Fascinating

I think one of the reasons I am smitten with irises is because I've studied them for years. I've watched them push buds and grow spectacular blooms from what looks like nothing. The more I study them, the more fascinated I become.

Bird of Paradise is new to me. Oh, not in the "look at this plant that I've never seen before" sense, but in that "this is the first time I've seen more than one of these bloom!" experience.

It's taken me until the third bloom to realize that this plant springs its blooms up from a single stalk, with each fresh flower pushing back the previous bloom. I thought I had different varieties, even though they all looked like Strelitzia. Now I know that the "hairy" ones are actually stalks that have had multiple sequential blooms.

I see a Bird of Paradise quilt in my future...

In the meantime, I am quilting rocks, rocks, and more rocks. I should finish by tomorrow, and be applying a binding technique by Saturday. Goals are good, progress is better, and this is one deadline I might just meet.

Come Tuesday, I should be back to a regular posting schedule. The best laid plans of mice & men...

Oh. And the applique is just about complete on my 2010 Hoffman Challenge. By tomorrow, I should be working on some of the embellishment, and by the time the McDowell quilt is finished, I'll be ready to baste my Hoffman. Goals are good!!