Monday, April 19, 2010

Potholder Swap

 I recently agreed to participate in a potholder swap organized by Malka over at A Stitch in Dye. 55 people are in this swap and we have a Flickr group here. My swap partner is getting these, despite her suggestion that she would like red and turquoise to go with her intended color scheme in her kitchen. I totally forgot she mentioned that. Duh. I just dove into my stash and came up with my usual 'All color all the time' colorway. There is some turquoise and red in there...
 For the reverse I just picked a nice nearly solid color and doodled with the quilting. Yellow rickrack trims the edge and is the loop to hang them. This was a fun diversion from being in the garden, which I returned to directly after finishing these.



Here's what's going on lately. Tiarella or Foam Flower is in bloom, which is laughable. Little pokey spikes of flower clusters about 8" tall. They disappear as quickly as they appear, but of course I love this little plant for its leaves which are nearly evergreen. It's a cousin of heuchera so it and its kin are happy in the morning sunlight together. Afternoon shade keeps them thriving.


Speaking of evergreen, this is a European Ginger which we transplanted from our old house in IL. Totally glossy always green leaves even in snow, makes me love this plant. Weeks ago it flowered, but you'd have to know it ahead of time and have really young knees to see the flowers. They are underneath the mound, totally hidden. My guess is that the plant does not reproduce from seed.
The voles have chewed at the roots and moved away from eating the whole thing, thankfully, and where they spat out the root, a new plant has broken the surface! At last something to thank the voles for their interference.
I was totally surprised to see this about to bloom Lily of the Valley nearby. Where did this come from? I didn't plant it and it has no other kin in the shade garden. I am thrilled to have it and hope it multiplies like a rabbit. Doncha just love their fragrance?


And the iris cristata are in full bloom now. I checked last year's blog entries and we are much further ahead than last year, where we got snow on April 7th. Phew! Dodged that bullet this year.

9 comments:

  1. The potholders are wonderful!

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  2. Potholders are very colorful, but are they actually usable?? :)

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  3. Your irises are gorgeous and seriously...even if they went with nothing in my kitchen, I'd be thrilled to no end to get those potholders in a swap!

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  4. oooh, Mel, I love the quilting on those potholders...your exchange partner will love them!

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  5. My lily-of-the-valley took about 3 years to spread to be nearly invasive now. Mine is from starts given to me by my aunt from a batch that started with a plant from my great-grandmother's garden!

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  6. I love the potholders!

    Kristin F.

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  7. Melody, They are beautiful and not everything as to be matchy matchy -- they certainly will coordinate

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  8. Melody, I love your potholders! happy quilting from Switzerland
    Edith

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  9. Yes, I'm behind! I just read your potholder post and wonder what you lined them with, as in - are these wall art or useable? Love the colors!

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