Here's the finished "Dozen Roses" quilt:



I really like how it came out. I like the regularity of the pattern - it looks really good all together. (And it makes it easy: once you figure out a good layout for the first row, the rest of the layout of the quilt is set). I could see making another quilt like this but in different colors and fabrics. (Maybe Christmas fabrics...I have some of those tucked away).



The outer border is a pink "Dimples" fabric (the dimples don't show up in the photo...they are a very regular pattern of small dots; the story is the fabric designer printed the first trial fabric for the line using a golf ball...and the pattern of dots does look like the pattern you see on a golf ball). The inner border is a marbled fabric I had a small piece of in stash, no plans for, but it worked well here.

The other big thing I did this weekend was to spend several hours Saturday working in the yard. (I wore gloves and a long-sleeved shirt this time, and I also worked in an area where I've not seen poison ivy before (though I did find one plant of it, and carefully cut it out at the very end, right before I went back inside and washed my hands and arms and face with cool water - which is supposedly a good way of removing the oil if it's not been on very long). I cleared out most of the little narrow garden on the north side of the house. It's hard to know what to put in there because it's a lot shadier than the rest of the garden. (fennel seems to seed itself in well, though, so I'm thinking maybe I should just buy some more perennial herbs and plant them there. I like having an extensive herb garden, even if I rarely cut them to cook with).

I also bought six tomato plants: three romas, and three of a variety called German Queen (it's an heirloom and is supposed to have large, purplish-red tomatoes). I tried three places in town and none of them had my old favorite Arkansas Traveler. But I may be running to Sherman one day in the coming week, so I could try at the big nursery there - and if they don't have 'em, I'll just buy three more of some other variety to fill in. Maybe Heatwave, that one seems to do well here.