17th Blog-iversary!

Happy Australia Day to my friends in Australia! And happy blogiversary to me. 

It's difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that 17 years ago today, I wrote my first FlourishingPalms blog post. 

17 years! 

My first post was about January 26 being Australia Day. In honor of the occasion I made pavlova, a traditional Australian baked meringue dessert reputed to have been named for the ballerina, Anna Pavlova. Back then, in 2009, I was into all things Australia because our daughter lived in Sydney, and I visited there multiple times when we lived in Iowa. 

For the first seven years of blogging - writing 716 blog posts during that seven years - I had each year of posts printed into a book. As I recall, the first few years of books were $40 to $50 each. By the time I'd had the seventh year printed for $80, I decided it wasn't worth it to continue that practice. I just check a site to see what it would cost to print 70 posts from 2025 and the price was about $148 - still not worth it. 

While some quilt makers have told me my blog posts are my legacy, and I should document everything I've written about by printing a book, I have strong doubts that my descendants will care one way or another about what I had to say about my quilts or my process for making them. 

Only for me is it satisfying to recognize that I've continued to regularly write blog posts while many other creative bloggers I avidly followed in the early days have long ago let their blogs lapse. For me, each post is a journal - a means to document all my makes, whether they're quilts or other creative efforts to which I've applied my "flourishing palms." 

I remain very happy with the blog name flourishingpalms, and use @flourishingpalms on Instagram too. In case you didn't know, I chose the name because it signifies three things for me: 

1. It's a favorite Bible verse: "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, planted in the house of the Lord." Psalm 92:12
2. I've always admired and been fascinated by palm trees, even making a palm tree quilt while living in Iowa. (See below.)
3. I appreciate the play on words, with "palm" not only referring to the tree, but referring to the creative efforts of my hands - my palms.

Here's the palm quilt hanging in our Florida house.

There's one special block... a sun chair sitting in a field of Iowa corn, where a palm is also growing!

The quilt name is I Can Dream, Can't I?

Little did I know, back in 2005 when I made the quilt, that I would one day be living in Florida where palms are a regular sight. We've been here 13½ years now.

What I've Been Doing Lately

I finished a skein of donated variegated pastel yarn. I previously posted about the baby afghan I made. Using the same knitted pattern, the remaining yarn made a piece that's only 13" X 26". I've dubbed it a lovey, or perhaps it could be a doll blanket.  

13" X 26"

"Beautiful Texture Baby Blanket" knitting pattern info

Braiding continues on my rag rug that's now 40" X 50", making it completely importable. It's heavy!

Trying to be a little more creative with the rug design, you can see where I added a second braid that's entirely orange.

Along the end I'm inserting another short, light blue braid. I plan to repeat the orange design on the next long side, and add another light blue braid at the end. My thrift store investments (several years ago) in two flat bed sheets - orange, and blue print - were good choices.

I've also begun another take-along sewing machine project. My five-pound Janome Derby sewing machine is perfect for this.

I'm piecing to "do something" with dozens and dozens of triangles I found in scrap bins. I know some triangles are offcuts from making Posh Penelope, but I can't remember where others came from. Some HSTs are finishing at 2½", and others at 2¼". No matter. I plan to work out a way to make them all into one quilt. 

Another Fun Thing

For blog-readers who are not Floridians, you won't recognize the structure below, but it's a Twistee Treat ice cream stand. 

I discovered Twisted Treat in 2020, stopping at one after getting our first COVID vaccinations - my reward for being a good girl. 😀 

I adore their soft-serve ice cream, but seldom have opportunities to eat it because the nearest location is 15 miles away. All Twistee Treat structures are distinctive like this, with a cone base and an ice-cream-and-toppings roof. Some also have sprinkles!

The picture above is of the stand that's going up near me. Oh boy! I'll be able to get there by golf cart! This is supposed to open in February. I'm closely watching @twisteetreat on Instagram.

I can't end this post without saying 💕 thank you 💕 to everyone who's been a blog-reader. 

While I miss quilters who once-upon-a-time read my posts (and I considered friends) I remain ever-so-grateful to you who take a moment to read and comment. I love hearing from you! Even those of you who have been commenting as "Anonymous," I hope you know I am responding to all comments. Whether you receive an email reply, or a response in the comments of that blog post, I appreciate you!

Maybe I'll keep hearing from you... for another 17 years? Linda