Happy Flower Friday!
We have some nice selections today from readers!
Sue P.'s butterfly bush is still full of blooms!
How is your garden growing?
We have received some beneficial rain and the garden has perked up. Some of the plants remain stunted (like my mums who appeared to have gone dormant during the drought). But I'm grateful for the rain we have received.
These days, there are more patterns that feature bees and bee hives. This of course reflects that most of us are aware of the importance of beneficial insects. To be honest, I'm mostly keeping the flowers as they are for the bee keeper that lives down the street. Her honey bees are always visiting my garden!
There is only one old pattern I know that celebrates these wonderful insects. The Honey Bee pattern!
I'm hoping to get some gardening in this weekend while my husband is away at work. Last weekend, a neighborhood mother and her daughter asked what to do with the zinnia blooms that had bloomed and gone to seed. They are first time gardeners. I taught them how to cut the faded blooms off.
The daughter, nine-year old Corrine--has an affinity to biology and vocabulary. She was doing a good job. She called to her grandmother who lives with them:
"Look grandma, I'm decapitating the zinnias!"
This made us all laugh and then I explained that we actually call this "deadheading" which made Corrine's mother exclaim, "don't encourage her..."😂😂😂
What is going on in your garden? If you have any photos to share, please email them to me at allentownquilter@gmail.com!
Welcome to Tuesday's This and That!
Two more interesting tidbits about Queen Elizabeth:
The first is a quilt made by a woman living in Tulsa who made an amazing tribute quilt to Queen Elizabeth. Many articles reported that the woman was British and her name is Devida Bushrod. Please view the quilt here. My understanding is that the quilt didn't arrive at the Palace until the day the Queen passed. It is still an amazing textile and I really appreciate all the time Devida put into the quilt!
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Another interesting tidbit. Most of us love having pockets in our clothing. So apparently did Queen Elizabeth but when she was young, the pockets were sewn up so that she could not stick her hands in her pockets. There's an interesting article about this here.
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Finally, Sue sent me a photo of a vintage pillow that she has. The pattern looks vaguely familiar but I can't find a name for it anywhere. Have you seen it before? It is applique but doesn't appear in my Encyclopedia by Barbara Brackman. Anyway, I think it is a lovely piece!
Happy Flower Friday!
How is your garden growing?
Happy Wednesday!
I don't know about you but sometimes when I am working in the garden, I wonder if there is a quilt pattern to all the lovely flowers I see.
This year, I had challenges with marigolds. I bought some white marigolds at my local nursery. Unhappily, the plants had some kind of blight. The leaves became spotted and they all died. I've read that there is a blight called altermaria that can impact marigolds and clearly I had that. My neighbor down the street said she had planted zinnias and marigolds but only 2 of her marigolds germinated and they didn't last long either. Happily, it doesn't seem to be a neighborhood trend, many of my neighbors had successfully cultivated the golden and orange blooms.
As popular as the marigold is in the garden, I wondered if there was a quilt pattern that celebrated the flowers. Surprisingly, I only found 2! Yes there were embroidery patterns...but applique or pieced--just 2. Both were marketed by Nancy Cabot at the Chicago Tribune.
This pattern was offered in 1937. It doesn't resemble a marigold that much. I think all the petals on the flower might have been daunting.
Have a safe and happy day!
