PAPER ORCHIDS. . . Amazing!!!

The most amazing thing happened this year to one of my orchids. Well, first it bloomed for NINE months!! It set buds last December; bloomed in January, and kept right on blooming! This plant kept its flowers until mid September when we had a very hot spell and all the fans in my house were going full-boar! I think it was the hot air hitting it that finally did the blooms in. Here's the amazing part: the flowers never dropped... they dried right on the stem!

Phalaenopsis... bloomed for 9 months!

Usually the blooms turn a bit brown and yucky, and then drop. Not this year! The flowers became like fine, thin paper. Translucent.

Orchid's center dried in tact

In the close up photo above, even the orchid's "veins" are apparent. I've been growing orchids for years -- decades actually, and I have never seen anything like this. Very exciting.

Until next time. . . Thank you so much for popping in to visit. I might go sew some string blocks this afternoon... what are YOU up to?

Quilty Hugs,

TINY HSTs: Trim Technique with BlocLoc Ruler

First, please let me explain why I have been MIA for six days. It has been my birthday week with lots of celebrations and doings. . . now we return you to our regularly scheduled blogging. . . lol

Ruler on pink fabric so you can see it better

Have you tried the relatively new BlocLoc rulers? They are really amazing. Love the accuracy! A short demo vid to watch is HERE.  Sew tonight I was making little 1.5 inch HST and thought I'd share a few photos with you:

Align 'frosted' grove on diagonal seam - trim first two sides

Rotate ruler, slide down to desired size - final trim of last two sides

better with print center... or...

is it better with the Pink center???

Last Wednesday morning as I took a quick leap into the front yard to grab my newspaper -- I was still in my jammies -- up pulled the FedEx truck with a box. The most delightful little Orchid planted in a pink polka-dot latte cup was inside! Surprise. So fun. You know who you are... and thank you again very much!

Until next time. . . I will be printing shapes on fabric with Inklingo and working on the COTSG Mystery. What are YOU up to?

Check out what others are doing: linking to Connie at Free Motion by the River.

Quilty Hugs,

A NEW BEGINNING - a baby orchid

Look at the pic closely. . . do you see it? A tiny orchid is just beginning. It will be quite a while before it opens at the top of a long willowy stem and shows off its beauty. We will all just have to wait. I'll try to post a pic every 4 weeks so you can enjoy the process right along with me. Orchids are so facinating!

Orchid bud just beginning

One of my darling kidlets recently went to Germany and Austria for a couple weeks of vacay. They had a grand time and brought some goodies back to share with me... CHOCOLATE!  And it was all in a darling wooden box.

 

So... let me tell you... this chocolate was [notice the past tense here...lol] sensational! Totally yummy! Too bad there were only 9 pieces in the box. Or maybe that's a good thing... good for my hips anyway.

 

All gone! :( ... but the box is great! If i don't store bobbins in it, perhaps it will be a good place to keep my zipper fobs.

Until next time. . . I'm sewing mug rugs and sorting UFOs... what are YOU up to??

Quilty Hugs,

ORCHIDS IN BLOOM & BOUQUETS, Too

Just a quickie post to share a gorgeous bouquet from my #2DD Laura. On HER birthday she sent me flowers to thank me for "our day"! Love that girl! The other pics are of some Orchids in bloom. Aren't they spectacular? I love Orchids. In the close-ups, if you look closely, you can see some of the "bearding". Isn't that neat?

Hope you enjoyed the little floral show. Thanks for stopping by for a visit -- see ya again soon.

Quilty hugs,

WAIT! IT'S NOT SPRING ...YET! Orchids are giving an early show. . .

Isn't this gorgeous? I couldn't resist trying for a very close close-up of the center of this cymbidium orchid. Aren't the colorations amazing? Orchids facinate me.

This particular orchid lives inside my house during the winter months -- we don't really have "winter"  in Southern California, but outside the wind can sometimes stir up trouble and damage the flowers. To be safe, she spends a couple of months living next to the front window in the living room. It is a thrill to watch the plants set their buds and then bloom with spectacular color and majesty.

That's all for tonight. Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I am off to dream of flowers and fabrics -- my goodness, such good stuff to dream about!

Hugs,

Blooms 4 Thursday. . .

While grocery shopping yesterday, I came across a basket of Daffodils. Just laying there... all dry, no water! So naturally I rescued a bunch and brought them home -- a little water and voila! The buds opened into gorgeous blooms this morning. Yellow flowers are so "happy", don't you think?

This sweet purple orchid sits quietly in the north west corner of my living room most of the year, but come Spring it sends off a bounty of buds and blooms. I've had this plant for years and it faithfully says "hello" every Spring.  Don't ya just love it? No care, no feeding... just a drink of water now and then. Orchids thrive on neglect! My kind of plant. lol

The lovely cymbidium* orchid [below] 'lives' near the front window in my living room. Although it hasn't been here long, it too has sent up a bounty of lovely blooms.



That's all the pictures for today. I'm trying to finish up a couple more Spider blocks so I can work on the border... I'm thinking more scraps in a 'key-board' sort of layout.

Thank you for stopping by. . . I hope it's wonderful where ever you are!
Hugs,
Cyn; -)
*I just know I didn't spell that correctly! Ever have one of 'those' days?

Friendship is Golden!

Hello. . .

Thank you everyone for the beautiful emails and well wishes you've sent me. I'm still healing, but things are going along well.

This beeee-oooo-ti-ful Orchid was sent to me by five lovely friends. Isn't it wonderful?!  I just LOVE orchids!

The picture below is a closeup of the fabulous Lapis Blue Ceramic Pot that this gorgeous Orchid was delivered in.  It has been at my house for several weeks and it is still in BLOOM! Wonderful. I will treasure this plant for all the years that it decides to live with me!  Orchids thrive on neglect, so that's good news, and my kind of plant! lol. Thank you again dear dear friends... you know who you are. ; -)

Here's a closeup of one of the flowers... orchids facinate me with their shapes and color shading.

.
.
This post is just a quickie... but I'd like to mention that I'm taking pics of some easy small projects I'm working on and will share them with you soon. Also have designed a new project I'm calling "MicroMitts".  I'll post the pattern here just as soon as I work out a few more kinks! lol 

As it's been a month, almost to the day that I've posted, I just want to say "Hi!" and "thank you" to everyone. . .I sure have missed Blog-Land.

Many Hugs,

Cyn; -)

Quilt, Knit, Garden... oh my!

Hi! Today I'd like to share some photos to "catch up" on project pics and bring my blog current:

First a wonderful little quilt made by my friend Steffini. She does impeccable work... some of those "pieces" are less than 1/8" -- wow! Thank you again, Steffini.

Remember the Shawl I was working on some months ago? Well it knitted up really fast on size 10 needles in Unspun Icelandic Wool that I buy from here. Since then the poor thing has been languishing while I figure out how I'm going to block it. It measures 74 inches across, unblocked! Blocking will definitely help the lace designs pop out and be more visable. Now if I can figure out a space big enough to pin it out. lol

Two of the three orchid plants in the house are in bloom... I just love orchids; they are my kind of plant as they thrive on neglect!

DD and I are trying our hand at growing a tomato plant in a pot in the front yard. This location gets lots of sun and is away from her dog who sometimes likes to "decorate" the yard plants. Yuck! lol.

It is fairly loaded with green fruit now and has a RED one kinda buried in the center of the plant. If you look closely, you can barely see the red peeking through the greenery. Let's hope the rest of them redden up... yummo!

We planted a lemon tree last year and it has really taken off. Even tho' it remains somewhat scrawney, it sets quite a bit of fruit. We're hoping to get enough lemons at one time to make a Lemon Meringe Pie... my fave!

That's it for tonight... hope everyone had a wonderful day. Thank you for stopping by and hope you will visit again soon.
Hugs,
Cyn; -)

Sunday Blooms. . .

Last Thursday evening #2DD, and friend, went to a twilight Farmer's Market & Street Faire and brought this lovely orchid home for a "No-Nothing" surprize--isn't it gorgeous?!
We are still waiting for our phalaentopsis to bloom. It has been in bud for a couple of weeks now and has several promising plump buds on it. We are trying to exercise patience waiting for it to bloom. . . here it is living in the front window:

Here is a strange thing: the Christmas Cactus plant is blooming NOW. . . in April--lol--how strange is that? But it's pretty...
Well, it's time to get off the putter and go finish up some special heart blocks that I'm swapping with friends. Pictures will be posted when everyone has received their blocks---don't want to spoil any surprises. *g*
Thank you for stopping by...
Hugs,
Cyn;-)

Spring is Here!. . . Season's 1st Cymbidium

Spring is here when flowers boom! This is a picture of my yellow cymbidium orchid that is currently living in front of the window in my living room. It needs bright light in the daytime and cooler temperatures at night which will help the blooms last longer. I just love orchids. . . they grow like weeds and thrive on neglect! My kind of plants. lol

This is a single-spike plant but has 11 lovely blooms on it this year. The blooms usually last a couple of months. My red/white phalaenopsis currently has one bud but has yet to open up and bloom. It can be hard to wait for these beauties to open up and reveal their splendor. When the next ones bloom, I will post more pictures.

Yesterday and last night I spent wrestling with PPing--- I need to make 30 more heart blocks. I practically destroyed the area I was sewing in! What a MESS! LOL. I wonder if my Homeowner's Insurance Policy covers home-destruction by paper-piecing! lol. I think I will crawl back to the safety of the "applique corner!" Oh well, by the time I reached the sixth heart, I finally got a feel for the process. . . I think. :) This next series of hearts are for the "Special H2H" swap that I am in with six other ladies: two from Canada, two from Europe [Germany & Poland], and two from the USA. We are making five different Special hearts for each of the six of us. So now I'm making 30 more hearts! *grin*. I seem to be having a love affair with pinks and reds lately, so making 70+ hearts [total of both swaps] should quench the thirst! lol. Only time will tell.

All for now. . . toodles and thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Cyn;-)

PS: I 'found' the macro button on my digital camera. Perhaps there is digital imaging hope for me afterall! lol.

PPSS: I put a new 'button' on this blog: "Today's Flower". Please scroll way down to just above the 'labels' area on the lower right side of this blog to find the widget you can click on to get to their site.... lot's of beautiful flowers there... I'm waiting to see if my orchid image will post as the Guest flower of the day... crossing fingers. *vbg*