How Many Bobbins?

My new dress is going to be so awesome! But it is taking SO long!

The back of the skirt is pieced, all from leftovers of quilt and dress projects over the last eight years. I made the executive decision to machine embroider over each seam.


It does look better with the embroidery. But I thought the piecing took forever. This machine embroidery feels like slow motion, compared to the piecing and pressing of seams. Perhaps I should do a row by hand so I can remember how much faster the machine is than me.


I wish bobbins could hold as much thread as spools. The back of the skirt took two bobbins to piece. I'm on my third bobbin for the embroidery, and I'm not even halfway done yet. At this rate, this summery dress may be done by next winter!!!

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Wordless Wednesday

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Winter Flowers

I didn't think I'd get a White Picotee amaryllis this year. Everything had bloomed, I thought, and the white and Papillon bulbs seemed spent. All three plants are making babies, so their energies probably are going into the new bulbs. After all the other amaryllises in my collection were finished, the white picotee sent up a tiny bud. I thought I'd get only one flower. This plant has seen its peak.


When the bud finally opened, I was surprised to see not only two full-size blossoms, but a tiny third as well! I thought the third one wouldn't grow to full size, but it's trying.


One of the Papillon bulbs has split! I didn't know that could happen. This transpired after the new baby bulb appeared. I learned you can divide a large bulb, but I've yet to find anything about the bulbs dividing themselves.


Five of the seeds I propagated from the bargain bin red and White Picotee amaryllises the second year are still growing strong, and I think this is their third or fourth year. More seedlings may have survived, but I didn't know the new bulbs shed their leaves each year and then start over. I thought four or five of my mixed-up bulbs had died, and I recycled the soil into the raised-bed gardens outside. Amaryllises cannot survive Colorado's winters. So, essentially, I killed them if they weren't already dead.

I actually thought I'd lost all of my seedlings. I put other seeds... lavender, larkspur or daisy... into their soil, and the amaryllis babies put up new leaves a while later! I don't intentionally plant other seeds in those little pots now!

I'm much more patient with the remaining seedlings, now that I know they will regrow new leaves in a couple of weeks after they go bald.








The White Picotee amaryllis began producing its first bulblet, an offset, the second year. I divided the two bulbs the following year and put the baby in a pot of its own. I wonder if it might bloom for the first time next year.


I thought the White Picotee would be the final amaryllis of the year. But one more is sneaking in for the win. I'd forgotten about my pink Candy Crush amaryllis. I think that's what I'm going to get next.


This year I learned amaryllis like to be root-bound. I'd put several in huge pots, mostly because the little pots tipped over while I was at work when the stalks became too large. I was going to re-pot several of the bulbs in small pots into bigger, heavier pots after this bloom season. Now I don't have to. This year, I clipped the new bargain bin pink amaryllis after it dipped over and nearly touched the floor (it's in a huge, heavy pot), and I also clipped the bargain bin red amaryllis when it started leaning more than I liked. Having the flowers in a vase allows me to bring out a favorite vase, and it also affords easier photography than hauling the big, heavy pots around to better light and backgrounds!






After Valentine's Day, I spied a bargain bundle of blue delphiniums at the grocery store. Lizard wasn't able to drive this year for my birthday or for Valentine's Day due to total knee replacement in December, so I bought the delphiniums, put them in the vase with the amaryllis blossoms, and hugged and thanked Lizard for such a beautiful and romantic Valentine gift. He thought that was pretty cool because he hates shopping!


I still haven't had a single larkspur this winter, but I have had many African daisies, mostly one at a time, but sometimes in doubles.






I let the blossoms hang out way too long. The red ones dripped "blood" all over the kitchen counter. Took us a while to figure out where the "blood" came from! And the pink one almost looked prettier, or at least more artistic, dead than alive, in my opinion.


The hoyas have been very happy plants this winter. I don't know if it's the grow lights, or they are just really enjoying their new pots. They have been blooming non-stop for a month now, with new flowers forming every week. What a beautiful winter we are having!

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Snowflake Monday

I need to crochet this one!

And this one!

And I need to quilt this one!!!

Wouldn't this one be fun?

Christmas cactus blossoms as a flake. I could get into this.

Deep down inside, I truly hope to duplicate this one in crochet one day...

For today, however, it will be just a plain, simple snowflake to celebrate 100 members in our Sisters (and Brothers) of the Snowflake!

Today's pattern was designed at Christmas in 2013, probably close to the time Autumn founded our original Sisters of the Snowflake in Yahoo Groups, which service last year underwent massive changes that made the format less than user-friendly for groups like ours. We reluctantly and cautiously moved to Facebook on October 17, 2019. Turns out Facebook special interest groups are pretty cool. I'm in several now. In just five months, Sisters of the Snowflake reached this significant milestone!

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 4 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Siglo Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in ring, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook (picot made), [3 dc in ring, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook] 5 times; 1 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; do not pull magic ring too tight.

Round 2: Ch 12 (counts as 1 dc and [ch 10), sl st in 7th ch from hook, ch 3, sk over next picot, 1 dc in middle dc of next 3/dc group] 6 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 12.

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), [13 dc in next ch 6 loop, 1 dc in next dc, ch 8, 1 sc in 8th ch from hook, 1 dc in same st as dc just made] 6 times, omitting last dc and ch loop of final repeat; 1 hdc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2, ch 3 and 1 dtr in same ch to form 6th ch 7 loop of Round.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc over post of dtr directly below, [ch 5, 1 sc in middle (7th) dc of next 13/dc group; ch 5, 3 dc in next ch 8 loop, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, 3 dc in same loop] 6 times, omitting last 3 dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Funny thing happened on the way to work. I was working up the above pattern for the first time in seven years, and I didn't have a photo of the snowflake. There were a few booboos in the pattern, and by the time I figured it out, I didn't want to unravel all the work I'd already done, so I created another flake. I love how different these two flakes look, even though they started with the same pattern. Since we're celebrating today, I'm not making you wait until next week for the second pattern.

Finished Size: 5.5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Double Dip Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in ring, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook (picot made), [3 dc in ring, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook] 5 times; 1 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; do not pull magic ring too tight.

Round 2: Ch 9 (counts as 1 dc and ch 7), [skip over next picot, 1 dc in middle dc of next 3/dc group, ch 7] 5 times; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 9.

Round 3: Sl st into next ch 7 sp, ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 10 dc in same ch 7 sp, [ch 8, 1 sc in 8th ch from hook, 11 dc in next ch 7 sp] 5 times; 1 hdc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2, ch 3, 1 dtr in same ch to form 6th ch 7 loop of Round.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 4 (counts as dtr), 1 dtr over post of dtr directly below, ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook (ch 3 picot made), 2 tr in same ch 7 loop, ch 3 picot, 2 dc in same ch 7 loop, ch 3 picot, 2 hdc in same ch 7 loop, [ch 3, sk next 4 dc, 1 sc in next dc, ch 3, 1 sc in same dc, ch 3, in next ch 7 loop work (2 hdc, ch 3 picot, 2 dc, ch 3 picot, 2 tr, ch 3 picot, 2 dtr, ch 5, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, 2 dtr, ch 3 picot, 2 tr, ch 3 picot, 2 dc, ch 3 picot, 2 hdc)] 5 times, in next ch 7 loop, work (2 hdc, ch 3 picot, 2 dc, ch 3 picot, 2 tr, ch 3 picot, 2 dtr, ch 5, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch), sl st in 4th ch of starting ch 4; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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