Friday, July 8, 2022

Thinking of Zinnias

While appliquéing little plaid baskets during the winter months, I was trying to decide what to put in them.  Bright, beautiful, colorful zinnias came to mind.  Joyful flowers, I think, especially in the dead of winter.  So I've made a few to see what I think.  It was easy enough to cut and turn the edges of circle-ish shapes for the flowers and their centers.  But it was a little harder to decide how to make them look more like zinnias and less like generic flowers. 

The baskets will have two to four flowers each.  The leaves in the above photo were freshly cut with edges not yet turned.  They look a little large, don't they?  Zinnia leaves are unusual because the base of each leaf wraps around the stem of the zinnia and if looked at from above, they are exactly opposite each other.  A bit of a challenge to translate into fabric (if one is a little too much of a realist).

The centers of zinnias have what look like little secondary flowers, some yellow or orange or red or other colors.  But sometimes look like they have little lines of color, perhaps unopened petals.

How to interpret those little star-flowers with fabric?  Cross stitches, maybe?  With embroidery floss.  One, two, or three strands of floss.  Or is there a better way?  

In "You've Got Mail," Kathleen Kelly (played by Meg Ryan) claims daisies as the friendliest flowers.  I claim zinnias as the happiest flowers. 

In other news....  My mom used to say, "If it's not one thing, it's another."  I've adapted that saying to, "If it's not one thing, it's two or three." 

On the Saturday evening before the Fourth, I came home with groceries only to find that our oven had caught fire and no part of the stove was usable.  It had been empty, had been off all day, and it was cold inside.  It seems a miracle to me that my husband happened to be sitting in the kitchen and heard a pop (he's nearly deaf and would have heard nothing if he'd been in another room), then saw smoke coming from the oven.  He opened the door to see what was going on inside and quickly closed it when he saw flames.  He moved the stove away from the wall, unplugged it, and the fire went out.

It is incredible to me that a cold, empty oven can catch fire.  It makes me wary of leaving any appliance plugged in.  Well, the stove was nearly 23 years old, but still.  I don't even want to imagine what might have happened if no one had been home.  On Monday we ordered a new one which, the store says, will be delivered on July 21.  We're eating cold or microwaved food.  And toast.  Tomorrow I'm going to try hard boiling some eggs in the microwave for egg salad.

I know this is a first world problem:  people in many other countries cook over wood fires or bake in wood-fueled ovens.  But we get used to time-saving and work-easing appliances, don't we?  Which reminds me of something I heard years ago:
There, there, little luxury,
Don't you cry.
You'll be a necessity
By and by.


I don't even want to think about what the next problem could be....

Okay, that's it for tonight.  I hope everything is fine in your life!

--Nancy.

20 comments:

  1. Lovely basket and the pops of colour suit it well. Since I interrupted cross stitching to write you, I am partial to cross stitches for your centers, but I know whatever you choose will look great, Nancy.
    I've never heard of that stove thing happening. How lucky your hubby was home and took care of it. A new stove now will be nice.

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    1. Thank you for your vote of confidence about choosing how to stitch the tiny flowers around the zinnia centers, Jocelyn. 
      I'd never heard of anything like our stove experience, either.  We tried to buy a stove as close to the one we have as we could find.  I'm not partial to change, especially when I find something I love.  But, at least, I don't think we'll have to worry about a fire now.

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  2. That is really scarey about your stove--Good thing your husband heard that "pop" and was able to unplug it!!
    I love those little baskets and I think the embroidery around the centers of the zinnias is really nice hugs, Julierose

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    1. Yes, Julierose, it was really alarming. I'm sure it was scarier for him than me since he had to deal with it.
      Thanks for your kind comments about the baskets and zinnias.

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  3. So glad that disaster was averted. Your little zinnias with the cross stitch centers are a perfect representation of the real thing. I love zinnias too and try to have them in the garden each year. Don't much care for the japanese beetles they attract though.

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    1. I, too, am glad there was no disaster!  Thank you for your kind comments about the zinnias, Pat.  Though I've cross-stitched several, I'm still uncertain, think maybe they need more or something else....I've never grown zinnias and have only ever seen them in other people's gardens.  I wouldn't like the Japanese beetles, either!

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  4. The Zinnias are terrific. I love their bright cheerful colors. I agree, they are a happy flower. The cross stitch is the perfect stitch for the centers. We had a fire in the oven this spring but it was on and when I turned it off the flame was gone. We didn't have to replace the stove, just the bottom element. I've heard of toasters bursting into flames so I try and keep my toaster unplugged. I'm not always successful at that with 5 other people using it. Are you getting the heat? We've got 100+ degrees expected every day for the next week. When it gets that hot I usually retreat to the basement but I can't do that this year. The humidity is 21% right now, so not too bad. I've never tried cooking eggs in the MW. I'm sure it would work. Do you have an electric frying pan? I might help.

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    1. Thank you for your comments and thoughts about the zinnias, Robin.I can imagine how hard it is to maintain "control" of your environment and workspace with five others there.  I think that's one of my struggles when people visit:  order and organization go out the window. 
      We've had some hot days but not in the 100s lately.  Humidity at 21% sounds fabulous.  Ours is rarely that low, usually in the 60s or 70s and sometimes up to 100%.  (I've never been able to understand why it isn't raining when the humidity is 100%!)I know how you miss your sewing space and being able to move about your home freely, especially to the basement.  I hope you get it back soon.I haven't gotten to the eggs yet and I don't have an electric frying pan.  My daughter has a griddle but I haven't used it yet. 

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  5. That is a great flower choice for your baskets, and I think you replicated the center of the zinnias beautifully!
    What a frightening story about your oven. Glad your husband was in the right place to hear the noise and take care of it!!

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    1. Thanks so much for your comments on the zinnias, Janet.
      I, too, am grateful my husband was close at hand for the oven. It was a crazy thing to happen!

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  6. The oven event is very scary. I ve never heard of such a thing. A short , a wire?

    I immediately knew those were zinnias! And you know how I love my zinnias each summer. The entire idea and design is darling. Such whimsy and charm.

    PS so far only the Dollar Store zinnias have sprouted for me---but they sue are cute and quite large.

    love

    lizzy

    PS I didn t know you could hard boil eggs in the microwave!

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    1. I don't know what happened with the oven, LIzzy.  I wondered if it was a wire or maybe even the heating element.  My husband fears electricity, doesn't want to deal with it (and is not really a handyman) so we ended up buying a new one.  I love the oven we have and wish we could have kept it.
      Your zinnias, and some others I saw in a garden on the way to the farmer's market, inspired zinnias for these baskets.  I always admire the mix of zinnia colors in your bottles, vases, and jars.  I hope the mix works with fabric, too!  I'm so glad that at least the dollar store zinnias have flowered.  I can't imagine you not having zinnias!
      I haven't tried boiling the eggs in the microwave.  My energy and enthusiasm waned before I could get to them.

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  7. Thank goodness that your hubby caught that fire before it really took hold! Our Jenn-Air started on fire a couple years and also started with a "pop". The fire was in the control panel, so no way to turn it off and being it was a built-in (and on fire!) we couldn't unplug it. It took a while to find the right circuit to cut the power. The good thing is that since the fire slightly charred the adjacent cupboard, our insurance covered the cost of a new oven/cooktop. The bad news was that it was almost impossible to find a replacement during Covid. I did a lot of Instant Pot and electric frypan cooking. Very scary to have that happen as you know. I've loaded up on zinnias and marigolds in hopes that the deer will pas them up--so far, so good--lol.

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    1. Oh, gosh, Karen, your experience sounds even worse than ours! I never thought about how one would unplug a built-in cooktop. So glad you found the breaker to turn it off. Did insurance also replace the charred cupboard? We had to replace our dishwasher during Covid and, like for you, it took months and months.
      I don't have an instant pot or an electric frying pan, at least not yet. We're mostly microwaving right now but my daughter has an electric griddle, which is here and I know I could use it. And I have a crockpot I could use, too. Someone else suggested a toaster oven. Before our stove arrives, I may resort to buying one or the other of the options.
      I didn't know deer like zinnias and marigolds. So good you have a large supply!
      How are you doing as far as your health? I hope you're well. And still quilting? I miss your blog posts. I checked a few weeks ago, hoping you'd changed your mind....

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  8. I did yo-yo flowers on some baskets. You could do french knots for the tiny flowers around the edge of the center. Pop from oven, hmmm. We live in a travel trailer and have been working on septic flood in bathroom. Almost 2 weeks, got it fixed. Take your choice of problems.

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    1. I've seen yo-yos used as flowers. Very fun.
      I thought about French knots but decided against them because they are so nubby (and I want smooth).
      Oh, how very awful to have a septic flood in the bathroom. We lived in a basement apartment for a brief time. While we were gone for a few weeks the sewer backed up into the apartment and flooded it. Awful, awful stuff. I'm glad to hear your bathroom problem is fixed, hopefully for good!

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  9. That is amazing that your husband was right there. Recently a friend of mine had a similar situation in her new home. Heard loud "pops" here and there and then the microwave started smoking. It turns out it was a problem with the wiring of her home, something not being connected properly to guard against inevitable power surges. She lost her oven, microwave, and HVAC system (all being replaced by the builder). On a happier note your zinnias really are happy, and what a fun project to work on. The added embroidery is just the thing. I have watched "You've Got Mail" 1000 times, lol. At this point I tend to just put it on to listen to while I putter around.

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    1. I was very grateful he was in the kitchen, Cynthia! Your friend's problem--how awful! And yet, good to know early on and to have everything replaced by the builder.

      Thanks for your comments about the zinnias. I hope they all work out when I start laying them on the baskets. "You've Got Mail" is a delight of a movie, isn't it?

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  10. I hope you have a new oven by now. My next door neighbor had the same problem when they weren't home. I didn't notice anything until the firetrucks came, but they had to have extensive renovations afterwards and their dogs didn't survive the smoke inhalation.

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  11. Yes, we do have a new oven. How awful for your neighbors--and so sad about their dogs. It's frightening what can happen, and maybe even more frightening that I never realized it could happen!

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