Wednesday 21 April 2010

Plans for the garden and a little hand sewing

Last summer when Rachel and I visited Hever Castle we saw this combination of flowers and decided we had to have it for our weed patch. So now its spring I'm going this weekend to buy the plants, soil and weed killer but there's a slight problem, I don't know what the plants are !

Any ideas ?
Here are the fabrics I bought from the V&A, the one up and close and personal is my favourite. They had it in another colourway but I preferred the green and blue.



Now what to do with them ?



My friend Laura is expecting a baby this August but sadly has some problems with the pregnancy and is on bedrest. She asked me if I could teach her to sew. Now dragging the machine round and sitting on a chair isn't an option so I took a hand sewing kit for her. We spent the morning chatting drinking copious amounts of coffee and sewing 4 inch squares into 4 patches. I must say I really enjoyed it, hand sewing in company is a lot of fun.


11 comments:

  1. Your fabrics are wonderful and I agree, the blue and green is fabulous. But I'm a fabric lover!

    What a wonderful way to spend time with your friend and help her learn sewing. Staying in bed has to be awful, but perhaps this will turn out to be a great way to fill the time. Best of luck to her and hope all turns out well.

    I used to spend a lot of time in the garden, but have to be more careful of time in the sun these days. The taller background plant looks like the blue variety of Veronica (common name is Speedwell). It normally grows 18-24 inches, blooms from May to October (how great is that?) and works in zones 4 to 9 and needs full sun. The red is a Geranium variety, but the yellow has me stumped. Will keep looking in my plant books...

    What a great project for you and Rachel! Best of luck finding your plants. Mary

    ReplyDelete
  2. We're having a touch of spring planting fever here as well, though I need to wait a couple more weeks to be sure there isn't a late frost. It's hard to wait though, when temperatures are in the high teens, low twenties Celcius every day. Nights cool off fairly close to freezing though.

    I'm guessing your purple flowers are salvia, the red are geraniums and the yellow a marigold or zinnia. Good luck on your plant hunt!

    I hope you'll share when you settle on a project for your V&A fabrics. Perhaps something to handsew in company? :)

    -Joanne

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful fabrics. I'm sure you'll figure out something to do with them. Just wait for them to "speak" to you and you'll know!

    I think Joanne has the flowers right: purple = salvia, red = geranium, yellow = marigold. You could also take the photo to a (plant!) nursery and ask there. Not all the employees will know, but I'll bet there's at least one person who will. Enjoy turning your weed patch beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thankyou, I had an idea that the red was geraniums but will take all the names and see what I can get. We've just come in from the garden having dug up the stinging nettles..ouch!!! Its not a big area but sure is back breaking...maybe I should do a before and after photo?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh yes, before and after photos are great to look back on. Also, at first planting and later in the season when things have grown all summer. This would be great for Rachel to see the big difference. Love your fabrics, your favorite is mine, too. I love hearts among other things and this blue green combination is wonderful!

    I took a hand piecing class a few years ago and found it to be very relaxing, too. It was great to watch TV and sew. Hope all works out well for your friend, keep us posted.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wish my flower beds looked like that! Hope you find the plants you want; Katie does have those named correctly. The blue/green hearts will be fun to mix with those other fabrics and maybe some appropriate solids. Keep the pics coming! ---"Love"

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think the others are right about the flowers too. The only thing I'll add is that your nursery may call the geraniums by their proper name - pelargoniums.

    Those V & A fabrics are gorgeous! I might have to see if I can buy some online!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the flowers and your plans for a garden. I do not have a green thumb. Good luck with your planting.

    ReplyDelete
  9. My plant knowledge has more than a few gap but I'm confident that the red one is a geranium. No idea about the others I'm afraid. Your fabrics from the V&A are very pretty indeed. Ann :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. The yellow ones look like marigolds, the red ones geraniums, and the purple may be lavender. I know I have all of those in my gardens at one time...when I had a garden. Living in a north facing apartment doesn't provide much of a habitat for flowering plants.
    Love the fabric;)
    And with recent experience myself, teaching someone to sew is really cool;) With each new sewer/quilter/crafter, we know that the tradition will carry on;)
    Happy Quilting!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I got your blocks yesterday! They didn't look particularly waterlogged, so I either they didn't swim, or they took some time to sun themselves when they reached the beaches of the US! I'm so excited they finally arrived and will be blogging about them as soon as I find a few extra minutes at home. Thank you!!!

    ReplyDelete