"Progress". Years ago, our area was the same. This development was built in the late 60's on the outskirts of town and even though it basically still is, the landscape is changing all the time. There was nothing but fields and forest around here years ago. Now there's one development further out than us and more going up here and there all over the place. In the process more land was taken on top of the land used to expand roads and highways. It's not so bad where we've lost some of our typical nature sounds like our robins, owls, cardinals, cicadas and so on, but the feel is different. They tore down an old factory by the river 8 or so years ago that was supposed to remain as a park area where we used to see plenty of ducks, gulls and geese but it didn't take long for them to commercialize it with a restaurant, some shops, the obligatory CVS and leave us not forget the primo riverfront townhouses and condos. What I can't get over are the bloody drugstores. I grew up in a town that had a Rexall downtown on the corner. (Must be getting old. Spell check told me Rexall is spelled wrong.) Now, it's like some huge pharmacy giant just walks through the country, squats, and drops a CVS or Walgreen's here, there or wherever. The other thing that gets me about that is, whenever one builds the other is sure to build somewhere nearby.

I'm sorry Liz! I knew the patterns were for your niece, but didn't realize you didn't also quilt. Glossary: The "row" concept: Making a horizontal strip of a united design as a base element to be assembled with others to create a quilt top with a variety of looks (rather than a single picture or repeating pattern). Block of the Month: A common game run by any quilting group, where everyone makes a standard 12" square block to a particular pattern, puts them all in a "pot", and one of the contributors wins all the blocks. If there are enough for two (or more) quilts of decent size, there may be as many winners drawn, and the pot divided between them, either by the head of the game, or by schoolyard pick among the winners. Block of the Month, shop variation: A pattern, often for a fairly intricate block, or one following a theme, is given out every month. People make up the blocks, and turn the year's worth into quilts. The finished quilts are often displayed at the shop, and sometimes there's a vote for the favorite, or the shop picks or draws a winner, who receives a gift certificate or a bundle of goodies from the shop. Smaller quilts/wall hangings: With central heating, and the relative decline in the cost of fabrics/bedding, many of us really don't need the heaps of quilts our foremothers did. Quilting is fun, however! So people make a lot of picture sized quilts to hang on the wall, table runners and placemats, lap robes, baby quilts, etc. Fused: Appliqué is a fussy kind of technique. There are many methods for turning under the raw edges so that the pieces may be sewn to the baking fabric. Traditionally, one pressed the edges about 1/8" to the back and basted in place. Often, a paper pattern piece would be held in place on the back until the basting was finished, or even until the piece was mostly sewn down, to maintain crisp edges. Sometimes, the backing fabric and rear layers of stacked appliques would be partially cut away to make the quilt lie flat and make it easier to quilt across by hand. Another option is inlay, where the backing fabric is cut away first, and the erstwhile appliqué is seamed to the backing rather than sewn to the front. Fusing is modern alternative for people who don't mind the fray edge showing where some kind of glue--usually iron on web--is applied to the fabric, the piece is cut to its final size, and then ironed to the backing fabric. This makes the whole thing stiffer, requiring machine quilting, but the glue (web) prevents the fray edge from unraveling unless the item gets a lot of wear and washing. It's a great method for making quick wall hangings. Needleturned: An appliqué technique for the more experienced where instead of basting the seam allowance behind the piece, the piece itself is just held in place on the backing and the quilter uses the point of the needle to tuck the edge under while sewing. This is much faster than the traditional methods, but requires skill and practice. The 8 row challenge: Similar to the Shop Version Block of the Month described above, promoted by the row pattern company, as linked. Submit a quilt made with eight of the pattern rows. The game requires you to get 8 of this year's patterns from eight different shops (quilters will buy anything--getting you into different shops means you'll buy more overall, which is the point of the game). The first person who brings in a qualifying finished quilt with the eight patterns wins 25 fat quarters and if one of the rows came from the shop where the quilt is turned in, an extra surprise as well. Fat Quarter: A quart yard of fabric cut at half the width and 18" in length along the selvedge. A quarter yard of fabric is the minimum you can usually buy, though sometimes you can get smaller pieces that are precut. A quarter yard is 9" wide, however, which makes cutting larger pieces difficult, and which also may not have a complete repeat of a large printed pattern. Instead, quilt shops generally offer "fat" quarters, which are a half yard of fabric, cut down the center, lengthwise. That's much more usable for both patchwork and appliqué. Other common cuts include fat eighths, which are long quarters (9" long) cut down the center of the width, and 10" squares.

This is my kind of category. My list could go on and on. Mantis, Abilene Lillian didn't do as well here as last year. Maybe it was the weather or maybe I loaded it down with too many pods. I am getting some beautiful seedlings out of it though. Here are my top contenders. Bodacious Bite is always super for us. It never has a bad hair day and it sets pods well. Change My Heart has also been very good. I have been using it for hybridizing too. Sam Abell is a great performer in our garden. We love the wide edge. Here are the runners up. Dr Jules Michael Vinkman is also a favorite. It comes up in the spring looking ratty (it's a semi-evergreen), but always shapes up. Chico Tim has done well for us. Many of Tim Bell's hybrids do not like our climate. Chico Tim does not increase very well, but blooms well every year and at registered height too. Hip Hop Music has not been in the garden very long, but so far it has done well. I include it because I love the flower. Eye, edge, and teeth--what more can you want? I had to include one more. I don't know if this will be a good performer. It has survived two winters so far--one cold and the other mild. I post it because it not only has edge on the petals, but a slight edge on the sepals along with a few teeth. This is Stellar Stitchery. I like the intense eye color and have been using this one in our red and white program. So far it has given us some nice seedlings. I'll post one seedling too. This is Empire of Dawn and Dusk X Ruby Lipstick. We hope it will be an introduction in 2020 or 21. That's all for me. Nancy

All the patterned daylilies posted are amazing. I especially like Bow Tie Affair and Stenciled Infusion. Karen, your seedlings are lovely. I hope they have good plants under those beautiful flowers. Here are my best patterns. Geometric Wizard continues to be one of my favorites. It does very well here for a southern-bred daylily. Curious Cutie is from the same hybridizer and I have often wondered if they share genetics. Its biggest fault is that it turns to mush in rain, but Geometric Wizard does not. I Don't Kid is doing well here. The third flower in the background is Purple Maze which is very similar in looks. I love the delicate coloring on Ink and Pink. Four Beasts in One is not well established yet, but I like the looks of it. Oceans Eleven has been in the garden for many years. I love the eye. It often has a metallic look. Here is Get Jiggy in our garden. This is the best pattern we have seen, but we haven't seen it often. Of course, if patterns really show best in cooler weather, we aren't going to see many in west central Indiana. I know I have gone over my limit, but I have to post a pattern we found in a seedling. I didn't expect it as neither parent has a pattern. Nancy