special pretreatment, so I'm hoping for quite a bit of success.  Who knows.... If I have too many (too many?  is there such a thing?)... I can always donate some to the neighboring boy scout camp for some of their wetland areas.
     The other shrub I'm going to try is Ilex verticillata or winterberry.  It is a deciduous holly that has lot of great red berries up and down the stems in the winter.  It's probably the hardest one to get germinated.  Per Prairie Moon it requires two periods of cold moist stratification.  I'll be pulling out my old college textbook on propagation on this one.  Anyway, the berries are great for the birds.  I'm hoping to be able to make a few naturalized groupings to create a little more natural screen between our property and some distant neighbors.  The other big hurdle I will be facing though is the deer.   I have read this is a preferred browse species, and we definitely have deer at the cottage!

Get ready... plant!

Red Bellies at the feeder....

 

Yes this is a red bellied woodpecker.  One might want to say a red headed woodpecker, but that's a different little guy.  The log suet feeder is a favorite with my woodpecker crowd.  I usually buy plain suet, already processed in plain blocks.  I melt/soften about 3 of the blocks, throw in a scoop or two of peanut butter and a cup or so of corn meal.  Then for the goodies.  Rural King was selling shelled peanuts by the pound for birds earlier this fall, so my first batch had a cup or two of that.  Then I usually throw in a a few scoops of high quality -- you know, the expensive kind -- of wild bird seed.  I go more for sunflower and peanuts than millet and milo.  Sometimes I throw in some raisins or other dried fruit as well.  Buying the plain suet is cheaper than other suet blocks and when you throw in your own ingredients you get a great mix the birds love.  Beware of the bargain buys on suet blocks.  Usually it's just suet loaded with millet and some cracked corn.  They'll eat it, but not if my suet is available!

Some great  information on red bellied woodpeckers and more pictures.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-bellied_woodpecker/id/ac

The birdhouse project.....cont....

As I speak, the husband has a 6" log he split open and is working on hollowing out.  Another bird house!

This is probably because in the blowing wind with little hard snow flurries blowing this AM, he hung the sapsucker house high in a tree.  Within about 20 minutes, a little nuthatch came and poke his head in the opening as if he was doing a little real estate shopping.  Not up to his and the Mrs. standards, he shortly flew off.  However, I think this helped inspire the husband to build more.  As we haven't bought more cedar yet, the woodpile was the next source of materials.

And wow!  I'm scared!  My son just came to get me for an inspection in the building process.  My husband is using some sort of "blade" on a grinder that has chain saw teeth at the way around it.  It's doing an awesome job but it looks like some sort of wicked medieval throwback!  Hmm... maybe the husband can't take up chainsaw carving....

The birdhouse project.....

I recently have been doing some research.  More specifically, I've been researching owls in Indiana. 

I have been told there is a great horned owl in the woods out by the lake cottage.  I saw him swoop from the forest edge and across the front of the car one evening, but I only saw this huge bird that I assume was The great horned owl.  I have also heard the owl, but as I'm not an expert, I can't vouch it's a great horned. 

Anyway, Indiana Woodland Steward had a nice article about owls in Indiana.
http://www.inwoodlands.org/our-hoosier-owls/

I am kind of bummed that the great horned will kill other owls.  I have the husband on board about encouraging more owls, so we've done some research on owl houses.  A site filled with bird house plans for a variety of birds is: http://www.50birds.com/D50BH.htm  We have plans to build an owl house or two and I have told my husband we will have to get busy if we are going to have them up before nesting season, but we're going to have to get some more boards!

The following picture is a nest box for a sapsucker as designed on the site above.  We had to make a few modifications as the plans call for 3/4" wood and rough sawn cypress is about 7/8" thick.

It is 12" floor to ceiling with 5x5" floor and an 1 1/2" hole 10 inches above the floor.  Now we just need to get it hung either here in our back yard along the wood line or out at the lake cottage.  My husband also had some used cedar on hand and made a bird house to the specifications for a downy woodpecker.  Again, we can use it here at home or at the lake cottage.






One of the next projects, besides the owl boxes, my husband wants to make a next box for a pileated woodpecker.  We have one that has been visiting our suet feeders regularly.  Actually, it may be two, as I saw what looked like one flying through the neighbors yard while the one below was perched around our feeder.