Sunday, February 10, 2019

The Pastor's Attic Quilt


I quilted across the whole row again this week. I only quilted the 3" - 4" swath between rows 3 and 4. This is the part of quilting this quilt I enjoy the most. I love seeing these quilting motifs come to life!


Starting with the left side border.


Left outside block.


Between blocks 1 and 2.


Block 2.


Between blocks 2 and 3.

I didn't take pictures of the rest of the individual blocks, it's just the diamond cross hatching in all of them.
Between blocks 3 and 4.




Between blocks 4 and 5.


Block 5 and the right border.

Quilting won't go so fast this week. As you saw from the pictures, there are a lot of little round circles and oval berries to be quilted and the quilting all the embroidered stems take time too. That's OK, I'm not in a race. I'm still enjoying myself which is the important thing.

On a lot of blogs in December, people showed their blooming Amaryllis. They were so lovely and colorful, I was envious because I had started going through color withdrawal. The winter dreariness had begun.

I have Amaryllis bulbs that I save and replant from year to year. Last year I had a toddler grandchild running around in my house. To make things easier, I put the potted Amaryllis upstairs. I thought as each plant bloomed, I would bring it downstairs to be enjoyed. It is cooler upstairs and there are no large windows. I don't know if it was because it was cooler or darker, but for whatever reason, out of 10+ Amaryllis plants, only 2 grew buds and then those dried up and fell off. I was so disappointed! 

As usual last spring, I transplanted the Amaryllis plants into my flowerbed to grow over summer, just like I've always done. I dug them up after the first frost in October, then stored the bulbs in our garage. I left them there until the temperatures fell into the 20's and then moved them into the basement. 

After Thanksgiving, I potted them to start their new growing season. I potted 10 large bulbs and a large pot full of the 'babies', the little sprouts that fall off. I gave away the intermediate sized bulbs, 20 plants just take up too much space.

I'm pleased to say, out of the 10 large bulbs, 8 of them have flower buds. One, out of those 8, has only 1 bud. Six have 2 buds and the final one actually has 3 buds. I've never had a 3 bud Amaryllis before.


The first of the buds have opened this week. Each bud normally has 4 flowers.

The first one to open was this red with the white strip in the throat. Two beautiful flowers in this picture. 

The white doesn't show as well as I wished but you can see it some. Sorry the picture was blurry.


The second one to start blooming was this bright orangish red Amaryllis. This one actually has 5 flower buds in the large bud. Since this picture was taken, four flowers are blooming.

I showed them to my local DIL and told her to select one to take to her house. She chose the darker red one. 

I'm so glad for the flowers. We had sunshine only one day last week, they bring a lovely touch of color on the dreary, gray overcast days of winter. 

Linking to Peacock Party, Kathy's Slow Sunday StitchingOh Scrap, HQAL, Show & Tell MondayMonday MakingDesign Wall MondayBOM's Away, Moving It Forward, WIPs On Wednesday

17 comments:

Kim said...

Your lovely hand quilting really does make your motifs stand out, and beautifully so. How lovely to have your bulbs begin to pop out from the soil. It must make you happy to think that Spring is on its way to your place. Such pretty Amaryllis you have there. I particularly love the red one.

Sarah said...

Your hand quilting is so beautiful. Im glad that you had success with your outside bulbs this year even if the indoor ones let you down. They are such dramatic flowers, I love them!

Created by Kathi said...

I love your Pastor's Attic progress...your stitching is sensational :)
I need to look and see how to treat our Amaryllis here in North Carolina... we picked one up and I want it to bloom next winter too and the next and the next... but not sure what to do with it here ... glad you know how yours likes to be treated :D
Kathi

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

the flowers are very pretty. I kept my bulbs this year and will plant in the garden and try to not forget about them when it gets cold - I would like to see if they grow again and blossom in the winter.
Love you quilt it is just so pretty

K Reeves said...

My mom grew these and we loved watching them grow in the winter! Brings back lovely memories. Your quilt is really coming along, you must be reaching a milestone soon!

CathieJ said...

Your quilting is gorgeous. I love those motifs. Your flowers are very pretty.

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

Oh I agree about seeing the motifs come to life! I used to have an amaryllis years ago, they are fun to grow. Such big beautiful flowers that grow so quickly. I really need to get one to enjoy again.

stitchingirlblog.wordpress.com said...

Your flowers are so very pretty! I have never been successful with Amaryllis bulbs. I love how your quilt is coming along. The quilting stitches are adding so much to the beauty of it.

Db said...

Lovely stitching! I have amaryllis outside,here we can leave them in the ground year around,blooming in April.. They are so pretty!

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

Yup - sending you some quilts to hand quilt - LOL! I do not have the green thumb that most have, I have a tendency to kill plants. Clay has the green thumb. But I can make a computer keyboard hum! LOL

Lynette said...

Happy Valentine's to you, too, Gretchen! Looks like your Amarilli have been wishing that, too! They're gorgeous! I need to plant a bunch of bulbs this fall so I can have some daffodils and such next year. And poppies - I want those to be back around our front door again like they used to be. LOVE the color. Your quilt is amazing, as always. I love seeing the sashing pass get done - the appliques above it all locked into their contoured perfection. :) Yeah, I guess berries would take forever to do the quilting - depending on how small they are, you can't get more than one or two stiches per pull, I would think.

For the love of geese said...

It's coming along so nicely, I hope I don't miss the finish. Denise-For the love of geese

Birthe Marie said...

Your hand quilting is amazing. So beautiful amaryllis! You're good! With me, it is a plant that blooms once. :-)

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

Your hand quilting is beautiful - and your amaryllis too! I had a white amaryllis at Christmas this year. It's amazing that they can flower at Christmas in the northern and southern hemispheres. I guess it's all to do with controlling the light. Thank you for linking up to the Peacock Party.

Vivian said...

Such fine hand quilting and beautiful flowers! Ahhh, the perfect post, thanks for sharing!

Pat said...

Your post speaks so clearly - of your love of quilting - and hands on stitching. Love what you are working on/ the applique is gorgeous! And your amaryllis is a sight for the wintery weary soul - beautiful color and you obviously have a special way with them.

Susie H said...

Don't know which is prettier -- the flowers or your quilt. Ok, your quilt is fabulous!