Friday, September 19, 2025

Friday check in: wildflower goal, placemats, and reading


Two of my favorite wildflowers are in bloom now.  They're hard to find but I remembered where I saw them last year.  And there they were!  

Fringed gentian -- you can see the fringes at the edges of the petals.  They like sunshine and moist (but not wet) soil.  The lake prairie at Illinois Beach State Park is just right.  


Some have a single stem and others have multiple stems.

Such a beautiful blue!



Bottle gentian is hard to find.  They like moist soil and partial shade.  The flowers never open!  Native bumblebees are the only pollinators strong enough to pry open the petals. 

I've only found bottle gentian along the path at Spring Bluff Forest Preserve.


# # # # # #




In the studio:   the block of the month placemats are finished!   The BOM reveal is not until the November guild meeting.  I will need to remember where I put them and not forget to take them. 

It was fun to find colorful, busy prints to frame the bright blocks.  

(The common fabric in each block has moons, stars, and sort-of-planets on black. It's left over from a BOM circa 2005 and I was determined to use it up. I was so afraid I'd run out but there are scraps and some big chunks for another project.)

 # # # # #

 63-year-old PJ Hartnett sets off on a cross-country road trip to find his high school girlfriend. Of course the story is delightfully more complicated than that.  Twenty years ago he won $1 million in the lottery which he has frittered away on a lot of beer and generous gifts to friends and family. Now he's down to $20,000.   Oh, and he can no longer drive (too much beer) and doesn't have a car. But his ex-wife's long-time partner has a car. And the ex-wife and partner are on a month-long trip to Alaska . . . But then PJ's estranged stepbrother's grandchildren end up being his wards.  And his daughter has lost her job so she has free time -- and she has a driver's license.     What could go wrong?   And everything ends up just right.

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday    Off the Wall Friday

4 comments:

  1. such pretty blue flowers....loving those placemats, very good use of the blocks....oh so much chaos in this book....have to pass as i'm still destressing....

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love blue flowers too and am always happy when I see the chicory in bloom along the roadsides. That book sounds delightful and would be good to provide some escapism which we all need these days.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The gentian flowers are definitely a beautiful blue! Nice find! And those placemats are so fun - great way to use up the BOM blocks. That sounds like a book I would enjoy - putting it on my list!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was a good choice to make the blocks into placemats. They are all pretty.

    ReplyDelete

I have turned on comment moderation so be patient if you don't see it right away. If you are no-reply or anonymous I will not reply.