Hi d_giffin, thank you so much! I like the white peonies very much now. Yes, sometimes mistakes can make it better! :-) George, I want to first of all tell you how much I really appreciate you giving me all the advice! Thank you! You know, I actually realized that I might be overcrowding these paniculatas. However, I did it anyway, thinking that I might be able to severely prune these lovelies every year to keep their size down, and more importantly, I did it for a selfish reason - I know that this is not my forever house, and I probably will only be here for a few more years. I wanted to enjoy these paniculatas and so I just planted them there, realizing that they may not be fully grown before I leave... ouch! I hope that is not too selfish. You know what? The worst thing is that someone or myself will need to chop down the shrub(s). The physocarpus is Summer Wine, which is actually supposed to be only half the size of Diablo and Coppertina. So it is much more compact. The crabapple is supposed to be about 12' tall when fully grown. Yes, it may create some shade, but with crabapple, the foliage is not that dense so it should not be too much of a problem. The neighbors' shrub was always a mystery to me, until recently! They did not even know what it was - they just planted it there several years ago!!! Anyway, it's a lilac... yikes! It might get big. The thing that gets me is that the buds get eaten by the deer every year before they bloom! Sigh... I am going to advice my neighbors to prune it hard every year! LOL Anyway, if I do want to move the Limelight, since it was in a 5 gallon pot before and this is its 3rd season now, how deep and widespread should I expect the roots to be? I want to make sure that I will dig carefully just so that I won't damage the sprinkler system. The trouble is, if I did move it, I am not sure where to put it then... Hey, George, if you remember, I already removed the Pink Diamond from this bed to another corner after your advice last fall!!! :-) Thanks again!

Hi, Ladies-Have been reading posts with different ideas & thought I would share my opinion (which, by the way, opinions are just like noses, everyone has one!Ha). I really think this swap was something that Hazelnutbunny was really looking forward to & wanted us all to share with each other. She has made it so simple & not expensive which I think is great. I am not sure that she would want us to cancel due to the problems she is having. I sent a box to her today & included things for Valentine's Day for the family. Just my opinion & I might be wrong but I think Melissa would be disappointed if we cancelled. I think it is great that Maryann has helped out in Melissa's place & has stated she would assign partners. The decision needs to be made if we are to get them sent in time for next Saturday as some of us are quite a distance from others. Thanks & Blessings, Margaret

Take the book title, author (if you have it), and the library of congress book number and go to a book store such as Barnes and Noble. They can do a search for you, and if they locate copies, they can also order a book. But, if you have no intention of buying a copy, do not bother the book store. If you have a county-wide library card, ask your library to search their all-library listing to see of they have a copy. Use google to locate used book sellers. I've had good service with "Alibre (spelling?)".

Wow! Thank you all for that warm welcome. (Hey noocha, nice to see you here) And thank you so much for some great suggestions: I've linked to the site that quiltdiva posted - and saved it for future reference. I've also ordered the book Reverse Applique With No Brakez by Jan Mullen. Looking forward to reading it. scraphappy - Indeed this looks like the quilt you described. (I don't mean the design, but rather the many small lines) Here's a better picture of the quilt I want to do. It's a wall hanging measuring 30" by 30". I've re-read the instructions - the black is the background so as you can see there is a LOT to be cut away. I've concluded that this is not a good project for a first attempt at reverse applique, BUT as scraphappy indicated, it looks like a fairly simple one for the stained glass technique with black bias to cover the raw seams. I went to a quilt shop yesterday and purchased some fabric that I love. I'm going to be out of town for the next ten days with a lot of time on my hands, so hope to get it done. I'll post a photo when I get it completed. Then - I'm going to tackle a simple reverse applique project. Thank you all again grandma