Great progress, Lawson. All of my HSTs are cut, sewn, & trimmed. I had to take a break from this train ride to finish a blouse I made for my daughter. It’s only been started since fall! And I’m embarrassed to say how long I’ve had the fabric & pattern. Oops. I’m away from home at the moment but when I get back I’ll make the pinwheels & cut out the other parts. So far, so good!

No I just picked them today and made the few blocks today. Thank you. I love pansies.

lawsonmugs- that's beautiful!!!!!!!!
paintmejudy- I grew up in Utica and a lot of my family is still there.

I don't mind the snow unless I have to be driving in it. But I'm not real fond of 18" of it in April! Usually by April we're done with it - with a flurry or two. Normally I have my potatoes planted by this time.

I've got my HST sewn and trimmed, now to make pinwheels. I'm going for the larger size so I have 144 HST to work with.

What do potato plants look like when it's time to harvest?

The plants usually look like they are dying. You can carefully dig up a small spot to check on them. Use a potato fork. (Looks like a heavy duty pitch fork. ) I never grew any when I lived in Calif. But I have grown many back here in Missouri. I miss all the avacados and fresh artichokes and asparagus there.

like what Mary said - usually you can start harvesting smaller potatoes much sooner, after the plant has flowered. I've gotten them planted in May and still had enough time for a good harvest to grow.

I'm having a difficult time choosing background fabric. I bought mid/dark grey and am worried it won't work. Not enough contrast with the darker reds.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psnvmgdcnr.jpg

this is a darker taupe color. Not too bad . . .

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pssllwkqbz.jpg

I kind of like the light blue, but I don't have enough (1.5 x 4 = 6 yards) so would have to go scrappy for it.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psaetx3q0n.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps40dmrwls.jpg

this is a beige/yellow
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psrctniyp1.jpg

darker gold

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pshkls3xs7.jpg

lighter grey floral (this is wide backing, but think it could work)

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psrqwzhnez.jpg

I tried quite a few others - anything real dark blends too much with the dark red, and anything real light blends too much with the pink - so black and white are out.

What do you all think?

Macybaby, I think the gold in the next-to-last picture makes a striking contrast. I’d choose that one, I think.

Macybaby, I really like that gold with them and , second choice, the grey floral. Beautiful fabrics.
Marcia in TX

After sleeping on it and not being "in love" with any of the options, I pulled the white back out and think maybe it will work best after all.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pscsubdgdz.jpg

Last night when I was looking at white, I thought it was too "washed out" but maybe that is because I was envisioning going dark and my brain was not adjusting. Or it's that I rarely use white as a background, so I'm not drawn to it.

Or it's that we just got 18" of snow and when I look out the window, all I see is white! The grass had just started to get a tinge of green before this hit, and now we have even more in the forecast. Looks like spring is not going to happen here this year. The first year I moved here, we had 90 degree weather in mid April. That's not super common either, but more common than over a foot of snow.