Block #7 of A Tale of Two Cities

This block is called 'Churndash'. It is block #7 for the Toronto/Yokohama wallhanging. To hand piece this block you will need the following.

Templates

1. a square template measuring 3in. by 3in.

2. a rectangular template measuring 1 1/2in. by 3in.

3. a triangular template made by cutting a 3in. square template diagonally in half.

Place templates on the back of your chosen fabrics. Outline templates and cut out adding a 1/4in. seam allowance all around.

Cut 1 piece using the 3in. square template. (this can be the background fabric or whatever you like)

Cut 4 pieces using the 1 1/2in. by 3in. template of your churndash fabric.

Cut 4 pieces using the 1 1/2in. by 3in. template of the background fabric

Cut 4 pieces using the triangle template of your churndash fabric.

Cut 4 pieces using the triangle template of the background fabric.

Layout the pieces as in the block below. Notice that I used a pink for the centre. That was purely for balance of colour in my wall hanging. The original Churndash pattern is done in two colours.

Sew your pieces together.

I have enclosed a suggested layout of four blocks that we have already made. The finished quilt will be 3 blocks by 3 blocks. All blocks are 9in. when finished. (9 1/2in. before sewing together)

Notice the thin blue fabric at the top of the house block. I had to add that to make my house block measure 9in. by 9in. For some reason I had cut it too short.

Email me if you have any problems.

Sky Watch Friday - Life's a Beach!

Ahhhhh. On the beach at

Cayo Coco, Cuba! Need I say more?

If you want to see more beautiful skies please go to Sky Watch Friday.

Sky Watch Friday - Lovage

I thought I would show you my Lovage plant against a sort of mundane sky. I love the way these seeds look. This plant is well over seven feet tall! I can stand under it and look up to see the wonderful lacy flowers and seed pods!


Lovage is a herbaceous perennial. It is also called Maggikraut or Maggi plant. Its seeds and leaves are used to flavour soups and stews. It is a cousin to celery and has a similar growth habit and taste. I bought this plant at a sale of the Scarborough Horticultural Society. I had no idea what it would turn out to be, but I am really happy with this tall plant. It is considered a good companion plant and is said to have qualities that keep insects and diseases away from other plants.

Lovage has been used as an antiseptic to treat wounds. It has also been made into a tea to treat digestive disorders.

Family: Apiaceae. Genus: Levisticum. Species: L. officinale

Common Names: Lovage, Maggikraut, Maggi plant.

Skywatch Friday

I have always been fascinated with the sky. Whether it is a beautiful cerulean blue or swirling with thunder heads and promises of storms, dark black and sparkling with a billion stars, coloured with an artist's paintbrush, or just there for birds to fly in. I love the ever changing sky! That is the reason why I have decided to join the Skywatch Friday. Go have a look. Beautiful skies from across the globe.

This photo was taken right here in Scarborough, Ontario. I was on my way to McDonald's to buy dinner for my family. I was still gainfully employed at that time and I just didn't have any energy left on a Friday evening to cook a meal. The kids loved my rather sketchy mothering skills. And I had my camera with me! Lucky me. It is one of my favourite photos!

Sunshine

Sunshine

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely.

Sunshine almost always makes me high.

- John Denver

Daisies

I know that fall is on its way, but let me show you one of my favourite summer garden flowers - the daisy. Daisies are hardy herbaceous perennials and therefore, very easy to grow. They can be grown from seed. but are just as easily grown from container plants available in garden centres in early spring. This first photo is of my tall Shasta Daisies. They grow about 3 feet tall. They flower throughout July and last for a long time. If I deadhead them, they will continue to produce flowers well into September. This tall variety makes for a good cut flower.


It is thought that the name, "Daisy" comes from "day's eye" because the flowers open in the early morning. I haven't really noticed this with my daisies. They tend to open and stay that way for several weeks. The flowers are made up of white petals around a yellow centre. The centre is an assortment of hundreds of tiny tubular Florette's. This makes the daisy an effective pollinator. Over the past few weeks I have noticed that goldfinches come to sit on the spent flowers and eat the seeds. Yesterday I heard their familiar chirping and noticed that I had dozens of goldfinches, black capped chickadees and vireos in my garden. They were busy eating the seeds of my lavender and coneflowers too. It was such a happy sight!

This next photo is of a different variety. It is a smaller daisy, growing only about 10-12inches tall. I planted this one several years ago and I have lost the tag that went with it. I think it is one of the newer varieties, since the flowers are much whiter and larger than my Shasta Daisies. Daisies are in the Asteraceae family. There are over 20,000 species! They include daisies, asters, gerberas and dahlias. Lettuce is also a member of this same family as well as artichokes, sunflowers and endive. Their genus has been under dispute. Some botanists now list it as Leucanthemum but it had earlier been listed as chrysanthemum.


Daisies have astringent properties and have been used in folk medicine as a skin cleanser. In ancient Rome, surgeons who accompanied warriors into battle extracted the juice from sackfuls of daisies in order to treat spear and sword wounds. This pale yellow one is my favourite!



Daisies are simple, yet sophisticated. They are one of the most beautiful in the floral world - at least in my opinion. They convey cheer and symbolize purity and innocence. According to Celtic legend, each daisy represents a child who died at birth. As the daisies bloom each year it is a gift from God. These are the flower whose petals are picked off one by one as a hopeful young girl yearns, "he loves me, he loves me not, as in Goethe's Marguerite in "Faust". Old wives tales believed that eating daisies would stunt your growth, hence the saying, "please don't eat the daisies". And who can forget the daisy chains we made as children to wear on our heads, in our hair or around our necks and arms? According to medieval tales, a girl wore a wreath of daisies on her head to tell her suitor that she accepted his proposal of marriage. And let's not forget the morbid saying, "pushing up daisies", which came from the poet John Keats when he announced on his deathbed that he could already feel the daisies growing above his casket.

Family: Asteraceae.

Seeing Yellow - Rudbeckia

My garden is bright and sunny at the moment. The yellow from my Black-Eyed Susans lights up the flower beds, even on overcast days! Known by the botanical name of Rudbeckia, they are a wild flower in many parts of the United States. There are about 20 species, which include annuals, biennials and perennials. I started with only one tiny plant about 20 years ago. Since then I have divided it many times. My plants are growing all over the neighbourhood! My DD told me that her garden is now covered in them too. And her neighbour also has a whole garden full because of the plants which she gave her a few years ago. I don't know what I will do with all these plants next year. I guess I'll just put them into pots in early spring and set them out by the road for friends and neighbours to help themselves. This is Rudbeckia fulgida Goldsturm.

The next photo is of Rudbeckia hirta. They look very similar to the other Black-Eyed Susans, the R. fulgida Goldsturm, but this one is an annual or perhaps a biennial. It might have come to my garden from the fields and ravines around us. The flowers look the same, but the leaves are very narrow on this plant and it grows tall and lanky. The other Rudbeckia in my garden are more compact. Their leaves are rounder and the plants don't grow quite as high. The R. hirta come up all over in my garden, but the R. fulgida Goldsturm only grow in the established areas or where ever I plant them.

A few years ago I planted a couple of plants in my front garden, right by my front door. These have taken over. They are about three feet tall and blooming like crazy! They are a happy welcome to visitors to my house. These plants are often called cone flowers because of the dark centres which form a high, round centre. Goldfinches love to come to my plants and eat the seeds out of the cone-shaped centres once they have ripened.

Family: Asteraceae. Genus: Rudbeckia. Species: R. hirta and R. fulgida Goldsturm.

Common Name: Black-Eyed Susans.