Wednesday, June 1, 2011

WIP wed: Garden and Biochemistry

"Don't Call Me Betsy" is hosting this week's WIP Wed!  Come join us over there.

Last Wednesday on WIP Wed over at Freshly Pieced's blog, I once again admired all of the lovely hexagon quilts there.  I made my first one last week, my "Caffeine molecule hexie".  This set in motion a whole new quilt idea using hexies and biochemicals.  In college, Organic Chemistry was one of my hardest, least favorite subjects, but in the lab, it was incredibly important.  In practice, in the lab, it was much different than in theory, so it's been a long, long time since I thought about bonds and elements, rings and chains.  I must admit that researching these for a potential quilt has been much more fun than years ago studying for classwork.

I'm hoping to get all of the fabric picked out and the hexie part of the blocks done before an upcoming road trip.  After struggling to get my machine to do the bonds and letters of the elements in the right places for my caffeine molecule, I decided I'm going to try to hand embroider (!) these in my quilt!  Any ideas on how to do it, or what stitches or floss to use would be much appreciated!!  I have the usual DMC floss, a hoop, and needles... I'm hoping to do the embroidery during the time in the truck on the road.

I also got my fabric and packet in the mail from the Sisters Quilt Show Quilt Block Contest for Sisters Oregon Quilt Show.  I already have an idea for that too, but am not quite ready to share.

We spent the long week-end getting our garden all ready, a major WIP (hmmm maybe I should make a garden quilt next LOL).  My husband has outdone himself this year!  He likes to create with wood, and cut and made a bunch of trellises and supports for our tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and squash. 

He also set up a new method of growing potatoes... each bin has them planted in the bottom, and as they grow, the idea is to keep covering them up with mulch and straw (and soil?) so they grow up to the top.  When they're ready to harvest, you just open up the bin and there they are (or so we hope).  I helped plant seeds and set up the irrigation, and also spent a great deal of time removing "rockscaping" in our yard to make planting beds.  Backbreaking work! 

I actually haven't touched my sewing machine in almost a week, so I'm hoping to get back at it today!  I can't wait to see what everyone else is working on over at Don't Call Me Betsy!

8 comments:

Elizabeth Dackson said...

Wow, your garden is so impressive! And I love the idea behind your hexagon quilt, it's definitely going to be super special and unique :) Thanks for linking up with WIP Wednesday!

The Thompsons said...

Love the garden! I'm in the middle of getting mine dome as well. I need to finish planting.

LisaAnn said...

Your garden looks so nice already! I have so much more to do, I'm jealous! I love your creative idea for the hexagons. It will be nice to see them. Backstitch is a great go-to stitch for lines like that but lately I'm loving stem stitching even for letters and such.

quirky granola girl said...

love the biochem notebook photo. i've forgotten all of that info now but those molecule drawings still are sexy. i designed a hexie shape last year and thought of biochem, too. but i never looked up the shape i made to see what it might be.

Marsha Cooper said...

I so long to have a large garden. One that we can depend on for a lot of our food.

Melinda said...

Okay, I love your molecules idea for your hexagons. I think it would be cute to tie the molecule type to what you're making; the caffeine molecule goes on a mug rug, the water molecule goes on a water bottle carrier, vitamin C molecule on a basket of oranges. Cute!

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

For the embroidery.... I would use 1 or 2 strands of the floss or 12 perle, a fine short needle and if you are doing small letters/numbers then the back stitch or the stem stitch..... have fun....

monika@mysweetprairie.ca said...

molecules!??

DANG YOU HAVE TERRIFIC IDEAS! ; )

Monika