Goodbye to Piper Jean

Last night

My little granddoggy, Piper Jean, passed away this morning, after fighting hard for a week to hold on.  My heart is so sad, and her papa will just be lost without her.

Fall of 2014

She was 13 1/2 years old (we think), and smaller than our cat.......half poodle/half long-haired chihuahua.  Just the sweetest baby ever.

September 2014

We will miss her terribly, and at our ages, we probably will not have another dog.  Kitty, Lottie-dah is already wondering where she is.

Oh, the indignities our pets suffer !  She was such a gentle soul.

God heard my prayer to let her last til morning,
so that we could be beside her when she passed,
and not wake up to find her gone.

Rest in peace, sweet papa's baby 

First of 2 star tops finished

JoAnn has asked me to piece two of these star tops, and I finished the first one this week.  She sends me the fabric and pattern, and I piece them and send them back to her.  This one arrived at her house today according to the tracking updates.

This is Hero's Tribute, by Liz Porter, for Love of Quilting magazine.

I must wait on more background fabric before piecing the second one.  Plus, she is sending Jennifer's embroidered state flowers quilt back out to me to be hand-quilted.  MaryEllen basted it for me on her longarm quilting machine, I think.

And, I have been told that my niece is expecting her third child, a boy, after having had 2 girls, so I'm trying to decide what I want to make for her.

My Crape Myrtle bushes are really showing the results of the Miracle Grow spikes that my husband insisted on using this year.

I had fun with this shot of the driveway flowers, taken from inside the double Rose of Sharon bush.

I really like this Coleus that I put out into the shade garden to grow among the new Hostas.  This Hosta on the left that is doing so well is called "Fragrant Dream".

Contrary Wife, Ornery Husband, top finished

Immediately after making Kelley's "Bejewelled Hearts" wallhanging, I returned to Jennifer's quilt top and added the borders to finish it.

Once again, I didn't have room to lay it out flat in my home for a photo, and the heat discouraged me from hanging it on the clothesline.  Besides that, I was afraid that it would pick up dirt from the yard, as it measurd over 80 by 90 inches.

But I got the quilttop sent back to JoAnn and she was very pleased.

I am now nearing the end of piecing one of two couch-sized tops for her, using the same fabrics (if there is enough), but putting a red border on one, and a blue one on the other.  I HOPE I can make myself piece the SECOND one !

Here's a peek at my progress thus far:

 This is a pattern that was published in "Love of Quilting".  It is called "Hero's Tribute", and was designed by Liz Porter.  There are lots of 4 inch stars still to be added, and then rectangles of various background fabrics to fill in the holes.

My Rose of Sharon bushes are blooming now, as is my Butterfly Bush (not shown),

the Crape Myrtles are showing out beautifully,

 Hubby's Moss Roses are putting on a nice show along with his Morning Glories.

Bugs are really prevalent this year, making a mess of all the foliage on these flowers.

And the Jerusalem Artichokes have begun to bloom, although something is eating off nearly every bud before it can open !

Bejewelled Hearts

Finally, I can share the little wall-quilt that I made recently.

My daughter and son-in-love celebrated 10 years of marriage on July 2nd.  Actually, thanks to His selfless mom keeping the three kids, they were able to celebrate for the entire week of June 29th through July 5th !

Romantic guy that he is, Tim arranged for them to be able to drive out to Washington State together, just the two of them, and revisit the beach where he proposed to her 10+ years ago.  In private, the two of them renewed their vows to each other, and enjoyed a short stay at the same resort as before.  It was a 2-day drive each way, starting from Oklahoma, but she says she's never enjoyed the trip MORE !

Ahhh......the after-laundering shot....all crinkly and luscious !

So, while they were out there, I was here quilting her wallhanging.  I mailed it Monday, and they got it on Wednesday.  She says that they'll probably hang it in their bedroom, which has softly colored apple-green walls.  And to quote my son-in-love, from Facebook....." Awesome! Thank you so much mother-in-love."   

That made me very happy, as I have referred to him as my "son-in-love" for years now, but it's the first time I've seen or heard of him calling me "mother-in-love" !

The quilt finished at 18 x 38 inches
 and was inspired by a quilt featured in McCall's Quilting Magazine's
January/February 2010 issue.
That quilt was called "Love in Bloom", and was designed by Judy Blok.
You can google it and see the original.

I know it's a bit of photo overload, but I just can't get enough of the photos !

The Hibiscus are blooming!

And they are quite beautiful, glory to God our maker !

This medium pink Hibiscus is growing out near the edge of my woods.

This one is my favorite, the only dark pink one that I have.

This one is my most prolific bloomer

This one is underneath and behind the mailbox, and I continually have to tie it back out of the way of our mail deliverer.  It will have to be moved this Fall.  Last year, it had a bit more pink to it than this year.

Rain, rain, glorious rain.......we've had lots of it !  The squash fell apart and curled up, but the cucumbers are producing fairly well.

Look at all that grass in there !   I told Hubby that I wasn't fooling with the vegetable garden, it was HIS responsibility, so.....Oh, well, he's enjoys it as is, so that's fine with me.

 I've made approximately 7 pints of sweet pickle slices, and we enjoy them with our supper.
The okra started really taking off, and now if we receive some dry heat, I'll be able to cook up a little mess for the hubby. (EDIT:  I actually was able to gather a little 'mess' just now !)

Sadly, the tomatoes are knobby little things, and some of the plants were ravaged by the biggest ol' tomato worms I've ever seen !   GROSS !

Peony.....I don't know what color !

And this is a Peony that Rose shared with me last month.  It looks like it is making itself at home, and I look forward to having my first blooming Peony next Spring !

Well, on the sewing front, I'm back to work on Jennifer's Contrary Wife top........after a short detour on another project !  I hope to be able to share pictures of that one as soon as I get word that it was received in the mail.