DWM: tulips, a tote, and maple leaves

As I was driving to the parking lot at Illinois Beach today I saw these iris in the meadow.  Obviously they're not flags (wild iris) which need to keep their feet (rhizomes) wet. (I checked. The flags aren't in bloom yet.)  I understand that cultivated iris do grow from seed.

These are wildflowers:  tickseed (coreopsis).  

On the beach: a washed up tree trunk that has a new role as a planter. (Looks like ikebana on a grand scale.)

 
 And at the other end of the planter: a dragon!












At Wednesday's guild meeting I won half the blocks for the block-of-the-month.  As shown, they are 12.5 x 12.5.

I got to thinking about settings and decided to try something different.  I separated each tulip (is this like dividing bulbs?) and am in the process of removing the top white rectangles (short flowers) and bottom green rectangles (long flowers).

Mindful of my Magpie friend Carla's statement that "noisy is good," I rootled in my stash to find a suitably noisy print for sashing. This one turned up. I may change my mind and use something else, but it is a starting point.

 I transformed another vendor totebag this week. (The innards of this are an Ebsco tote from a 2004 conference.)  I'd been about to use a gold print for the lining when I came across a yard of the blue/gold geometric visible between the straps.

And here's what I'm quilting:  a flimsy from 2006. I bought the gold/orange/purple prints used in the leaves when we were in New Hampshire that October. 


The pattern is by none other than Judy Laquidara, who generously hosts Design Wall Monday !