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Frida's Flowers - 1 Year Crochet Project - So Much Fun!

 

It All Started with Hexie-lust!


Look back to early 2012, when my dear friend, Christy, started covering little hexagon-shaped bits of card stock with fabric, making stacks of 6 ready to sew together as petals for a hexie flower. While I was working on a beading project, she was making these utterly irresistible stacks of hexies, until finally I succumbed to the temptation, and joined her.


Here is Christy holding a whole bag of covered hexie shapes, made for the pathway around her hexie flowers.


And here I am holding my hexie quilt, showing the final seam of hand stitching needed to complete the quilt top for my hexie quilt, Grandma's Flower Garden.

You'd think that hand-stitching and quilting over 4,000 hexies would be enough for any sane person, right?


Guess I'm not sane, because in 2015 I started another hexie quilt, or as it turns out, a triptych of wall quilts, for which I've completed 733 hexie flowers (which requires 5,131 individual hexies)!

Getting Hooked on Crochet


OK.... so now, I'm finished with hexies, right?  You guessed it! The answer is, "NO WAY." And once again it's Christy's "fault." With her hexie quilt on the back burner for a while, she moved into a crochet phase, making lovely afghans and shawls. She, along with Sabine, my friend in Germany, got me hooked on crochet (pun intended). 


This is the first shawl I made late in 2015, learning and getting comfortable with the hook. 


Then....  the big bang happened...  the crochet-hexie connection!!! This is it.  I saw this picture on Huib Petersen's Facebook page, fell bonkers in love, messaged him to find out about it, and learned that there is a pattern for the flowers online. Click on the above photo of Huib's flowers to see it enlarged... Wouldn't you be a bit inclined to go bonkers over it too???

On June 12, 2016, just one day after seeing his crocheted hexie flowers on Facebook, Christy and I were in Island Wools, our local yarn shop, buying DK-weight, cotton yarn in a dozen colors, ready to begin our own stacks of crocheted hexie flowers!

On a whim, right there in the yarn shop, we decided to keep what we were doing a secret... not to show or tell anybody about our project until we finished our afghans... no blogging or posting on Facebook about it. We didn't even tell Libby or Julie at the yarn shop why we kept ordering more cotton yarn. Our secret-keeping made it all the more fun!

Original Crochet-Along, Frida's Flowers


According to Huib, the instructions for his flowers came from a Stylecraft, Crochet-Along, called Frida's Flowers, staring an original pattern by Jane Crowfoot.


This is a photo from the instructions, showing the finished afghan, which includes several identical flowers in each of 2 simple and 5 complex designs. All of the designs are are multi-colored and textural, with raised flower parts, enough to make us drool!

Bored with making 6 identical flowers - Colors calling us!


Our plan was to get together at my house every Sunday afternoon to crochet hexie flowers, each of us completing enough flowers to make an afghan. In a little over a year of working 4-6 hours nearly every Sunday and some Tuesday evenings as well, we each had completed 39 flower blocks and 6 half-flower blocks, and were ready to crochet them together.


Ooops... I'm getting ahead of myself with this story.  We began with this block, called Rosa, which was the 3rd block in the overall design. (Blocks 1 and 2 are the more simple ones with a small central bud and plain background). This one is the easiest of the full flower designs.

But, for both of us, it was difficult, as there were several stitches we didn't know. Thanks to Youtube videos, we were able to learn them. However, after making two flowers each in the pattern colors, partially out of boredom and partly because of the influence of Huib's multi-color, no-two-the-same flowers, we decided to pick our own colors, making only a pair in each colorway. This, of course, caused us both to buy a lot more colors of yarn... oh for fun!


After making 6 each of Blocks 3 and 4, mine looked like this. Christy's color choices are different... enough different that our finished afghans may look like sisters, but definitely not like identical twins.



I started looking at flower catalogs to find new color combinations... and both of us were buying yarn like crazy.  Some brands have more that 50 color choices in DK-weight cotton. I admit to spending over two hundred dollars on yarn all-in-all, with some remainders for future projects. Never mind the cost... I adore all the colors.

Designing Our Afghans


Early in the process, both Christy and I decided we wanted to make something more like Huib's, with a random or nearly random placement of the blocks. Plus, we wanted it to be a bit bigger than the 31-block original design.


Also, we didn't want to include any of the more simple blocks, except as modified half-blocks for the sides.

A year went by, with the two of us continually challenged, thoroughly enjoying the process of making our blocks. Then it was time to lay them all out!


Almost at once, it was clear that the flowers needed more space, more black around each one to set them off. So, before crocheting them together, we bought more skeins of black yarn, and added a row of double crochet around each of the blocks. This also would add a bit more to the size of the afghans, making them large enough to cover both arms and legs while watching a good movie on a winter's evening.


Here is my finished arrangement, the hexie flower blocks crocheted together with a slip-stitch, awaiting a border. Although the original design included a border that would have worked OK, by then I was flying solo, wanting a border I could call my own.  


After some experimentation, trial-and-error, crochet and un-ravel attempts, this is my final border invention, which includes the "popcorn" stitch, central to many of the flowers. It was challenging to figure out how to crochet the increases and decreases necessary for the zig-zag edges on the sides, and still keep it flat. Again, trial-and-error was part of the process.


Here is my almost-finished afghan, my own version of Frida's Flowers, showing the size!

Entering at the San Juan County Fair


As we neared completion, we faced a moral dilemma, a difficult decision. We both enjoy submitting entries at our local San Juan County Fair each year, especially in the Fiber and Textile Arts Divisions. These entries are judged and eligible to win ribbons and cash prizes. In previous years, there haven't been many crocheted items entered, nothing that has won any of the top awards.

We figured our afghans could be "game changers," that they had a chance of winning. But we didn't like the idea of being in competition with each other for the top awards, the Best of Class and the Best of Show. If we both entered, neither quilt would win a top award, or one would win and the other wouldn't (which might be the worst outcome). So, after some heartfelt discussions, we decided I would enter mine this year, and she would delay finishing hers until later so that it would be eligible to enter next year.


Here's what happened...  Best of Class and Viewer's Choice for me in 2017!!!! And hopefully, the same will happen next year for Christy's version. Twelve months from now, I know for sure all the attendees will have forgotten my quilt, and will love seeing Christy's flowers, just as they did mine this year!





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'Legendary' cognitive scientist Daniel Osherson, 'scientist of rare talent' and 'excellent and caring mentor,' dies at 73

Daniel Osherson, Princeton’s Henry R. Luce Professor in Information Technology, Consciousness, and Culture, Emeritus, known for his  creative scientific explorations with collaborators in many disciplines, died at home on Sept. 4. 




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Hisashi Kobayashi, former Princeton engineering dean and data storage pioneer, dies at 84

Hisashi Kobayashi, whose steady leadership as dean guided Princeton's School of Engineering and Applied Science through a rapid expansion of programs and facilities in the late 1980s and early 1990s, died on March 9. He was 84.




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Princeton names Daren Hubbard VP and CIO

Hubbard, the top-ranking information technology administrator at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will join the University in January.




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Swing Dance Club - Weekly Meeting

Ever been interested in learning how to swing dance? Come and join our group! Everyone is welcome, including undergraduate and graduate students, staff and faculty, and community members. No partner or experience necessary! Our weekly schedule starts with a beginner lesson, where we’ll teach you the basic steps and a few fun moves. After that, we hold an intermediate lesson for more experienced dancers. We end the night with a social dance to practice our skills and learn from each other! For more details, please visit https://swing.princeton.edu. (Masks are optional but encouraged)




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University Holiday - Thanksgiving




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2024 Princeton Dance Festival

Featuring new and repertory works by nationally and internationally recognized choreographers, performed by 49 Princeton students in an energetic program of dances from a surprising range of dance forms. The work in the Festival includes a new hip-hop work by Rennie Harris, a new contemporary dance-theater work by Raja Feather Kelly, a new contemporary work by Rebecca Lazier, a new ballet work by Matthew Neenan, an excerpt from Stephen Petronio’s Lareigne (1995) staged by Davalois Fearon, and a restaged excerpt of Ripple, a 2021 contemporary work rooted in Chinese classical and folk dance by Yue Yin. Relaxed Performance on 11/24.




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2024 Princeton Dance Festival

Featuring new and repertory works by nationally and internationally recognized choreographers, performed by 49 Princeton students in an energetic program of dances from a surprising range of dance forms. The work in the Festival includes a new hip-hop work by Rennie Harris, a new contemporary dance-theater work by Raja Feather Kelly, a new contemporary work by Rebecca Lazier, a new ballet work by Matthew Neenan, an excerpt from Stephen Petronio’s Lareigne (1995) staged by Davalois Fearon, and a restaged excerpt of Ripple, a 2021 contemporary work rooted in Chinese classical and folk dance by Yue Yin. Relaxed Performance on 11/24.




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2024 Princeton Dance Festival

Featuring new and repertory works by nationally and internationally recognized choreographers, performed by 49 Princeton students in an energetic program of dances from a surprising range of dance forms. The work in the Festival includes a new hip-hop work by Rennie Harris, a new contemporary dance-theater work by Raja Feather Kelly, a new contemporary work by Rebecca Lazier, a new ballet work by Matthew Neenan, an excerpt from Stephen Petronio’s Lareigne (1995) staged by Davalois Fearon, and a restaged excerpt of Ripple, a 2021 contemporary work rooted in Chinese classical and folk dance by Yue Yin. Relaxed Performance on 11/24.




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2024 Princeton Dance Festival

Featuring new and repertory works by nationally and internationally recognized choreographers, performed by 49 Princeton students in an energetic program of dances from a surprising range of dance forms. The work in the Festival includes a new hip-hop work by Rennie Harris, a new contemporary dance-theater work by Raja Feather Kelly, a new contemporary work by Rebecca Lazier, a new ballet work by Matthew Neenan, an excerpt from Stephen Petronio’s Lareigne (1995) staged by Davalois Fearon, and a restaged excerpt of Ripple, a 2021 contemporary work rooted in Chinese classical and folk dance by Yue Yin. Relaxed Performance on 11/24.




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Qualitative Analysis with MAXQDA

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Swing Dance Club Weekly Meeting

Ever been interested in learning how to swing dance? Come and join our group! Everyone is welcome, including undergraduate and graduate students, staff and faculty, and community members. No partner or experience necessary! Our weekly schedule starts with an intermediate lesson for more advanced dancers; after that, we teach a beginner lesson, where we’ll teach you the basic steps and a few fun moves. We end the night with a social dance to practice our skills and learn from each other! For more details, please visit swing.princeton.edu. We hope to see you there!




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Dancing on My Own: Book Talk and Signing with Author Simon Wu '17

Conversation with emerging writer, art critic, curator and Princeton alum Simon Wu ’17 as he discusses his new book, Dancing on My Own, with Monica Youn ’93, Visiting Professor of Creative Writing. Followed by a book signing and reception. Current Princeton students can register to join writer and art curator Simon Wu ‘17 for a private dinner and career conversation from 4:30-5:30 PM.




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Do-Re-Meet: Pre-Concert Speed Dating + Isidore String Quartet Concert

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 7-8:30PM: Speed Dating 9PM: Concert featuring the Isidore String Quartet Find your perfect harmony among music-loving singles* in your age group by participating in 8-minute speed dates while enjoying catered appetizers on the historic Princeton University campus! Everyone will then head over to the concert hall to experience the trailblazing Isidore String Quartet. May you enjoy Isidore with a fellow music-lover you adore! Age Groups: Group Do: 24-39 Group Re: 40-59 Group Mi: 60+ Tickets for the full evening—admission to both the Do-Re-Meet event and the ensuing concert—are $50 General/$25 Student (an $80 value). If you already have a ticket to the concert and want to add on this experience, please contact us. *This event is designated for individuals seeking heterosexual connections. There will be an LGBTQIA+ and Allies Mingle on Saturday, December 7, 2024. To learn more about the Do-Re-Meet program and see more of Princeton University Concerts' social events for music lovers, click here. This event is presented by Princeton University Concerts. For a full event listing and tickets, please visit this link. Presented in partnership with TheSinglesGroup.com and Olsson's Fine Foods.




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Authentic Jazz and Swing Dance Workshop

As part of Dyane Harvey-Salaam's fall 2024 dance course, "The American Experience and Dance Practices of the African Diaspora," guest artist Mickey Davidson gives a lecture/workshop on Authentic Jazz and Swing Dance Practices. Open to University community.




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Center for Iran & Persian Gulf Studies Wednesday Seminar Series

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BusinessToday Seminar with Toll Brothers - Fred Cooper

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David's Inner Court: Dynasties and Their Discontents

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Swing Dance Club Weekly Meeting

Ever been interested in learning how to swing dance? Come and join our group! Everyone is welcome, including undergraduate and graduate students, staff and faculty, and community members. No partner or experience necessary! Our weekly schedule starts with an intermediate lesson for more advanced dancers; after that, we teach a beginner lesson, where we’ll teach you the basic steps and a few fun moves. We end the night with a social dance to practice our skills and learn from each other! For more details, please visit swing.princeton.edu. We hope to see you there!




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Center for Iran & Persian Gulf Studies Wednesday Seminar Series

Nearly every Wednesday of the semester, The Mossavar-Rahmini Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies invites a scholar to speak on their area of study. Topics relate to Iran and the Persian Gulf area while employing an interdisciplinary lens. To view the details of upcoming seminar topics, please visit iran.princeton.edu/upcoming-events.




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‘Over The Garden Wall’ Receives A 10th Anniversary Stop-Motion Makeover By Mikey Please And Dan Ojari

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“Sometimes We Can’t See Ourselves As What We Are”: Director Naoko Yamada On Why She Made ‘The Colors Within’

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Lovesick Season 4 – Review and Release Date 2024

The release of a third season, although not confirmed, is highly anticipated by the fans. To know everything about the upcoming season, make sure you read till the end. A Peek Into The Story The plot of the story is centered on three friends, Dylan, Luke, and Evie inhabiting a common house in Glasgow. The ... Read more

The post Lovesick Season 4 – Review and Release Date 2024 appeared first on Star Two.





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Nudaros, The Taste of Latin Music

Today we will speak with Nudaros, an Iranian music artist who started her music career in Spain in Latin style and will continue to follow this path and seek new experiences after succeeding in this style. A.K: I want to start with your name; why Nudaros? Nudaros: The lexical abbreviation Nodarus goes back to nude, ... Read more

The post Nudaros, The Taste of Latin Music appeared first on Star Two.





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Amazon Feeds Generator Updates

With continuation of our development process we are glad to introduce several updates for one of our most popular affiliate feeds generators – Amazon Feeds. Here is what’s new: New Amazon local stores Now we have a full list of Amazon local stores. You can find it in Advanced settings of Amazon Feeds generator. Each […]

The post Amazon Feeds Generator Updates appeared first on RSSground.com.



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The post CJ Affiliate Feeds Update. Action Required! appeared first on RSSground.com.




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The post A Personal Feeds Update is Coming appeared first on RSSground.com.




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RSS Ground Updates in July 2021

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The post RSS Ground Updates in July 2021 appeared first on RSSground.com.




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We are taking this opportunity to say Thank You! We can’t express how much we appreciate you being a part of RSS Ground family. We hope our unique tools will continue to be useful to you for years to come. We usually never do this, but this time we would like to show our token […]

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Posting Campaigns Major Interface Update

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LinkedIn Automated Poster Major Update

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The post LinkedIn Automated Poster Major Update appeared first on RSSground.com.




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Let DALL-E AI draw images for your posts

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The post Let DALL-E AI draw images for your posts appeared first on RSSground.com.




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RSS Ground X (Twitter) Poster Major Update

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The post RSS Ground X (Twitter) Poster Major Update appeared first on RSSground.com.




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Interface updates and improvements.

We are glad to introduce some interface updates and improvements. In the Feeds Box you can now see a new Filter icon. Click to filter your content feeds by type, source and status and to use search option.  You can also change the number of feeds per page. We have also added the Reset filters option […]

The post Interface updates and improvements. appeared first on RSSground.com.




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You asked – we listened: Personal Feeds interface update

Your feedback matters to us, and we’ve been working hard on our Personal Feeds based on what you told us in our ongoing survey. We’re excited to show off a cleaner, user-friendly update – a straightforward, refreshed look that makes creating and editing personal feeds simple and efficient.   The feed title is now prominently […]

The post You asked – we listened: Personal Feeds interface update appeared first on RSSground.com.




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Another set of updates for personal feeds and more

We continue our updates and improvements based on your recent suggestions. This time, we have enhanced some interface options as well as Personal Feeds functionality. Please enjoy! Pagination has been added to the bottom of all RSS Ground lists (tables). We have also added an “attention seeker” bouncing effect for the Filters icon. It will […]

The post Another set of updates for personal feeds and more appeared first on RSSground.com.




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A Day In The Life Elle Macpherson

Entrepreneur Elle Macpherson has become a worldwide phenomenon that represents beauty and wellness. For decades she has been one the top models in the industry with the famous nickname “The Body”. Her line of supplements has become a best seller and they are incorporated in many different diets. The brand name is Wellco and we ... Read more

The post A Day In The Life Elle Macpherson appeared first on Star Two.






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How to spend a weekend in Malaga, the cultural gateway to Andalucía






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How to have a perfect autumn weekend in Seville – Andalucia’s sultry capital