Tulips

We have two tulips growing in our yard.  Every spring when tulips are blooming in other people's gardens, I think I should buy some for us.  Then after a few weeks when all you see is the foliage, I'm glad I didn't.  It starts all over again in the fall.  I see the bulbs in the garden centers, along with the enticing photographs.  Then I think about having to actually get out a shovel and dig some holes and I change my mind.

Today I realized we have more tulips in our house than out in the yard.  And they are easier to care for and don't require any additional $$$.
 

I finished this fused applique quilt in December 2010.  It's 21 x 26 inches.   The pattern is "Tulips" by Details by Diane, but it's no longer listed on her web site.  

I had this pattern for the longest time before I made it.  I just couldn't find the right kind of fabric for a clay pot, which is what the pattern shows.  Once I decided to make a crazy pot, then picking all the other fabrics was easy.  Instead of a blue sky like she had, I used green, giving the effect of a lush vegetative background.  Her pot was sitting on brown tiles, but I chose blue to bring out the little bits of blue in the pot.

This quilt was so much fun to make.  It looks like a stained glass quilt, but it isn't.  You fuse the fabric to a black background and that is the secret.  I used a shiny polyester that looks like silk for some of the leaves, and batik for the others.  All the tulips are batiks.  When stitching the edges, I did so after making the sandwich so there would be some dimension.

The gold in the pot has a metallic sheen, which is why I chose that shiny leaf fabric.

These wooden tulips were made by a friend of my father, and we've had them 20 years or so.   I like them just as much today as the day he gave them to us.

And finally, we have a tulip lamp.  Now that ought to be enough tulips to keep a person happy, wouldn't you think?