The Bleeding Hearts Myth



Bleeding Heart & Daisy
a block from Part 10 of my Mystery BOM Forget Me Not
I have loved Bleeding Hearts for so long and couldn't wait to incorporate them into a block
Now I know there's a myth that goes along with them, it's even more charming!

It's not everyday that you hear something new

I love flowers and know of so many wives tales and flower language facts and historic allergories, but I didn't know about this one - and it's so charming I had to share it! Many thanks to Bunny who sent on this link to share it with me. She is making Forget Me Not (beautifully, I'll add) and I'm so glad she thought of passing this link on to me.

Click here. This link will take you to another blog "Tales from the Hollow Tree" which features the Bleeding Hearts myth post.

WOW: Momentary Domesticity

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I've been really busy this morning, fussing over the next Mystery block. I can't share any of those images with you yet, so I thought I'd show off my latest kitchen gadget. Frankly, it's not too often that I'm stirred to talk about domestic chores; I'd rather be quilting! All I'm going to say about saucepans is that I've had them all, I've ruined most of them - one way or another- and I couldn't be less interested in shopping for new ones.

That's not oil, it's pure toffee, and it's gliding out of the pan.

 So I decided that my DD could source the 'new saucepan'... and she had a Flavorstone brand one delivered. Now, I'd never heard of this brand (which worried me) and it's bright blue (which also worried me) and it's seriously non - stick (which terrified me). After many hours of google-ing non stick cookware and conspiracy theories regarding non- stick surfaces, I simply decided to send the whole thing back. I hadn't even used it and it was already causing me too much hassle. I do wonder if I'm the only person who obsesses about these things? But it really worried me and I didn't want to cook in it.



the colour still bothers me
but I can't complain about its performance

To cut a long story short, I read up about my current stainless steel imported European cookware that I've been using for the last 20 years and apparently even that's not 100% safe... so I decided that, on balance, and given the temperatures in question, I was worrying too much about it and decided to just cook something.

After all the money we've spent on 'state of the art' saucepans from Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the USA, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that this is the best saucepan I've ever had! It is truly non-stick and cooks beautifully. I've cooked so many meals - slow cooking, braising, browning, warming up - all without a speck of oil and am impressed with how nicely the food browns and caramelises. The biggest test was when my DD made creme caramel and the usual stuck sugar mess was replaced with gliding sugar that was wiped out of the pan.

I can't believe I'm actually talking about saucepans (?!), but I have mentioned it abit just lately and have promised a few people that I'd blog it as I have been calling this brand by a wrong name, so anyway, here it is.  I doubt any other kitchen object will be able to excite me quite so much...which, looking at my WIP pile, is probably a good thing!



Bleeding Heart & Daisy, details

I've been thinking about designing a block with Bleeding Hearts for so long, I love them, I adore the way they hang and I think they're such a  romantic flower, I just knew they'd win a certain place in Forget Me Not.

Straight away I felt they belonged grouped with daisies, and then the colour scheme was instant; pink and green.

I know I always say this, but Preparation is everything!

This block is the fiddliest by far of all the blocks, but don't let that put you off...it's so satsifying to get these hearts finished, any pain along the way will be worth it! (and of course, there's always raw edge if you can't face the tiny details)

Elmer's glue, patience and a sharp pointed wooden cuticle stick (or use a thick needle to help you turn those impossible corners and edges)

clip and turn, doing your best to keep the edges tight and neat

you have to really be in the mood for applique when sitting down to turn edge the hearts

I like to complete them all in once sitting if possible,

but it takes a while so you may like to do it over several days

As I told myself throughout;

I'm only doing this once

and I'm going to look at and enjoy it for years! Persevere!

the end result is definitely worth it

This block is from Part 10

of my free 2012 Mystery BOM Forget Me Not

Yes, anyone can join in:

You can download this month's block via my website or my Yahoo Bom Group 

Banksia, details

As with every month, it always starts with the colours. I could have gone several ways with Banksia as there are quite a few varieties, and I opted for hot pink, using plain, batik and my own hand dye fabric.

The batik was a really great fabric to use as a background for the Banksia head; it appears that there are twice as many 'seeds' thanks to the background fabric, I love this effortless depth. If you don't have a background fabric that creates this, you can create it yourself by highlighting around your applique seeds with a pencil in a lighter tone to your seed fabric and highlighting around each seed individually. Then, heat set to make permanent.

lots of tiny seeds to cut

Preparation and patience are really important this month; both blocks have the potential to be really fiddly and time consuming. I opted for needle turn edges... and it really tested my patience!

but I love the sharp lines and wouldn't have it any other way

...progress...

the name scroll is coming, I'm still working on it!

This block is from Part 10

of my free 2012 Mystery BOM Forget Me Not

Yes, anyone can join in:

You can download this month's block via my website or my Yahoo Bom Group