X and + quilt top...............

The X and + quilt top is pressed and posing for a photo.  I'm thinking that maybe the binding should be the white with black print that I used for the background in all of the blocks.  That is a ways off though because it won't get quilted right away.  I have a couple wallhangings that need to be quilted first.

I normally have a big zinnia garden but most of the seeds I planted didn't grow.  I'm letting this little flower bed fill back in with grass so it is not a big loss, just a little skimpy looking this year.

Even though the beetles are here this year they haven't destroyed the Rose of Sharon bushes like they usually do.

This one is a little bluer lavender but the camera wants to make it pinker.

The pop-up-shop is open to the public today at noon EST.  Only subscribers to the newsletter list have access before then with their password.

Shop opens and 6 seams sewn.............

I sewed the 6 cross seams so now this X and + is a quilt top, another finish for July.  I will press it and photograph it this morning.

My pop-up-shop opens today at noon EST for all of the subscribers to my newsletter.  If you have signed up before you don't need to sign up again.

I showed a video yesterday with information about the shop website and how to navigate it.  In case you missed it yesterday here is the link again today.  The photos all enlarge in the shop so you can see products up close and the video shows how.

A helpful video..........

Video Tour of the Pop-Up Shop

This video is a special surprise preview of the pop-up-shop that opens on Monday.  It includes tips to navigate the shop site with all of its features while revealing the items available this time.

This is the first time we have ever shown what will be for sale before the password to the pop-up-shop is given out to subscribers.  

If you aren't a subscriber you still have time to sign up to get 24 hour early access to the shop.  (Read on to understand why early access is important.)

Everything in the shop is one of a kind; original quilts, wallhangings, and quilt tops, some of which are my very favorites.  

Also for those of you who are stash builders you will love my red and green varieties from my personal fabric stash.  There is only one pack of each variety.  (Don't worry I have plenty left for myself.)  

The shop opens on Tuesday to the public but history shows that many things will be sold out by then.  

Because I really care about my readers I want you to have equal opportunity to buy exactly what you want.  All you need to do is subscribe before the password is emailed out, Monday noon EST.

Good morning!..........

We watched a movie last night and it was late when it was done so I forgot to get a post ready.  We are still working hard to get everything ready for the pop-up shop that will open Monday at noon EST for the subscribers of my newsletter list and Tuesday at the same time for everyone else.   

I took this photo in the dappled sunlight in the very shady garden in the backyard.  It only gets sunlight in the earliest hours of the day and is a great place for hostas.

News.............

As I told you last week my daughter and I have been working on another pop-up-shop.  All subscribers to my newsletter list will be getting an email soon with more details.  If you are already on the list you don't need to sign up again.  We're planning on opening the shop at noon EST on Monday July 30 to the subscribers for an early 24 hour access.  Everyone else will have access on Tuesday July 31 at noon EST for the duration of the shop.  We haven't finalized how many days long it will be.  Watch for that email and if you don't get it look in your junk/spam folder.  (It is amazing how many legitimate things go into my junk mail folder continuously even if I check Not Spam.)  Then a second email will reach the subscribers at noon on Monday EST with the password.  Remember it is case sensitive....if it is in all caps, that is the way you need to enter it.

You can thank my daughter for the wonderful photo in this post.  All I did was hold the small wallhangings for the backdrop.

Sewing a few seams.............

During the course of the day yesterday I got the 4 vertical seams sewn that web the rows together on my X and + quilt top.  Since seams aren't pressed in opposite directions at intersections it took awhile to sew each long seam.

On my walk around the yard I was taking photos of some of the Rose of Sharon blossoms but what I noticed when I got to the computer was the clear blue sky.

I check my tomatoes every day and there are some large ones on the Rutgers plant but none have turned color yet.

My 4th of July plants continue to give me plenty of ripened golf ball size tomatoes and the Early Girl has had a few red ones too.

Nature's beauty..............

The berry thing is on the Striped Jack-in-the-pulpit again.  I wonder if the birds carry these around and drop them to start new plants.  I just usually leave them where they are and I don't see a bunch of new plants where they were.

The Tiger Lilies don't need any special care like watering.  I like plants like that.

The Coneflowers have bug eaten petals but they are still pretty because there are so many of them in the back garden.

Thanks everyone for all of your comments.  I should be back to answering them soon.

More of the garden..........

While my daughter and I were out in the garden Sunday she had me hold up my WIP Kaffe fabric colorwash.  It was a nice overcast afternoon and the setting was perfect! This was posted on my Exuberantcolor Facebook page yesterday so if you follow it you many have seen it there already.

Flowers and more flowers.............

I have flowers inside too.  I received this bouquet from a friend on the east coast.  Doesn't it look beautiful with my grayed lavender walls?  

I have never seen a lavender rose before.  I suppose they probably dyed it somehow.

The balloon flowers are all in full bloom now.  These were pink when I planted them about 14 years ago but they are closer to white each year now.

The Rudbeckia is still early in its season so there is a lot more yellow to happen in both front and back gardens.

I'm beginning to think about fabric.....between naps.......and walking, dr. orders after surgery so no blood clots will form.  I have a pile of old gardening magazines to go through before I take them to recycling too.....a different kind of busy than I am used to.

Just a pretty flower................

All of the Rose of Sharon Bushes are blooming now.  This is the pinky lavender one with a red center.  My blue lavender ones are on the other side of the house.  Weather has turned a little cooler so we can have windows open.  I hate the noise of the window A/C units and am enjoying quiet time.

On the inside looking out...........

This is my view of the garden from inside for now.  The sun was bright when I took this photo so the colors are a little washed out.  It is really very colorful.  I love it when the coneflowers, Rudbeckia and Orange Tiger Lilies are all in bloom at the same time.  The Tiger Lilies will be done after a couple weeks but the other 2 will bloom the rest of the summer if we continue to get rain.

I am feeling better each day.  My family has been fixing all of my meals and staying overnight.  I will have a live-in family member for a couple weeks so I have plenty of help and can get a lot of rest.  Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes.

I"m home...................

My beautiful view from the dining room window

I'm home, sore and have 6 weeks recovery, but part of that is sitting in a chair and walking around so I won't get blood clots so I'll be checking in now and then.  The dr. says take lots of naps.  Thanks everyone for your prayers and well wishes.  I know the worldwide support helped me get through this surgery.

Passionate Quilter - Teacher

Guest Post by Vicki Hanson-Burkhart (Wanda’s daughter)

Wanda Strope (Hanson)

Thank you all for the thoughtful messages and prayers for my Mom. As she mentioned in yesterday’s post, she had to undergo major surgery and will be away from the computer for a few days or longer while she recovers. 

Meanwhile, I wanted to share with you the link to a new page on the Exuberant Color website that reveals a little background of why my Mom is such a great person, quilter and teacher, and give you a glimpse into her beginnings in sewing and quilting. You’ll discover her passion and productivity goes way back...before I came along:)  

Take a peek at an Interview with Wanda S. Hanson. 

Coming soon...........

I have been working hard in the background getting ready for another pop-up shop that will be coming soon, but real life got in the way.  I'm headed for major surgery tomorrow morning so I will be away from the internet for a few days.  I'm sure you have questions, so do I, and I won't know the answers until a week or more after surgery so no details here today.  My daughter Vicki is an administrator on my blog too and will post a surprise for you while I'm away from the computer.  I probably won't answer any comments today.

If you have a spot on your prayer list for one more name, I would be so grateful to be included.

I have to show you how much the Impatiens have grown along my driveway where I had the bushes pulled out.

This is the rest of the view showing my 3 tomato plants and a couple Hostas in pots where the flowers ended.

Moving strips............

In this photo I have moved 2 strips from the left side to the right side to change what will be the center of the quilt.  Not sure if I like this so I will move some more.

In this photo I have moved 8 strips over and I like it a little better but I'm not done yet.

In this one I have moved 11 strips from the left side to the right side and I think this might be where I will stop.  I like the purple Wood Ear print as the row that will make the complete diamond from edge to edge around the quilt as well as like the center.

Now I need to move all of the strips back to the left side of the design wall so I will have room to design the rest of it.

My red Wegiela bush continues to have scattered blooms on it.

And a Purple Coneflower photo just because it a true sign of summer and so colorful.

TAW progress and organization..............

I have the number of strips unpicked for the top left section plus the center row.  Now I can move the strips one at a time from the left edge to the right edge until I like the center (bottom right corner).

I have been wanting to organize all of my groups of blocks that haven't been sewn into a top yet.  I used my one hour to work on an old project yesterday to finally do it.  I put a label in each one with number of blocks and size plus any other info I thought I needed.

I just happened to have an empty medium size storage box to put them in.

The Rudbeckia in the back garden are just starting to open.  We got .65" rain yesterday so I expect to see a lot more open today.

I have just a couple blooming in the front garden surrounded by an invasive vine type plant that I am ever so sorry I ever planted.  It has totally taken over the front garden along with the Periwinkle Vinca.  It sends its root underground to start new plants so it is really hard to get rid of.

The Tiger Lilies in the back garden are probably going to open today.

This is the first bloom in the front garden yesterday.

Working on the TAW............

I sewed the last seam in all 5 stratas and pressed that seam.  Then I cut a strata into loops.  I have unpicked the first strip and put it on the design wall.  The arrow points to the seam that needs to be unpicked on the next loop.  All you have to do is look at the seam between the top and second piece and identify that seam to unpick in the next loop.

Second piece unpicked and placed on the design wall.  Identify the seam between the top 2 pieces of that strip and find it on the next loop and unpick.

I got 8 loops unpicked and up on the wall.  I decided to stop there and cut the other 4 stratas into loops.

The lilies are doing well this year.  The first 3 years they were in this location they didn't bloom and I was afraid I would lose them.

The Lemon Lily is pretty but doesn't photograph very well.

Pressing..........

I finally got around to pressing the 5 stratas for my Kaffe Trip Around the World quilt.  Next step is sewing the last seam to make a tube and pressing that.  Now I need to find my note for what size to do the cross cut.  I customized the measurements for this one instead of using a size from a chart I used in my classes.

These are Rutgers tomatoes.  They are a little larger than 2 of my other varieties but still a smaller tomato.

This group is on a plant called 4th of July and has been my earliest tomatoes ever.  I have gotten at least a dozen ripe tomatoes from the 2 plants.

I also have two Early Girl plants.  This one is in the raised bed and the other is along my driveway.  

The evil Japanese beetles are here.  They have eaten all the leaves off my flowering Cherry bush and now they are starting in on the ferns, milkweeds and Rose of Sharon.

Today the humidity is supposed to roll back in with the temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s.  I went out last night and pulled bindweed out of one garden and cut a bunch of volunteer trees.  Between the high humidity and scattered rain predicted I probably will stay in the cool basement and work.