Thursday, July 21, 2022

I Like Thursday: Look What Popped Up

I found a few likes this week.  The heat has drained my motivation to kayak, walk, quilt... pretty much everything.  I'm hoping this will blow over soon.

First up, I finished assembling my hexie quilt.  Both sides are so much fun.  It's quite heavy, though, and I'm wondering how well the hand stitching will keep it together.  I'm pondering quilting over the whole thing to help distribute the stress.  On the other hand, I like how it looks now.  I may leave it as is, get a label on it, and if it can't take the abuse, quilt it later.



When I laid out the quilt, all I could see was how the front would look.  I have enjoyed watching it emerge as I stitched it together.  Hard to say which side I like better!


Last fall I had picked a couple of lemons from my parent's potted tree.  I had no luck sprouting the seeds.  I dumped the seeds and dirt into my potting soil container and thought no more of it.  After I planted my pansy and zinnia seedlings in the garden, I noticed that there were two tiny plants with very shiny leaves.  I snapped a photo and searched on PlantNet, but when it told me it was a citrus plant I laughed at how absurd that was.  I figured I'd try again when the plants were a little bigger.

Last week it finally dawned on me - PlantNet was right - it was my failed lemon seeds!  I pinched a leaf, and sure enough, it smelled of lemon.  Excellent!  One of them was tucked between iris bulbs.  I moved that to a pot since it would be harder to extract when it was bigger.  The second plant I'll leave out for the summer.  I'm thrilled they actually came up!

As part of this week's I Like Thursday group, we were invited to share our favorite kitchen tool, something we always reach for.  (Thanks, LeeAnna!)  There's two that are in constant use in my kitchen - my 6" kitchen knife and my ingenuiTEA teapot/infuser.  I vaguely remember buying the knife, it was so long ago.  The handle is starting to crack - I've inquired how to fix it because I hate the idea of replacing it.  The knife is just the right size for nearly everything and feels great. 

The ingenuiTEA was a Christmas gift from my sister.  It's easy to dump loose tea into, pour in hot water, wait for it to steep, then put it on the top of your mug, and it pours out.  Lift it up, and it stops.  A real tea connoisseur would not be happy with it since any water left will still steep.  I'm good with over-steeped tea.  The plastic was originally clear but at this point, even when I scrub it, it still retains a patina. 

Rob's brother and SIL were in town this week.  They popped by to witness the disaster we call a home right now.  LOL.  They took us to dinner at Alina's, which was a welcome change and an enjoyable evening.  Thanks for introducing us to the place!

That's pretty much it.  Laying low and trying to keep cool. 

15 comments :

  1. Your hexie quilt is just amazing! I love the look of those and have started in on one, with very slow progress. Hope your hand stitching holds up! A good knife is probably the best tool in the kitchen - yours looks handy. So does the tea infuser - I haven't seen those before. I was just hearing that the northeast was having a heatwave, just like a lot of the country. Hope you can stay cool!

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  2. Nice week of likes, Thanks for sharing.

    oOn the hexie quilt, the quilt should hold up well having been hand stitched. Remember until not so long ago all quilts were hand stitched and they were washed frequently and were heavily used. Lots have survived the trials of life and are in quilt museums today. Also most quilt shows never allowed anything but hand stitched quilts. It was only not too long ago that machine quilted quilts were allowed to be entered into quilt shows. Quilt shows, today, are much larger than they used to be & most shows now have a hand stitched division.

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  3. Your hexie quilt is just glorious! on both sides! So fantastic and I love all the bright colors.

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  4. I am going to check out the tea maker. I have a little filter holder we use when the coffee maker dies... just enough for one cup but it actually tastes better than a coffee maker's! A lemon tree! grand!

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  5. I love your beautiful colorful quilt! That is a good project for this hot summer days! Take care!

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  6. OMG your hexie quilt is awesome! Too hot to even kayak? Being out on the water I would think would be refreshing. But I have no room to talk. Just setting foot outside is a chore. Great likes. Isn't it funny when you have a favorite knife. I am going to try to learn to sharpen mine. I will experiment on a not so favorite first.

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  7. Having those favorite kitchen knives is definitely a thing! My hubs' tea mug looks like that from time to time - I fill it with warm/hot water and drop in a denture cleaning tablet and let it do its thing. Cleans it well (sometimes I have to do it twice). I wash it up well, and repeat when it gets like that again. Your hexie quilt is a pretty one!

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  8. Hi Sally! I am SO pumped about your lemon seeds that are actually growing. HOW COOL. Makes me want to try it myself just for the scent alone. That size kitchen knife is really just the best size - I use mine all the time, too. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

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  9. I remember your top too...the one in the last post with your newly shorn pigtails and very happy face.
    Meanwhile, lots of neat things in this one...Your beautiful hexie quilt reminds me of my Tumbling blocks...with the cards all in it weighed a ton; I was relieved how light it became with them removed. How special that the seeds sprouted. I love accidental plants in the garden.
    I too am particular about my knives and I sharpen the two paring knives I use constantly. Can't bear a dull knife.

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  10. Your quilt is pretty cool with 2 gorgeous sides! It looks like you have a nice lemon plant! I love your 2 kitchen gadgets. Tea infusers come in handy. I have an older knife I love to use too. So useful!

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  11. Wow, I love both sides of your quilt! And so fun that you discovered a lemon plant, or two!!!

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  12. I have been reading your blog for a couple years now, having found it from the I like Thursdays linky. Anyway, today I came across a cute guinea pig stuffy pattern that I thought you might like: https://www.e-quilterscorner.com/shop/c/p/Gertrude-Guinea-Pig-Pattern-x28823958.htm
    Keep on posting! :-)

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  13. Wow! Hexies on the front AND back! Amazing. I tried to grow a lemon tree from my lemon seeds and failed. I saved a couple more seeds and will try again. Thanks for the encouragement!

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