Lala's Irish Chain - Week VII

It's week 7 of Lala's Scrappy Irish Chain Sew along!

I could very nearly hear that your machine was humming along last week.  Assembling the patchwork blocks was a big task!

I was beginning to question myself in making Lala's quilt so large... and then I remembered that it was supposed to be fun!!!  

I took a break and went for a walk and then had a popsicle because it was still hot the day I pieced all of them all a few weeks ago.  

I was refreshed and ready to go again after 30 minutes.

This week shouldn't require quite as much time at the machine.  This week's assignment is to layout the blocks and sew them together.

My design wall is not quite large enough to hold all of them, but I made do and improvised and enlisted some help from some pins.

I worked in 4 sections, labeling the position (upper/lower-R/L) and top rows.

This method allowed me to get the upper and lower right off the wall and removed my concern that the fan or AC would blow a few blocks off.  

I thought that I had meticulously paid attention to the cornerstone fabrics to ensure that two didn't end up diagonally to each other.  I was wrong...  I grumbled to myself and set on the guest bed... where Lala's quilt resides currently... and then I noticed it!  She had two cornerstones of the same fabric as well!

I'm in good company!  If it was good enough for Lala... it's good enough for me!  It stays. ;)

Story time!  When W.D. retired in 1939 he took up gardening.  From the article that appeared in a local paper in 1940 he said:

It all started 15 years ago with 25 tulips - the lovely flower garden that today brings so much joy, pleasure and health.

When Mr. Teegarden had stepped up to a clerk and bought those 25 tulip bulbs, he was a sick man; a man whose body was wracked by pain and whose outlook on life, at the moment wasn't very bright.

At that time, he was suffering from sciatica, which is plenty painful to say the least.  Treatments were giving him scant if any, relief.  He had been so afflicted for 18 months.

On the particular day he had been downtown for a treatment.  He felt his home lacked the beauty of flowers and by some unknown urge was attracted by the tulips, made the purchase.  

"When I got home," he relates, "I went out to set out the bulbs.  It was just about all I could do to get down on the ground and when I had finished setting them in the soil it was a painful job getting up and into the house.

My son suggested I accompany him on a trip into the country that afternoon.  I didn't want to go but was finally persuaded.  As we were returning home the pain that had wracked my body for more than a year suddenly left me.  It's never returned.

They tell me that getting down onto the ground, or in getting back up, I adjusted the nerve that had been giving me the trouble.  If I hadn't bought those tulips - well, I don't know if I'd be telling you any kind of story today."

From that start with tulip, Mr. Teegarden's flower patch expanded bit by bit.  Today it's a treat to view and inspect the array of blossoms and blooms of so many gorgeous colorings and variety.  He has made the utmost of his space.  His plants start blooming early in the spring and continue until frost, so diversified is his selections.

That's quite the green thumb!  I have never had that sort of passion for gardening.  Oh, sure... I enjoy a beautiful flower garden, but I am not willing to devote the time needed to achieve one.  I did, at one time, devote a great amount of time to a vegetable garden.  It was decades ago and it was easy with the rich black soil of the Midwest... I've bemoaned the difficult ground conditions in southern Colorado and short growing season of the area and never even tried. 

Short of a few herbs and hardy flowers that survive without my assistance, I am ok with leaving me with more time to quilt... Like Lala. ;)  You'll notice that she was not mentioned in the article. 

It's time to let you go work on your layout!  But before you go...

What is your favorite flower?

I love roses... the scent of them is intoxicating and transports me back in time to my childhood as I watched my Grandma T, as she would say, "get gussied up" and put on the tiniest bit of makeup... but wild roses capture my heart! 

Leave a comment 'cuz you know I want to hear from you. 

Keep Piecing,

Melva

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