Tuesday, October 2, 2012

It's a finish!



Do you think I'll get kicked out of the Slowpoke Quilters?  Begun on September 28th, I think this is the fastest I have managed to put something this size together either by hand or machine.

Of course, those child-friendly hexagons were all cut and marked and that was not only the inspiration, but a time-saver.

The size is about 47 x 48 inches ... about as square as I could get with hexagons.

I added writing in the turquoise strip ...
"I Spy .. a teddy bear, a kitty sitting on a chair,
 A boat, a truck, a car, a train,
 A lion with a fluffy mane,
 Fish with bubbles, fish with flowers,
The face of a clock showing hours,
Postage stamps to send the mail,
A lizard with a curly tail,
Bugs that fly and buzz and crawl,
 A ripened pumpkin in the Fall,
An elephant, some yummy fruit, a froggy playing on a flute.  Love in every stitch ..October 2012

The backing is made of tenugui. I had to add a dragon for a dragon-year baby and this was the only one that didn't look too scary in my collection. I thought the maple leaf print would be good for fall and the other two are typical Japanese prints

Here it is ... hanging on the park fence among the goya







Your botanic lesson for today...
A male flower...




A female flower...










The "fruit"...

This is on the park-side of the fence so I am not sure if it will be picked by the plant owner or by a park visitor or just left to ripen and drop seeds.

Where often the vine seems used for shade, this one may be providing some privacy for the house-owner adjoining the park.
Looks like a win-win to me and that wall of green gives a feeling of "cool", something we can use on these hot humid days of early fall.


And, in my own "garden", The favorite of the season...
the "Higanbana".

"Higan" is the Autumnal Equinox, which is an important Buddhist festival for the dead. The flowers are often found planted around cemeteries, rice paddies, and edges of fields.

Lycoris radiata, belongs to the family, Amarrillidaceae.
The genus name comes from Lycoris, the beautiful Greek Goddess of the Sea.

The flowers come first, poking up rather quickly on their stems and burst into bloom before you have even noticed them among the shrubbery. The leaves will come later after the flowers fade.
I have read that the bulb is poisonous.


My red ones are sharing a pot with a pineapple lily.
Some people don't like these in their garden because of the association with death. One of the common names is "Shibito-bana", literally, flower of the dead.

Obviously, I do not have those hang-ups. I love seeing them in the fall as a harbinger of cooler days to come.

As an aside, I grew up in a home where plants were often referred to by their Latin names. When my own children were growing up, I was shocked to hear the headmaster of their school state that using those Latin names was a way scientists talked in order to sound snobbish.
I have told my children and my Scouts not to be afraid of those Latin names, they are the true names of the plant. Once you know that Latin name, you can see how it is related to other plants all over the world. ... even more than looking at the leaves or bark of a tree, once you find that name, you can get a big "Ahah" moment. You even find out how many trees and flowers have common names that are mis-leading.... like the hundreds of trees called "cedar".
(and that goes for birds too which are sometimes victims of mis-naming).

A rose by any other name smells just as sweet. Yes, and my dad loved roses,  but he passed the love of nature to all his children and a certain curiosity to learn the rest of the story. Thanks Dad!

14 comments:

  1. What a pretty quilt! I love the border fabric you used. Did you write on that blue border before or after adding it to the quilt? I'd be scared to write on it!

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  2. Love the quilt Julie. What stunning flowers, even with the association with the dead the red one is still worth a place in the garden. I appreciated all your botany lessons when I was in Japan, and am glad they continue - even though I won't remember it all! Glad the weather is getting more comfortable, I've had several fires here already, brrr.

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  3. Julie, all your quilts are special but this one... with the writing, so precious - love in every stitch indeed! Slowpoke - no way no how! I am really starting to take notice of your tenegui backings too.... so interesting, meaningful, fun.

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  4. Wow .... that was fast and the quilt is lovely. Love the poem you wrote!

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  5. Wow that was a fast quilt! Did you piece that by hand? Love that pattern. I can imagine doing it with very fun fussy cut hexagons for my future grand children. Characters in the center that they would recognize like Sponge Bob, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird. They would love that. Perhaps I will add that too on the list for someday I will do it LOL.

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  6. Oh Julie, that little quilt is beautiful. Did you say there is writing on the turquoise strip (it doesn't show up on my photo). What a great idea. Thanks for sharing your beautiful quilt and flowers with us.

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  7. Wow, Julie, this quilt is fabulous! And so FAST. :) I too have a huge love of nature and I'm not good at pronouncing those Latin names but I love having access to them, nonetheless. :)

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  8. A very lovely colorful quilt! I like the use of the tenugui for the back of this quilt; it adds to the cheerfulness.

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  9. Oh my goodness! Lovely! Most people couldn't get that made on a machine it that amount of time, and you stitch it all by hand. Wow! You are going to have to do a slow project to retain your membership in the slow poke quilters.

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  10. Your quilt is lovely. That is such a speedy finish. Very impressive. I enjoy seeing the plants in your photos.

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  11. I love the quilt Julie, especially the border fabric. What fab flowers you have. We have grass and gravel, no flowers only weeds. We now have a new puppy who pulls up all the weeds so I don't think I will be putting down any flowers yet

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  12. I love the backing!! The colours are just gorgeous! I've started to see the 'shibito-bana' around here too. I love the flowers of Japan - so different from Australia's!

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  13. Fantastic quilt! Did you do that by English paper piecing? I usually get stabbed fingers when I try that method.

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  14. Wow! I can't believe how quickly you made that!

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