Quilts, stitching and orchids

Another Bonnie Hunter quilt top is done. This is the mystery quilt from 2013, Celtic Solstice.
I did uses her colorway, green, blue, orange yellow and neutral. It is a scrap quilt and all from my stash.
Why does it seem that the stash never goes down? When Bonnie created this mystery she gave us directions for two sizes.  This is the small size.  It still has over 50 blocks in it.
Now off to my quilter. 

Last Thursday at the weekly sew, I started to put this quilt together.I had two kits, that I found in my "things to do". Does that happen to you? It is right in there with buying two patterns, because you really like it.  These kits came from "Little Quilts" in Atlanta, Ga.  Not sure how long I have had them, but a few weeks ago started making the butterfly blocks. I have two more rows to attach, then borders.  It has been a great project to work on, on Thursdays. 

In the evening I am enjoying working on cross stitching.  I like to do small patterns. I finished this one last night.
Still not sure what I will do with them.  I have ideas for covers of journals, small purses, draw string bags.  I have made several zipper purses with some I have stitched.  I have plenty of ideas.

This one is for an exchange that I am involved in.  It has been fun to add this to my things to do.
I have liked it so much that I have purchased a couple new books.
They are all in french!  I can't read a word in them, but do recognize some of the names of flowers and objects.
I can read the number of  the colors used. I have a chart that converts the numbers for DMC to Presencia threads.

Some of you know I have a few orchids on my windowsills. I wanted to share the current ones in bloom.
I have no idea what their names are, but think they are so pretty.

Check out this one.  Love the veins.  So pretty and bigger then the other two.
From the looks of the others on the sill, at least two more have developed stems for flowers.

This is some of what I have been up to.
Hope you have a great week.
Mary

Orchids

I'm sorry, I can't tell you the names of my orchids, but I can show you what is blooming right now.   This orchid is  re -blooming. It one of the ones I had received when my Dad passed away last July.  It is part of a big basket that holds 4 pots of orchids. It is yellow.

This one has been here for several years. This one my sister  purchased for me  when she visited 4 years ago. Each time she visited, she added another one to my collection. The color is a light green.

I just saw this morning this one was blooming.  It is one of the orchids I have purchased from Hauserman's in Villa Park.  This orange orchid has not bloomed before.

This one is just starting to bloom. It is green with red veins through it.

Christmas cactus is blooming too.  These plants will be going outside for the summer soon.

The pictures down from here were taken a couple of weeks ago.  You can see some of the stems that have blooms on them, and are blooming in the pictures above.  The flowers will last a long time, a couple of weeks or more. The orange one probably won't last that long. It also takes a long time for the blooms to open up.

All my orchids are on window sills that are facing west and north.

You can see the buds growing on this one.

This is a corner window. I have a table that sits in the corner  that holds the Christmas cactus.

You can see buds on this one too.

My table with the Christmas cactus.

After my Dad moved up by me, my sister Linda came to visit.  She purchased an orchid for each of us as a gift while she was visiting.  Dad's orchid ended up at my house.  He liked to visit Hauserman's to see all the gorgeous orchids. They have an open house  the end of February each year.  We would go and I would take pictures of the beautiful flowers.  Well that started me buying a couple of the cheaper ones to try to grow.  Some of these plants can cost up to $100. or more.  I went for cheaper $10.00 to $20.00.  So each year I have gotten a couple more.

I do not do anything special for them.  They sit in the windows all year round, so they are getting plenty of light. I water them about every 2 weeks, or when I think about it.  Now and then I will take each off the shelf, out of the outer pot and set them in a sink full of water for at least an hour.  They are not planted in dirt. Every pot has bark in it. The water soaks in and keeps them moist for a while. If one of them dies, I don't feel like I have a lot invested. I think it has become a challenge, to see if I can get them to bloom.  They are so pretty.  It is also a pleasant reminder of one of the things Dad and I liked to do.

Give orchids a try. They aren't as hard to grow.
Have a great day.

Mary

Happy Birthday to Me

These are the lovely roses my sweet husband had delivered for my birthday last week. I have never had so many roses at one time. They are so gorgeous.  Our son Andy and his girlfriend Alicia met us at a restaurant last evening to celebrate. We had so much fun, and it was so good to see them.

This is a gorgeous orchid I got to bloom!!  I am not usually very good at this. Last year I had purchased this one while it was blooming. That I could handle, but to get it to bloom, now that was the challenge.  There is a spot in our family room that is in a corner with windows on the two sides.  I have left it along, water when I think about it.  Much to my surprise a stalk started to get buds on it.  I really did not have much hope.  I still have one orchid that there is not way life can be breathed into.  I bought a couple of starts last February at Hausermann's, in Villa Park, IL.  It looks like a couple of them are going stalks for flowers.  Keep your fingers crossed.

No sewing this week, life happened.  We were out of town for several days and not in the mood to even do hand sewing. Now to get back on track.

Have a great week, happy sewing and quilting.