Flowers

 

I really like the flowers in the bathroom. This particular bouquet is a result of me going to the florist and picking stuff out of their cooler.

I've been keeping up the tradition, but changing it up pretty regularly. Lately I've been buying a bouquet at the grocery store and putting some in the kitchen too. This morning, when I was bring out the dead flowers, I noticed this:

It's a pot of variegated Sage. Since this is an annual, it won't be around for much longer. The first frost will kill it, and since it's already October, that day is coming soon. I went back in the house for my snippers, and then looked around.

These are tall asters that live near my carport.

This is a coleus that loves this spot on my rebuilt front steps (this happened between the bathroom and the kitchen redos.)

This bud vase arrangement was built around a carnation that was left over from last week.

A small blue bottle makes a great tiny vase for this arrangement next to my stove.

This blue vase decorates the small table in my living room. The wooden box contains Millie's ashes.

Last but certainly not least is the cat vase in the guest bathroom.

It's a lot like assembling fabrics for a quilt. Find a color you like, find some colors that go well with it, look for things that are similar (but not the same) and have a contrast in shape and texture, and then go for it.

Flowers & Color Choices

 

I went to the flower shop yesterday because I felt I needed a pick-me-up. Normally I can go into the walk-in cooler and pick what I like, but there was a leak so all I could do was stand at the door and point. I pointed because I didn't know the names of half the stuff. I started with the black dahlias and then chose the Solidago (my SIL helped me with the names later). Then I added the purple orchids (one of them is a branch that extends out to the side in front of Millie.) Next I chose the lavender Lisianthus and added the two Gingers (the big pink things at the top). I picked the misty statice (filler) and then added a yellow green hydrangea.

Adam, the florist, kept saying how beautiful the bouquet I had chosen was. I lamented I had forgotten to bring a vase. Adam offered to put it in a vase for me. OK, so I let him go do that, telling him I wanted it pretty as it it were up against a wall, so pretty on 3 sides. And I told him to add whatever he thought it needed, since he was a florist and I wasn't.

Now, there were at least eight different colors of roses, and lots of bright colorful Gerber daisies in the cooler. But I wanted different. I was drawn to the black dahlias and the yellow-green of the Solidago. Just like buying fabrics, I checked out everything that was there before I made my choices. Once I had decided those two things, I knew which direction I was going in, so I picked the orchids, the lavender flowers and went from there. Adam suggested a Stargazer lily, but I said no, because I knew it would take over, and I didn't want that. I picked the two pink ginger things. I also selected the various greenery. Later I realized I was selecting flowers the same way I shop for fabric.

Since I didn't know what anything was, I hadn't paid any attention to the price chart hanging on the wall. I was not particularly surprised when he said it was eighty bucks. Hell, I thought the thing was eighty kinds of spectacular, and it was FOR ME. 

What surprised me was that Adam kept saying how beautiful what I had chosen was. I mean, like, DUH! But when I thought about it later, I realized that most customers wouldn't be drawn to a deep blue violet / yellow green color combination, so that combination wasn't on his radar for "beautiful." 

He packed it all up in a box with filler around it, and wrapped it carefully, and actually carried it out to my car and gently placed it on the floor on the front passenger side of my car.

I had to pick up a prescription at the drugstore, so I went to the drive through. After I completed my transaction, the gal inside told me she thought my flowers were beautiful. I hadn't realized she could see them. That kinda made my day.

Then I went home and cut binding for four quilts, which I will show you tomorrow!
 

Green & Yellow & Flowers

 

I spent a lot of time Saturday cutting the creams into squares. You can see my notes above the squares. I cut 120 of them. In retrospect I think cut too many.

Then I cut some of the yellows.

Earlier in the day I bought myself some flowers. The local florist has a walk in area where customers can choose their own, and I chose these. When one of the owners stepped in to ask if I needed help, he took one look at what I held in my hand and said, "Those are spectacular!"

You know I have been dieting on the Noom diet, and after a long struggle with a plateau, I finally broke through. The flowers are a reward to myself, and a reminder that my journey is important and my success is real. They also help me to stay motivated to continue.

Reward

 

I've joined Noom* to lose the excess weight I've picked up over the last few years. I'm happy with my progress so far. Part of Noom is you are encouraged to reward yourself when you reach various milestones. I decided flowers would be my reward so yesterday on my weekly chores outing I stopped by the local florist and picked these. The yellow roses are enormous.

Thursday is my day for my first Covid-19 vaccine. My appointment is mid-morning, so I worked late to make up for the time I missed, which is why this post isn't quilt-related.

*I'm not here to advertise Noom, or to answer questions about it, so please don't ask. I just don't have the time to respond to those queries. There is a lot of information out there about it. Suffice it to say I like it, and am happy with the program. Part of any long term self help project is holding yourself accountable, so that's the only reason I mentioned it here.

Dead Head

The garden really got the better of me this year. I've been so busy I haven't given it the attention it deserves. All I've been able to do is keep it watered and dead head the flowers. I just toss them on the top of the big stack of stuff in the recycling bin.

Last night I cut down some geraniums, hyssop, salvia and some daylilies. This morning as I dragged the trash can out to the curb, I walked by and actually looked at it. 

Wow. Those colors! The bright hot pink of the geraniums, the purple salvia, the yellow orange daylilies, the green leaves and light purple of the hyssop and the brilliant blue of the recycling bin actually sparkled! Add some greyish beige to represent the dried stuff, and some greens and you have a knockout color combination.

You know how I always tell you to watch out because you can find inspiration anywhere?  Well, this was in my trash. I made sure to take a picture before I got in the car and drove to work.

Amato's

These are Alliums. My SIL said brides don't like them in their bouquets since they smell like onions.

My brother and I made the 2-1/2 hour trip to Denver to pick up flowers one day. I was allowed into the warehouse, so naturally I took pictures.

It was amazing. We think we see a lot of flowers at a florist's, but this was way beyond that.

Here were the peonies ("pee-ah-knees" according to my brother, not "pee-OH-nees").

Roses,

Roses,

 Roses, peonies?

I don't even know what this is except that it's gorgeous.

 Lillies,

and more lillies,

Gerber Daisies,

Mums, daisies,

 Cabbage Roses and Thistles,

 Hydrangeas,

 and Cactus flowers.

There were also Alliums (top photo), Calla Lillies, Orchids, Bee Balm, and other flowers I couldn't identify. Another part of the warehouse was filled with containers of all varieties. Workers scurried around picking orders. I tried to keep out of the way.

It was beautiful.  We drove back the Buena Vista with the A/C set to 64F because of the flowers. My mind was filled with ideas for the Colorado quilt. Birds based on colors of the flowers, and the flowers themselves.

Flowers

My Colorado SIL does flowers for weddings and other events. During the week we were in Colorado she had at least five.

There were flowers every time we went to their house.

Her specialty is wildflowers. This was a table centerpiece.

 This bucket was filled with an arrangement that would decorate an arch where the wedding itself would be held.

 My brother and SIL decorated this arch differently for each wedding, some four hours apart.

 

 I took this photo the day after one of the weddings.

Some flowers she grew in her greenhouse, some she purchased from a wholesale floral distributor in Denver (a 2-1/2 hour drive away.) I made that trip once with my brother, but I'll save that for another post.

They set up one wedding, then brought us poppies from their greenhouse while we were waiting for dinner at the resort's restaurant. I'm pretty sure the other diners were jealous. Note the poppies are in an olive jar!

 The last two nights we stayed at the Surf Chateau, in what was The Single Most Beautiful Hotel Room I Have Ever Seen. (Check that link, and look at the photo gallery. Our room is the fourth photo, the room with two queen sized beds!)

When my SIL asked if we would like a small bouquet of flowers for our room using the "leftover" flowers I jumped at the chance, and pointed out some things I would like together. This is the small arrangement we put together.

In the all-white hotel room, the flowers looked stunning.  Later she said to my brother, "Lynne really knows her colors."

The Colorado Quilt will have birds, my brother's barn, and flowers!

Inspiration

The company I work for has a deal with a local florist. For a fixed sum, every Monday we get a new fresh flower arrangement. 

This is the one they brought by on Monday. DAMN, this is gorgeous.

 Deep blue violet (the calla lillies,) the deep red (dunno what they are), the brilliant yellow sunflowers and the little blue thistles (?) and a little bit of pink...

There's a quilt in here, I'm sure of it.

Mother's Day Flowers

My Son & DIL had told me my Mother's Day present would be delivered to me at work, but they didn't say what it was, so I was surprised when one of my coworkers brought this to my office.  There are orchids and snapdragons and roses and hydrangeas and I think it's gorgeous.

My Son "gets" it about flowers. He understands how much they mean to women, and how they are a gift that keeps on giving. He knows that if they adorn my desk at work I will enjoy them all day long, and each time a coworker sees them and says "Wow, those are beautiful, where did you get them?" that I have been given another gift.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(Creative idea of the day: This is another of those times when I tell you to notice what's around you...
Yes, I placed the flowers on my desk so when I took the photo I could see photographs of my DS and DIL in the background. Flowers + photos = better photo.)

This and That Thursday

My son and DIL sent me these lovely flowers for my birthday, which was on Monday. It was one of those "0" years and I am still "in the Nile" about it.

This is where Millie has been camping out during the hot weather. On top of the Black Box quilt under the air conditioner. That cat's no fool!  The Black Box will be going to Paducah next week and on to Chattanooga for the AQS show there in September. If you see it, let me know what you think.  Millie is making sure the quilt is marked as HERS before it goes.  The other quilt on the coffee table is Julie's "Hidden Potential."  When I've got the AC running at night I cover myself with two quilts because it gets chilly, so I want to keep it handy.

As you can see I've replaced the Black Box quilt on the wall with "Too Much Chicken" (also known as "the chicken quilt"). It looks really nice.  It's a pretty nice quilt if I do say so myself. I made it as a lark and had a lot of fun with it, so I'm really pleased it turned out well. Here's another shot of it.

I've finally had a chance to sit and watch Gerald Roy discuss the exhibit Quilts and Color at the MFA Boston. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De8utOjr-G8. It's about 90 minutes long, but it's full of great stuff.  Gerald Roy appraised several of my quilts last year. At the time I didn't know that he was a Very Big Deal in the AQS.  We had a lovely chat while he looked at my work and exchanged views on quilts and quilting today. I was delighted to find we agreed on so many issues. He really loved my Nine x Nine quilt.

It was funny, when I was telling my pal Julie about the appraisal experience, she asked who had appraised my quilts, and I told her, she was like "OH MY GOODNESS! HE'S THE BEST APPRAISER in the COUNTRY!  How did you get him?" My answer was something on the order of "Um, I dunno. He lives two hours from my house?"

I've managed to get that awful summer cold that's going around, so I'm taking it easy. I'm still working on the Homage to the Square idea.  Here's a sneak peek of what's coming.

See this band of blue and white?

Would you believe it's exactly the same as this one, except for color placement?

I'll leave you to figure it out.

Flowers in December!

My friend Julie sent me these lovely flowers! They were delivered to me at work, and brightened my day big-time! I don't have a window in my office, and this makes a very nice change! They also smell divine!

Thank you Julie!

Flower For Fox

I tried another of Mary Lou Weidman's flowers. (still haven't got the book yet...) Here it is near the letters for the Quick Brown Fox. I'm not sure about either it or the idea of adding a fox and a dog. But I'm going to keep working to find out for sure...