Red Star Quilt. Update. 2.13.23

 So far, so good.  The pattern is starting to emerge from the small pieces of fabric.

I made more than 220 2 1/2 inch square half square triangles, then kept in sandwich bags to keep track of which was which.  Each bag contained 8 each of the red triangle with one of three white or grey pattern fabric triangles.  Then I sewed them into strips of various configurations, for the sides of triangles that make the big star.  I also cut the diamonds, which become points of 8-point diamond stars.  For the Condor theme Nazca line them print, I tried to place a condor in the center of each diamond.

The original pattern has some fairly large expanses of un-pieced fabric.  I'd like for my quilt to have a more pieced look on the sides, but not detract from the rich red shade stars.  I got out some shirt collars and cuffs that went into previous quilts.  The diamonds are two inches wide, about the same as the shirt collars.  I removed stitches from the seams, to give the diamonds a 1/4 inch seam allowance on each side, and ironed them flat.  This was just BARELY enough, but I think they will look nice, when assembled.

I did the same with some shirt cuffs.  Same idea, but they are a bit easier.  This is all that remains from those shirts, after using the fabric in various quilt projects.  The cuff had a fused interfacing on one side, which I did not want.  Fortunately, the collar interfacing was not fused, and there were two cuffs, so enough fabric for four diamonds with no interfacing.

I think these will look nice on the quilt sides, breaking up the expanse of back ground fabric without detracting from the red stars.

Some Overwintering Hot Pepper Plants And New Seedlings. 2.5.23

 This Jalapeño plant looks like it's making nice buds.  It's in the sunroom, under LED plant lights, and on a warming mat.   Only about a week in the new conditions.

This is the Serrano.  It's harder for me to tell if it is starting to grow.  Maybe.

I just moved this Tabasco Pepper plant to the same conditions.  There was one aphid on one leaf, but who knows?  So I pruned it back a little and removed the leaves.  Still, the stems are nice and green.

They are getting lots of TLC and it seems possible they will make it through the winter for a second season of growth.

I planted three cells of this cell pack with seeds from dry Thai Peppers, that I had just harvested from the plant, and the other three cells with seeds from dried Ancho peppers.  The Thai peppers germinated quickly!  Much faster than bought seeds.  I have a feeling the Ancho peppers wont grow, but it's fun to try.

Seedling Updates. Echinacea, Onions, Chinese Chives. 2.5.23

 Here are some of the seedlings I planted a few weeks ago.

Chinese Chive (Also called Chinese Leek).

Hybrid Onions.

Cheyenne Spirit Exhinacea

All are doing well, and on track to plant outside in two months.

Growing Tigridia From Seeds. 2.5.23

 There isn't a lot of guidance about growing Tigridia from seeds.  I saved these seeds in 2021 but forgot to plant them last year.  Are the seeds like onions and only last a year or two?  I don't know.   I also didn't have info on stratification, scarification, heating mat, or soaking.  I did read that they need to be surface sown so they are exposed to light.

After about 3 or 4 weeks, I saw tiny spikes.  This was just after watering.

The source plants were like these, although I'm not certain if they were these exact flowers.  So we made it this far.  They will get lots of TLC to see what happens.  Assuming these seedlings survive my conditions.

My guess, which is only a guess, is they will need two years to reach blooming size.  We will see!