I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Amaryllis and Piano Keys


Hi on a rainy Tuesday! If you're bored with my indoor gardening posts, you can now skip down for an update on my current quilt project.



My amaryllis project came crashing to an end the other day. I was ever so proud, I had recycled last year's plant and, with patience and coddling, coaxed out new growth this year. My bulb produced two tall stems, each with a bud that was opening to show four flowers on each stem. Impressive.


But then---crash. The TALL plant must have been too weighty and it fell, tipping over onto the floor. My mom's treasured Dansk hyacinth vase shattered.

I ran to the rescue  along with curious Mo, who had to be shooed away. What a mess.



I put one stem, with two remaining flower buds in a new vase;



and the bulb and the other stem, just one flower left, into a very tall Mason jar which I thought would hold it and support it all. I have the idea that the bulb requires the flowers to complete their life cycle for the bulb to replenish and survive. But then that stem was also too broken and had to be cut.






They make unusual and beautiful cut flowers!








The bulb is still in its jar of water, showing new green leaves. I plan to get some orchid medium [as advised by Dorothy] and to plant the bulb, start the growth cycle again for next year. I am not giving up.




This was the smaller hyacinth vase I was worried about, that it would topple. So far it is okay with the prop of wooden skewers,.







But this bulb---sigh. This paperwhite was the runt of the batch, no growth in the big vase, so I gave it its own place in a favorite beach-found little jar.






I love its bright white roots and that the water didn't go brown and murky.


It still is a runt, growing any which way.



And then BOOM/ crash! It too toppled over and its jar shattered.

It got its own Mason jar and looks hopeful. I don't try reusing these bulbs, so no loss except my pretty jar that is [once was] stamped with a honey bee.

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To cheer myself up, I got these lovely parrot tulips from the market, only 4.99.









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Rainy days, like snow days, are good for sewing. I'd love to have Blue Baskets finished by March 1st, but won't push it. I've been mindlessly sewing the piano key border. I plan to cut the 10 x 8 inch segments in half so the border isn't too big or weighty. So then I suppose they will become Chinese Coins, but probably for me they'll always be Piano Keys.



They are quite fun to make. Someone, again I think Dorothy, told me originally that my Keys were either too light or too dark, needed more contrast in value. I tried, I really did but it's not that easy. I don't have so many lights I like.


And in fact I've almost entirely used up my stash of blue shirts, unless I have a few dark-uglies stashed with the green plaids and put away. I'll need to seriously replenish if I want to someday make QB's Mama Lou Sings the Blues, which I so love. You can see her blue string quilt HERE

Off topic: there's lots in quilt-land about scrap quilts. SCRAP? Here is what I think when they mention using their scraps and I never find this mess appealing. But I am coming to the enlightenment that what is meant is  maybe smallish cuts but not floor scraps. Someone tell me? Can I throw these away or what?


Mo is not charmed by the drizzle.


We did get out and we found snowdrops in bloom. Not a showy flower but such a joy in mid winter.







Message to QuiltGrandma: I need your address to mail you the quote panel!

Have a good week.



love

lizzy

gone to the beach...
































10 comments:

  1. I had to stake mine this year even though they were in soil in a terracotta pot. I’ve had the stems bend over. The colour of yours is beautiful, I must look for a red one for myself.

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  2. Oh how sad for the amaryllis;000 --one of mine is just sending up a green shoot--[yes, I rescued them from the dark closet and am hoping for some blooms; the other one is just a brown crinkley mess--but I think I see a tip of light green in there!]
    Your shirts will make a lovely border....
    out to stock up today....;000

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  3. Your amaryllis is such a special red. One feels warm just looking at it.
    I keep every scrap of fabric bigger than 1" - a lost cause but useful for the tiny Temecula sewalongs!
    Love the subtle chilly beach shots. Penny

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  4. Darn, I'm so sorry about the shattered vase, especially the family one. Heartbreaking when that happens.

    Scraps? It all depends on how much the fabric was loved. I'll save pretty small pieces of my favorites, but trash the rest.

    Your piano keys looks great!

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  5. So sad about the flower vases, especially the heirloom one. The flowers are glorious though, both amaryllis and the tulips, with that boisterous 'look at me' red. I tend to throw away most scraps under 1-1/2 inch square but occasionally will use a 1" strip for a flange type border. Should I send you a bunch of blue scraps?

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  6. Your flowers are so pretty. Sounds like you are figuring out a good system with them by hook or by crook! Love seeing your piano key blocks. That little bit of text fabrics just makes me smile. Love that addition so much!

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  7. The amarylis I had for years I just planted in a regular pot in regular potting soil. I didn't even do the closet thing, I just let it bloom when it felt like it.

    Sorry about your vase & cute jar. I guess tall flowers need weightier containers, or lots of rocks in the bottom to balance them!

    My mom made 'scrap' quilts, sewing odd scraps to squares cut from newspaper then trimming them square before setting them together. My job (when I was maybe 4 or 5?) was to carefully tear away the newspaper after they were sewn together, lol. I can still remember doing it, I felt so important! Mom mostly used strips and bits at least 1.5" wide. She always wanted to make a postage-stamp quilt but it was too time-consuming. I would say scrap quilts are a personal preference thing - if you don't want to make one either toss the scraps, or maybe collect them in a bag or box to give away to someone who might want to use them. Or maybe use them as stuffing in a toy for Mo!

    We had a couple of soggy days, too. Makes it very hard for me to stay awake in the afternoons!!

    Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Yes you can throw away those scraps - or not ;) - I would save some bigger bits maybe and toss the rest. I'm all for "waste nothing" but draw the line somewhere and it's actually satisfying to sweep up the little floor scraps and toss. I'm sure that would upset some people, but, oh well!
    When it's precious bits of indigo and especially vintage indigo, I do save just about every sliver. Beautiful flowers, so showy and nice.

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  9. Oh, poo! Such a shame about the family vase, and your bee stamped jar :( Hmm, I think we have all learned something from this experience of yours. My neighbor used to have red amaryllis all through her front flower bed. She used to cut them, and give me a vase full! She pulled a lot of them out a few years ago, along with the calla lillies. So sad.

    The beach looks chilly, brrr.

    Kel

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  10. Oh no! So sorry about the loss of your Mom's vase. So sad. Did you save the pieces? Kit

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