What a week, it was just work from sun-up to sun-down.  But I finished the taxes, including this years info, and seeing as my accountant is making me do it monthly from now on, I shouldn't get so behind in future.  Fingers crossed that I manage to stay on top of it now.

I wish I could just leap into the sewing again, but I"m a bit knackered after all that effort, plus the garden has to be tended now, before the colder weather arrives.  It's beautiful weather now, cool at night and very pleasantly warm in the daytime; it's such a blessing after the stinker of a summer we had.  I've got to go through the garden and get rid of the things that didn't make it; it's heartbreaking to rip out rose skeletons, and empty out the pots with the dead bodies of some of my favourite plants.  Oh well, seedlings will be in the shops soon, and I don't think my self-control will be up to the job of limiting the purchases of replacement plants.  Mereth and I always excuse it by telling ourselves that we don't smoke or drink, don't have manicures or even haircuts, (though after the last haircut I gave Mereth, she's been a bit wary of trusting me with the scissors again.  It's never a good thing to say 'Ooops!' while cutting someone's hair....)  We never buy new clothes, preferring to visit the op-shops; if our gardens are our major vice, as least it's a healthy one. 


I've sewn a few more blue and brown blocks, but I've been too tired and distracted to focus on them; my sewing time has been devoted to getting the sunflower blocks finished, so I can get this project into one piece.  I decided to reverse applique the background onto the block, and made a template out of freezer paper.  The centre was cut out allowing a genereous quarter inch seam; I wanted it to cover all the darker fabric beneath once it was appliqued in place. 

Clipping the seam allowance every half inch or so means it's really easy to press the fabric back over the template, resulting in a beautiful clean edge to sew down.  I take the paper out as soon as the edge is pressed, then mark the quarters of the frame piece so I can line it up with the points of the pieced sunflower.

 It's pinned over the block and then basted in place with neat running stitches; much easier to applique than dodging pins.

I've finished two blocks, and the other two are basted in place, so all I have to do is stitch them down.  That will take me an hour at the most, then I will be able to trim all the blocks to a uniform size, and actually start sewing them together.  I'm really thrilled with how it's looking, I can't believe (yet again) that I left this for 20 years.

This rose is called Candlelight, and it's flowering it's little heart out now.  I get such a lot of pleasure out of my roses, I love them all.  At a garage sale this morning I bought a garden swing seat, and I may set it up where I can admire my rose garden.  It will be nice to have a place to rest and contemplate the flowers; they say we should always make time to smell the roses!