The Quilted Garden

Today was the benefit quilt show at the city garden. I wish I could share photos of those quilts because there were so many striking ones. But without permission of the quiltmakers, I won't go there. My Cotton Candy Sue was hung high with others around the central rose garden, but I've posted enough pictures of that quilt already. I will share, however, a few other things I saw today.

Any decent city garden should have a koi pond and fish food dispensed out of a gumball machine. There is definitely a gulping order among these fish. A little black one I didn't think to photograph was guarding a submerged barrel of lily pads. When any of the (much larger) fish in the feeding frenzy swam too close to the barrel, the little one charged at the trespasser. It was so completely uninterested in the food pellets. But who could blame it?

And there's the kaleidoscope. This is something I hadn't seen at the garden before. The contraption consists of a pot of plants and beads and other findings, and a couple of eyepieces focused in on the pot. The pot spins, and the individual eyepieces turn, changing the reflection of the mirrors inside.

I learned I could hold my camera to an eyepiece lens and take pictures of the patterns. And then I shot a little video of the patterns that appeared when the pot was spun. Take a look at the footage. Hope it works right; this the first video I've posted.



The last thing I discovered was I had won a gift basket at the show! I have Anonymous to thank for its contents...so, thank you! My armful of goodies was seven yards of flannel, a book, tape measure, spool of quilting thread, package of chenille needles, and little cards showing how to make bedding. Wow! And I even like the colors. lol