Leaving July in the Prairie

I never paid so much attention to prairie flowers as I have this summer.  I guess that happens when you have a camera.

Chicory is my favorite flower in the whole wide world.  I wish they sold it at the garden center.

A young Queen Anne's Lace, often seen with Chicory.

A mature Queen Anne.

Purple Coneflower getting groomed.

Later in the year I won't feel so charmed by this Burdock, but right now it looks all soft and cuddly.  Now that I think about it, I didn't reach out and touch it, so maybe at this young age it's already prickly.

Deadly Nightshade.  You know what else is in the Nightshade family?  Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, paprika, morning glory, tobacco, and 2800 other plant species.  They contain alkaloids which can have an adverse effect on joints as well as nerve/muscle and digestive functions.

The alkaloid levels in our edible vegetables is much lower than in the other plants, and cooking will lower it even more.  Still, be sure to get rid of the sprouts and green skins on your potatoes, since they are indicators of higher levels of alkaloids.

I clearly remember eating some of the red berries of Deadly Nightshade when I was young.  Nobody told me you shouldn't eat them, and our yard was filled with raspberries, so to a child, it was just another fruit.  They were really bitter, and I quickly ran to the house and grabbed a glass of milk that was sitting on the kitchen table.  That was completely warm and disgusting, so I spit that out, too.  Not my best day.

 

Cup Plant leaves, so named because of their cupping form which hold little pools of water for birds and insects.

Here it is blooming - see the "cuppiness" of the leaves?

No, it's not a repeat.  This is a Compass Plant, another really tall yellow prairie plant.  This one is named after its tendency to follow the sun as it moves across the sky.

It used to be so frustrating to not be able to tell them apart.  But it's really easy ....

The difference is in the leaves.  Remember how the Cup Plant had those cup-like leaves?  The Compass Plant has these really flat leaves, with lots of lobes.

Curly Dock, looking decent at this stage.  Later in the year the seed heads are one big mush of dark brown.

I don't know what this is.  I'm hoping my gardening friends will enlighten me.

Crown Vetch is on Indiana's list of "Most Unwanted Invasive Plants".  And it's toxic to horses.  Pretty nonetheless, and the leaves look like those of the Sensitive Plant, a houseplant we used to have.  I don't see those for sale any longer - that's too bad.

Lots more wonderful prairie flowers to look forward to next month and beyond.  Number one on my list to keep an eye out for is Hog Peanut.  I just like saying it.  Hog Peanut.

 

Monday is Fun Day - Napkin Holder???

Monday is the day we look at fun items I've collected from vintage or new sources.  I bought something at a resale shop over the weekend, and I'm not sure what it is.  I think it might be a napkin holder.

I have books in it right now, but I've also tried out patterns and fat quarters and they all look good.  I like the versatility of this piece.

The base is 4" tall, made of glass and plain old brass.  Since it only cost a few dollars, that's what I'd expect.  I like it as much as if it were crystal and gold-plate. 

For the time being, it's sharing space with some other sparkly objects and a couple of my orchids.

Have you read any of the "Sew Zoey" books by Chloe Taylor?   I'm slowly collecting the whole set.  They're meant for tweens, but are of interest to anyone who likes to sew.

Thursday is Purse Day - Black/White/Yellow Tote

Several years ago I made a tote bag from Terry Atkinson's Happy Hour Book. 

It's 16" tall (including the handle), 10" wide at the top, and 4" deep.

The handle is attached with a button and seed beads.

Same fabric on the other side, but with a different repeat.

After cutting the tote bag from the strip set, there were leftovers, so I made a small, coordinating wallet.  

There was no pattern - I just made a quilted rectangle, bound the edges, folded it in thirds, and hand stitched the sides.  There's a snap to keep it closed, and the stitching on the snap closure is covered by the linear golden "chicken bone" bead that I used when attaching the front and back of my Voodoo Purse.

I like the patterns and books from Atkinson Designs because they're attractive, modern, and simple to make. Two summers ago, I made this Urban Cabin quilt from one of her patterns. See this post for details on the inspiration.

Monday is Fun Day - Bookends

Monday is the day we look at fun items I've collected from vintage or new sources.

I really like bookends, and if they weren't so expensive I'd have lots of them.  How can a little thing cost so much money?  For most of my life I made do with the metal institutional ones, until last year when I found this set at a garage sale for just a few dollars.

They're nice and heavy, but very porous and rough.  I keep a little flannel coaster under them to protect my bookshelf.

I was going to paint them some bright color, but a friend said she thought they looked good white, so I left them alone.  Now I'm glad I did.

If It Feels Bad, Don't Do It

I'm in the midst of making a string of charity quilts, and my latest one gave me a bad feeling, as in "ICK".

This little guy is a lap quilt for someone sitting in a wheelchair.   I had no plan in mind when I started, as you can probably see.   Each individual bock was sort of fun, and I played it by ear as I cut strips and sewed one hunk to another.  And to tell the truth, I used some of my less than favorite material, since I'm trying to use up my stash this year.  When all the blocks were sewn together, I hung it on the design wall, stepped back, and felt not so great.  

I started on my second lap quilt, but my eyes kept going back to this one.  Every time I looked at it, I felt bad.  I just couldn't give it away.  I was tempted to throw it out, when I remembered a piece of advice I'd read: "If it's too ugly, you just haven't cut it small enough."

This is my "after".  I cut the top in strips of varying widths, and interspersed it with long vertical strips of a light Kaffe Fassett.  I would have used more of the Kaffe, but I only had one fat quarter.  

Now your eye has a place to rest and the lightness gives it a little breathing room.  Not my best quilt, but at least it no longer makes me feel bad.

Kenyan Pendant Book

Years ago, I stopped at the gift shop of a local art museum and bought two Kenyan pendants, thinking I might use them in a piece of jewelry.  A few months later I read an article in National Geographic on human evolution, where they referred to Africa as "the cradle of humankind".  I wanted to write a little book on the subject, and remembering the pendants, I decided they would make interesting book covers.

To hold the book, I made this box which nestles in rockers, like a cradle. I made the rockers from foam core, wrapped with a knobby brown yarn.  

The box is hinged with a piece of fabric that features an African mask.  I fussy cut it and satin stitched around the edges, then glued it to the box top and bottom.

The title of the book is printed on a thin sheet of hand-made paper, cut in the shape of Africa.

To open the box, you pull on the zebra "knob", (a button).

The inside of the box is lined with fabric from Africa.  The book is on the right.

This is the front of the book.  The pendants are 2.5 inches across.  I don't remember what they're made of - I thought they told me it was some type of shell, but whoever saw a perfectly flat shell?  They clink like some type of natural material, so maybe they're polished stone.  And they're smooth as silk.

The back.  You can see the pages peeking out - circles of hand-made paper, each a different color.

To attach the pages and the pendant covers, I put a rivet in each page, then strung a piece of leather through all of them.  (The pendants already had a hole.)  I knotted the leather close to the pendant.  For added decoration, I strung a variety of beads and buttons on a piece of yarn.

Page one, with a clear view of one of the rivets.

And here is the complete book, fanned out. 

Monday is Fun Day - Tape Measures

Monday is the day we look at fun items I've collected from vintage or new sources.  

I bought these tape measures at The Sewcial Lounge.  The colors caught my eye, so I bought one of each.

Sitting in a clear acrylic housing, the mystery of how a tape measure works is revealed.

Today is National Tape Measure Day.  By this time next year, I'm going to have lots more tape measures.

I don't use them; I just admire them.