April 10, 2008

More blocks and Seedlings


I finally have the first row of my Civil War Diary quilt sewn together. This is a poor photo as I had to pin it to the back of the couch in order to take a photo at all. I decided to piece the blocks together row by row as in incentive to get the blocks completed. I really don't intend to let this project in up in the UFO stack and I hope this helps. Putting the 121 blocks together at the end would seem like a loooooong process. Putting 11 of them in one row at a time doesn't seem as daunting. I will let you know if this is true or not! I am also including another photo of the last blocks I made as I don't think I posted about them yet.

This is my second year of growing flowers from seeds. I would say that in the last three years my love of flowers has increased from having a geranium in the front of my house to having many many flowers to enjoy. Last year I decided to try to grow some of my own. My thinking was that by combining the flowers that I planned to buy along with the flowers I grew from seed would have doubled the amount of flowers I had and my flower garden would flourish. It did, and I had some beautiful results.
I learned a lot last year, and am trying some new things out this year. This year I am going to try to grow the seeds in my basement under some grow lights. Last year I grew them by sitting them in the bay window that has a southern exposure. Many of the plants were very leggy (long and scraggly)and I read that plants that didn't get enough sunlight would do this. I can't control sunny or cloudy days, so I am trying a new way this year. I can't wait for the seeds to start sprouting!

If you have any advise for growing flowers please don't hesitate to comment! I like to reply to all those kind enough to leave a comment on my blog but if you have your email set to "no-reply" it is impossible for me to do so. Please know that I appreciate the time that everyone takes to leave a comment! Thank you!

11 comments:

Tanya said...

I am not a garden person and I always feel sorry for the flowers that I buy and end up in my garden or my house. They only look nice the first week back from the store. I know this is another effort that needs to be accompanied by time and practice but I guess I'm not willing to take away from quilting time yet. Someday! My husband will do the planting for me but he doesn't know how to do anything else in that garden!

Teresa said...

Your blocks looks so nice with the sashing - great choices in fabrics and sewing!

Please send pics of your flowers as they start to grow. I just love zenias and should start them from seed too. I wonder if it is too late for that?

Texan said...

Your civil war blocks look so nice all in their row! I like the idea of putting them into rows as you go... keeps you up to date with the project :O)...

I love gardening! Vegetables, flowers, trees, you name it! I have grown some seedlings, I had problems with them dampening off, I believe that was the term I read. That was my biggest issue. I would like to try it again...where we live now I plant a fairly good sized vegetable garden...my DH built me a greenhouse here as well! ahem, I found out really quick there is more to that then you think LOL, I managed to burn up every single thing I put in it LOL Texas heat is hard to work with... my dh and four other guys actually managed to pick the whole thing up and move it a few weeks ago.. it now will be in filtered shade in the afternoon so that the hottest sun of the day can't cook everything. I even made a shade net out of that shade netting to put over the roof... now that was a sewing project LOL... Maybe next spring I will try seedlings again.. I have already bought all my veggies and flowers for this year :O)...

Good luck and be sure to show us some pics of yours as they grow!

Libby said...

What a great idea to keep your lovely project from becoming overwhelming when it nears the end.
Planting flowers from seed is a lot of fun. I love seeing what comes back again year after year. Yesterday I noticed that some nasturtiums and CA poppies have re-seeded on the bank outside my yard . . . what an easy way to put a smile on a girl's face *s*

julieQ said...

Very wonderful CW blocks, and a great idea to put them together row by row. When I raise plants like this, I put them very close to the light source, and transplant as soon as possible to avoid leginess (how is that for a word):) I had a sunlight bulb in my light source from the nursery.

Patti said...

I think you are very smart to sew your blocks together as you go along. I'm sure it's very motivating to keep plugging away at the quilt. Your blocks are beautiful!

YankeeQuilter said...

Your civil war blocks look great. I think that is a wise idea to put them together as you go along. I find myself stressing out over sampler blocks and keep rearranging them only to never make a real decision!

I grow some hebs each year from seed. We go through a lot of parsley and mint!

Val said...

Good luck with your plants. I have some plants I have been babying for a few weeks. I planted tomatoe plants, marigolds, zinnias, impatiens. I can't wait to see how they do.

Carin said...

Woo Hoo on your first row!

Sue said...

Your CWDQ is amazing! Your color choices are just spectacular, this will be an absolutely incredible quilt.

Great idea to assemble row by row, I've done that before on projects when the assembly seemed daunting and it really helped!

Karen said...

It's a good idea to start putting your CW blocks together in rows. Your row looks so good!