Coffee Grounds, A Year of Cottages and Kats

 I'm showing off my lily because this is the first year in about 4 or more years that it has bloomed, and the secret is coffee grounds.  This poor plant has been attacked by small red beetles every year, and nothing I did worked (I do not use poisons, just bee friendly, butterfly friendly and pet/people friendly things.)  I always throw coffee grounds in the garden and this year I threw them directly on this plant, just by accident.  I noticed after a few days that there were no beetles (after I picked off one.)  So every day this lily was covered by coffee grounds and every day it grew.  And it made me happy by blooming.  Now I'm using coffee grounds directly on any plants that show bug damage.  It's pretty darn good.

 This month we sewed a small portion of the non-black kats bodies together.  So I'm up to date on this project (PatchKats designed by Denise Russart.) 

 A week ago I completed the last little house in the A Cottage Year quilt, designed by Kathy Schmitz and shared with me by Lesley of The Cuddle Quilter.  I devoted whole days to getting the embroidery done and felt great when I cut that last floss.  But now I have to put them all together.  Not sure what I'm going to do.    

I like the way this looks, but have to get the right fabric mix for the log cabin strips that finish the block.

My apologies to Sharon of Vroomans Quilts for leaving out the quilt block charm from my "Let's Book It" prize.  When I opened the package I was so happy with the sewing machine that I stopped looking for anything else.  Isn't it neat?

I have a few more Lynette Jensen books that I'm drooling over, and I'm loving her quilt, "Twilight Village."  It's in The Thimbleberries Book of Quilts published in 1998, and it fits right in with the current house block designs that are popular.  I will probably work on it along with the Cottage Year quilt.  That should keep me busy for awhile.

Hope you are enjoying your quilting time.

God Bless You.

Canterbury Bells

A clowder of kats.

Bird House Finish

 

In A Thimbleberries Housewarming this design is called Hide Away.  My version is a bit brighter due to the yellow fabric.  

Besides having a sweet wall hanging, I was the lucky quilter who this month won the Let's Book It pin that Sharon of Vroomans Quilts awards to one of the participants.  This pin is the cat's meow!

How cute is this?  It reminds me of my grandmother's peddle Singer.  Thank you, Sharon.

I'm hooked on Lynette Jensen's designs now, and got this book from the library.  

I love the cover quilt.

It's a simple star block, but the color usage of the background neutrals just makes it different.

But, I also borrowed a Kim Diehl book and want to make every quilt in it.

As soon as I can get my head out of these books I'll start another project.

I'm recuperating from cutting the grass this afternoon; I picked the most humid day to do it, but I finished before the thunder storms moved in.  

Hope all is well and you get some sewing time.

God Bless!