Cloth story for now

This cloth is ready to take a rest now.

Here it is when I had just a few seams left to stitch. I enjoyed seeing it in folds as I maneuvered the strips into place for stitching.

Here’s the last area to be stitched on the last square. I pinned it from one side to make sure it would end up even. Lots of pink in this corner, a prediction of the shift to come? I’m visualizing more warm colors, more light colors, and maybe triangles?

I took the cloth outside to find a place to photograph, ending up on the side of the A-frame trellis in the corner of the garden. The trellis came with the house, and makes a nice display area. The cloth looks square, but I’m not sure of the dimensions. I have to measure it again. I’m thinking this is half done, but maybe it’s more than half.

Moving back, a view from the side. The chicken run is in the background. In a few weeks, I’ll plant cucumbers, which will climb up this trellis. And green beans on the other side.

Moving back further, showing all the commotion as Sam rehabilitates the garden rows. He’s digging out the paths, sifting out the new topsoil in that circular device (a trommel), and refreshing the paths with woodchips. It’s a big effort. There’s a small patch of peas planted, the only green in the garden right now. And I have some seeds planted and mulched in the short rows, lower left.

We got our soil test results back – never done a test before, and I thought I should. Our soil is high in biomass, has optimum pH, and optimum or above optimum for most other things tested. Better than I expected, but we’ve been using a lot of hay mulch every year, and it has to go somewhere. We use very little manure, just whatever comes from the three chickens.

I’m taking the pressure off myself now that this half-quilt-top is stitched together. I’ll return to stitching squares, hoping someday to have enough to lay out the upper half. Hard to tell when that will happen. For the near future, the garden is a priority.