New article up at the Examiner today: there are *6* free gardening ebooks being offered today: http://www.examiner.com/article/free-ebooks-for-2-27-2013

New article up at the Examiner: Fine Gardening is giving away five copies of the new rose book "Everyday Roses"! http://www.examiner.com/article/win-a-copy-of-everyday-roses

Enough snow has melted (in spots) that I was able to spend a few minutes outside, cutting back dead stuff and cleaning a couple of spots in the garden. This makes me ridiculously happy.

New article up at the Examiner, on using the color blue in the garden: http://www.examiner.com/article/blue-the-garden

New article up at the Examiner: free download available on pruning clematis! http://www.examiner.com/article/clematis-pruning-download

New article up at the Examiner, on the color yellow in the garden: www.examiner.com/article/yellow-the-garden

Under the Sea wall hanging

Finally  posting about the wall hanging I made for a friend as a holiday gift!

This friend loves the ocean, so I decided it was time for me to make an under the sea quilt. I've admired other people's undersea art and crazy quilts for years, so I was excited to make this.

I hand pieced this onto a loose cotton base, using quilter's cottons, silk, and taffeta. I blanket stitched the edges of the pieces down. Then I drew and painted in the mermaid, sewed down ribbons and textural yarn as seaweed, used old pieces of lace as sea plants on the ocean floor and dark tulle as shadows, and embellished with beads and shells.

I then sashed and backed it with black cotton, and used dark blue ribbon for the hangers, embellished with vintage buttons.

Close up of the anchor point of a kelp clump, with star fish (rayon trim cut apart), a shell with pearls in it, and a piece of dark green lace as plant life.

Bottom left corner, showing most of the plant life as well as more shells and the mermaid.

Jellyfish in the upper right. The body is a circle of sheer fabric folded; the tentacles are silk ribbons held down with beads. The air bubbles that are scattered around are clear beads with a 'oil slick' finish.