Going from cross stitch to embroidery has been a nice change to my stitchy routine, but boy do my fingers hurt! Haha! It will take some getting use to. For the SAL, I have decided to pick up the Beeutiful QAL, which is a free embroidery project from The Moda Bakeshop. I started this quilt along back in 2016!! Wow, talk about your UFOs. I’ve been stitching a couple of blocks here and there over the years, but I’ve decided to finish them now with your encouragement! There are 20 blocks total and I’m currently working on block 12.
Here’s one of the last blocks I shared you with you back in March of 2019:
I was almost able to finish Block 12 – Bee Grateful. All I have left is to complete the bee with some black satin stitches, remove the stabilizer, and use fabric to applique a black entry way into the bee skep.
The sunflowers are my favorite part of the block. Lazy daisy stitches in a variegated yellow thread and dark brown french knots to fill the center is so sweet ❤ I should have a finish on block 12 and a start on block 13 next time we meet.
We post an update on our own project every three weeks and encourage each other to make more progress and stay motivated. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the SAL group has progressed with their projects this time around. Read along with me by clicking the blog links below:
First of all, Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s reading this. Secondly, sorry for such a late post! I spent the morning sewing masks for my dad, which he just picked up and I was able to wish him a happy father’s day.
Here’s where I was last time on Time of Flowers by Alicia Paulson of Posie Patterns:
BEFORE
I was able to finish a do a little happy dance! The girl has some color conversions to make her a little more like me 🙂
With this finish, I’ve decided to bring back an old embroidery project. Do you remember my Beeutiful QAL? A sweet bee themed embroidery project of blocks that will be sewn into a quilt top. I’ll be working on block #13 for our next update!
We post an update on our own project every three weeks and encourage each other to make more progress and stay motivated. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the SAL group has progressed with their projects this time around. Read along with me by clicking the blog links below:
Hello fellow gardeners and crafters! Part 1 of my garden tour can be found here, and shows you the right side of my entryway flowerbed. For part 2, I’m going to show you the left side of my flowerbed, which is brand new. I also want to share with you my shade planters that sit next to my front door. Again for reference, I live in a zone 8a. You can check your zone here.
The first plant here on the edge of this flower bed is one I planted last year. It goes by many names, but some common ones are Blanket Flower or Firewheel. This plant is considered a wildflower and is prolific bloomer! The honeybees love it and so do I! Mine receives full sun and does wonderful in drought conditions. Grows 1-2 ft HxW and should easily reseed itself. I’m hoping to find seedlings in the future, wherever it chooses to come up. Zones 3-9.
Next to the blanket flower, I have planted another Autumn Sage. I shared information about this plant in my last post. While it’s currently small and new, it will definitely get bigger with time.
Next we have Gregg’s Mistflower, which is a butterfly magnet! I planted this last year from cuttings that my mom took from her own garden. It grows in a ground cover fashion and is native to Texas. It grows about 2 ft tall and spreads, takes full sun, and flowers summer through fall. I don’t have flowers to share yet, but I will update you when I see those beautiful lavender wispy blooms. Zones 7-10.
Another new plant in this bed is Black and Blue Salvia. This plant attracts hummingbirds and other pollinators. It grows 3-4 ft H x 2 ft W, takes full sun, drought tolerant, and produces electric blue flowers on black stalks. The foliage is dark green and textured, which is very beautiful as well. Zones 8-10.
Mom just bought each of us a perennial Butterfly Weed and I decided to plant it in front of the gregg’s mist and salvia. The monarchs use this plant to lay their eggs, offering the plant as a food source for the caterpillars. I think this little pocket will be an excellent butterfly magnet! It will grow around 2ft HxW and is drought tolerant, zones 4-9. Are you picking up on the theme of drought tolerant plants for my garden!?
Next is a trio of Fine Feathered ‘Parrot’ Coneflowers. This is a new hybrid variety with thinner foliage than the common coneflower. It also features striking bloom colors of red-orange and yellow. Takes full sun, zones 4-9, 2ft HxW. The flowers are a little raggedy right now, the bugs are loving their taste apparently, but I think it will grow stronger in the upcoming years.
Some of the blooms are a little faded in color. I will need to do some research here.
Eaten petals, but look at the vibrant colors!
Garua is one of my most favorite perennials. I have two other varieties in the garden. This third variety is new to me and I’m excited to see the flowers once it starts blooming. Belleza Dark Pink Gaura is a shorter variety, but still wonderfully drought tolerant. The foliage is green and red and is stunning on it’s own. The flowers will be dark pink as the name suggests and I will have to share an update when they show. Zones 6-9, 1-2 ft HxW, blooms summer through fall.
For now, that is all I have planted in this bed. I just continued the bed around to the east side of my home. I have laid out cardboard, topped with mulch, and prepped with soaker hoses. Hopefully it will be ready to plant this fall.
Now onto my shade planters that sit under my covered front porch. I’m generally not a fan of potted plants, only because I’m bad at keeping them watered. I definitely want to invest in self watering containers that I’ve been seeing on Garden Answer on Youtube. Highly recommend her channel for all your gardening fixes! There are containers with water reservoirs at the base, which means you fill it up and not have to water daily as you would normal planters. Anyhow, my shade planters don’t have to be watered as frequently since it’s in the shade, but nonetheless, I need to keep an eye on them as our summer heat sets in.
In the back of the planters I have one Dracaena Spikes ornamental grass plant that is evergreen in the winter. I planted them last year and survived my poor watering habits! While it can reach 3ft tall, mine stays smaller due to the container and shade conditions. This plant can take a sunny location if you desire. Hoping it gets a little bigger this year as I try to keep up with watering. I’ve been doing better at it since my front flowerbeds are doing so well that I find myself out there more than normal. Flanking either side of the spiky grass thriller are red leaf pink begonias. They did very well for me last year and so I decided to plant them again. In between the begonias, I planted one polka dot plant which is new to me this year. So cheerful, I love the pink spotted foliage! This plant prefers moist soil and so, I have already witnessed it’s dissatisfaction with my watering habits. It quickly bounced back with watering, but now I know!
We’ll tour the backyard garden on my next post. Thanks for reading and happy gardening!
