Tag: rabbits

Cool WIPs and Finishes

I’ve been terrible about blogging lately because I keep so busy working on various projects!

However, it is time that I took advantage of the WordPress app on my phone to assist me with some posts. So let this be my first post written and published on my phone.

The title of this post may confuse some people who are not makers of things. A WIP is a work-in-progress. And I have a lot of WIPs. Many people who do what I do also have WIPs in excess of 2 or 3. That’s why you’ll sometimes see a YouTube video titled WIP Parade or a blog post about WIPGO which I have never participated in, but stay tuned.

So today, on this gray and chilly Sunday, I will post about my WIPs. But first, let me share with you a few finishes that I’m very pleased with.

The blackwork embroidery shown here is my first ever. I stumbled upon the designs at The Steady Thread on Etsy, and purchased the pattern here called Deco Cornflowers. I tried this on 28 count Monaco fabric and completed nearly one side of the intricate border then it all fell apart because somewhere I miscounted and therefore made a mistake which threw off the entire thing. I tried fixing it by picking out the mistake but it led to confusion, anger, heartburn, and a general malaise so I put it in time out. And I realized that the designer called for Aida cloth, not an evenweave such as Monaco, so I began again. And this time, I began from the very center out, and voila! It was a pleasure to stitch and I ended up visiting The Steady Thread website and purchased 4 (eek!) more designs.

Next finish is this quilt, which is called a string quilt. I started this within the last 5 or 6 years when I lived in Illinois. It’s another first for me. I had never been involved in a string anything–quartet, theory, bikini–okay maybe string cheese but I digress. I pieced this quilt in Illinois and then neatly folded it and placed it in a corner of my closet. So here in Minnesota, I dug it out and went, gee, Jenny, it’s time to finish this quilt cuz it’s really pretty and very nearly finished! So I attempted to quilt it on my regular old sewing machine and I literally couldn’t even manage a straight line. So I just happened to mention this project to a crochet acquaintance and she said her mom had a long arm quilting machine and she would do it. So I shipped it off to Nebraska and probably started 10 more new projects, because that’s what I do!

When the quilt came back from Nebraska, I purchased some binding fabric (twice, because I used the first fabrics for yet another project). I made a non-bias binding because I needed the stripe to line up in a perpendicular fashion to the quilt and I finished it. And man oh man, I love it.

Next up is an Easter quilt that I started and finished within a very short amount of time for me. My mother-in-law was mentioning that she didn’t have a wall hanging quilt for spring or Easter so I decided to get to work planning one using fabrics from my dear friend and talented designer, Sharla, and other fabrics I purchased at Joann’s. I discovered the amazing foundation paper pieced designs by Made By Marney and purchased a few bunny poses. This was so fun to put together and quilt

Next up is a small foundation pieced and hand quilted project, also for Easter, for my dear friend. This was yet another bunny design by Made by Marney that I modified to have three dimensional ears and “grass” in the basket. This was really fun to make. I simply affixed a ribbon to make it into a little wall hanging.

One more finish is one of the Chalkfull cross stitch patterns by Priscilla of Stitching with the Housewives and Hands On Designs called Hip Hop. This is also for my mother-in-law who has already received two other Chalkfulls mentioned in a previous post.

Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I present to you my cool WIPs…

Foundation pieced quilt blocks made years ago and now finally made i to a quilt top.
English paper pieced stars to be made into a large tote bag. I’m making one star per day with these 30’s Playtime fabrics by Moda.
English paper pieced hexagons to also be made into a tote bag.
The Bramble and The Rose by Inkcircles. This is my second start. More on that later.
Chalkfull design Bloom in progress for you guessed it, my mother-in-law. (She’s a lucky girl!)

I’m also working on Feast of Friendship by Blackbird Designs. I’m nearly finished but when I took it out to work on it last night, I realized I overstitched because that Dutch method of stitching is so nicely repetitive, I find I stitch more than I needed to. So I need to fix my error. I will have plenty of time to finish this and get it framed by Thanksgiving, which is my goal.

I have a few other cross stitch designs that have small starts but not a lot of talk about here. Basically my days lately have consisted of some English paper piecing, a little work on Bloom Chalkfull, and also work on the Inkcircles design as well as Feast of Friendship.

Next post I want to cover more in depth the English paper piecing I have only recently learned about. It’s so cool. It adds even more “cool WIPs” to my life.

Thanks for stopping by!

When I’m not feeding the rabbits….

I was doing a little gardening today, and I took a bag of baby carrots outside with me to munch on, along with my iced tea. And I thought, “Gee, there’s a rabbit over there! I wonder what it will do if I toss it a carrot?”

But I need not toss any carrots to the rabbits that hang out in my yard, because the rabbits spend all their time eating everything in my yard. Grass — okay, I have plenty, go for it,. But my hostas! My lilies! They devoured all my black eyed Susans two years ago. Oh, and I nearly forgot — all the coreopsis.  I told myself, no more perennials. It’s way too expensive and I am not so ambitious to fence off all the numerous plants. I have tried the sprays and other remedies to repel the rabbits but these pests are hardy and they give no sh!ts.

So since we have put our home up for sale so we can move to Minnesota, I knew I wanted to spruce up the garden area around the patio, but I don’t want to spend any more big bucks on plants. Besides, the last perennials I put in this particular problem space (it’s a problem for other reasons besides rabbits) did not make it and thank God I had the receipt because they were new Invincibelle Ruby Hydrangea plants and they were pricey.

I have planted annuals in this space instead, and let me just say, even though they cost less, it’s still like setting money on fire when the rabbits keep eating them. The first time I planted some annuals in that space, I went to Walmart and picked up some very low-priced but good condition plants, like petunias, dusty miller, alyssum, snap dragons and coleus. I also found three red ranunculus plants that were relatively inexpensive. I put them in the ground and stood, admiring my work. Sure they were puny (except for the ranunculus), but they would grow and fill in and look oh, so lovely alongside the patio. Potential buyers of my home would see this outdoor space as I do — a nice backyard getaway with pretty things to look at.

The rabbits, though, had other plans. This area is now known as the Best Neighborhood Salad Bar for the little creeps. It didn’t take long, despite my trying to spray the deer and rabbit repellent all the time. The petunias went first, then the snapdragons. I was really surprised they ate the dusty miller, because I was under the impression that rabbits don’t like leaves with the little “hairs” on them. They do. They really, really do. All I had left were tiny stubs of plants. The alyssum went untouched.

For the second planting of the Salad Bar, I went to Lowe’s and Googled rabbit-resistant annuals. I already knew marigolds would be a good choice. I used to live around Amish country in northern Indiana, and the Amish gardens were surrounded by a few rows of bright orange and yellow marigolds. Smart! Those rabbits should not venture in to get the cabbage and carrots and such.

So at Lowe’s, I purchased marigolds, albeit small ones (trying not to spend a lot!) and small vinca. My good friend said the rabbits shouldn’t bother the vinca.

Again with the spray. Spray, spray, spray. I have a 2 or 3 gallon container of this stuff.

And what do you think happened next?

If you guessed the rabbits dined well, you would be correct. Ding ding ding! Turns out, rabbits in suburbia like marigolds. They like them so much, they eat them to the ground. And in some cases, they pulled the little root ball right out of the ground. As I sit here writing this post, I am aware that my blood pressure is rising up a little as I recall finding what was left of planting number 2, I have the most annoyed look on my face, and I want a cocktail. But it’s 1:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, so I will stick with iced tea. I should mention, the vinca have been relatively unscathed. I noticed a few bites from some of the leaves, but for the most part, the rabbits leave them alone.

So guess what I did.

I went back to Lowe’s and got vinca. I also wanted white geraniums to go along with, but they didn’t have what I was looking for. They had 12 packs of vinca on sale and I purchased two. I decided this is it. I am not planting anymore plants for these little beasts to devour. THIS IS IT YOU GUYS.

These particular vinca are larger than the last ones, so hopefully it will fill in the area nicely.

Unfortunately, I did not save photos on my phone of the first two plantings. But here is what I accomplished today. 

These vinca are kind of droopy in this pic, but an hour later, they have really perked up after a little water and some time to adjust. The smaller vinca in the darker pink were from the second planting.

I also did a neat little project today because I had a ceramic planter with a dead outdoor bonsai plant and figured a little fairy garden would be cute and I can take it with me to MN. I simply bought a little $10 kit with miniature things from the store, and one little fake succulent plant. I figured I might have some tiny plants leftover from the First Planting of the Salad Bar, and I could pop those in there. I also had some bonsai materials from Eastern Leaf, like gravel, that I used.

Pretty cute, huh? I love the tiny little mushroom picks. So as you can see, I have two live plants in there, and one fake succulent. My friend also gave me some leftover wheatgrass seeds from her daughters’ fairy gardens. I planted some in there and I hope they come up! I kind of want to make a miniature lawn mower to trim the wheatgrass. OR, I could set the container in the yard and let the rabbits trim it.

Thanks for stopping by!