Quilted Rocks

What do rocks have to do with textile art? Not much, except it’s been in the back of my mind for a year or two that I should cover a rock in quilted fabric. Having plenty of leftover rocks from our landscaping project left me with no excuses.

I’m not exactly sure how this will all come together yet, only a rough plan. I don’t intend to cover the rock completely, but will leave holes so the rock can be seen. The edges of the quilted section will be finished with free motion threadwork done on wash away stabilizer.

I had attempted to construct a pattern by covering the rock with tissue paper and then again with masking tape, cutting it off with a knife, then adding darts with scissors until it laid flat. This worked a bit. I think the multitude of darts I had would just look messy and confusing.The tape was more difficult to cut than I thought it would be, and the edges were a little jagged. I will try again with a sheet of paper, scissors, and maybe some double sided tape.

I picked a fabric color which would look nice against this rocks dull yellow-gray color. Since the colors reminded me of sand and water, I quilted a small piece of the cloth with motifs which made me think of water and rocky shores and then painted it to add a little dimension and highlight the texture. I kind of like this as is, but will continue with my plan to cut it up once I figure out the shapes I need.

    

 Out in the front yard, Doug has laid the edging board for a brick walkway next to our very narrow driveway. Camilla and I leveled sand and laid bricks the last couple of days. This will give us room to get out of the car without stepping on plants or gravel, and provide a walkway to the backyard.

Getting a Little Bit Greener

This is what our yard looked like at the beginning of June before we had the lawn removed.

Today was spent laying out edger board along the right side of the driveway for a walkway next to the car. It was perfect weather for working. It stayed overcast most of the day. We got about ten minutes of sunshine and about two minutes of very light rain. We have lucked out this summer, and haven’t had any very hot days.

Yesterday we planted some low growing Manzanita plants. This “Emerald Carpet” variety only stays less than a foot tall, but will spread up to six feet. Camilla spread bark around the plants today.

We have just a small edge of the garden planted. We will be very busy the rest of the summer, and maybe fall too.

Working a Little Larger

The current project is a little larger than the quilts I’ve been making. We had the front lawn removed a month and a half ago, and it’s finally starting to look like more than a dirt pile. All three of us have been busy working on it.

I claimed laying the landscape fabric as my job. The fabric we got is very similar to a stiff Pellon non-woven interfacing. I spent most of yesterday interfacing the entire area while Doug hauled wheelbarrows about and Camilla started arranging rocks to separate the gravel areas from the planting areas. We both played with rocks some after all of the cloth was laid.

The pile of sand will get spread as a base for a stepping stone walkway.

Several yards of gravel and redwood bark is getting delivered later today. We may take the day off from working, and go shopping for plants.

A Day Off For Gardening

Painting just the trim has been a bigger project than I thought it would be. I overestimated the amount of paint we would need, so we are painting the back and sides as well. Why the front was in worse shape than the rest of the house, I have no idea.

I’ve been spending the evenings working out the final details for this quilt and stitching down pieces.

I started this morning pruning a bush back to make room for the ladder. Which lead to pruning back the neighbors apple tree which was hanging over the fence and brushing the house where I would need to paint. Which lead to pruning back an aeonium succulent that was taking over. I thought it was choking out my kangaroo paw plant that was nearly hidden by the succulent. But after I took out the aeonium, I found it thriving and looking as good as it ever has.

We ended up going to the store for potting soil and perennials. I repotted an aloe vera, some Christmas cactus cuttings from my mom, and some broken stems I rescued from a sidewalk. Camilla arranged a small succulent plant with some small snippets in a larger pot. The perennials got put into two large pots that needed attention.

Succulent Persistence

Succulents tend to be pretty hardy, often thriving even when they don’t get the best of care. Despite their hardiness, I managed to kill off a small potted one a few months ago. The top rosette still looked like it had some life left in it, even though the roots either rotted or dried up. I tried rooting it in with a different houseplant. My attempts at reviving it failed, so I threw away the dried up leaves. I seem to have missed one leaf. Look what’s happening now, with no help from me except some occasional watering.

New Succulent Plants

There is a garden in the neighborhood with the most amazingly beautiful succulent garden. I stopped there today, because there was a plant sale in progress. I bought five dollars worth of succulent plants which would rival any nursery succulents I've seen. They will be a welcome addition to my garden, and should add nice variety to my succulent series.