Pillow bought at antique store...made from piece of old quilt...

Today Beth and I got a few things for the flower and herb beds and some fence to try to protect plants from the Sweet P's. The bigger girls never bothered the flower beds until PittyPat came along and taught them how nice it is to scooch down in the dirt to sleep - whether looking for warmth in the winter or coolness in the summer. Now all three are addicted. Relocating flowers planted there also provides an interesting diversion whilst working out just which spot would be best for napping.

This Holly Hobbie quilt is one my mother-in-law made for Beth when I was pregnant. Louise had one pregnant daughter and two pregnant daughters-in-law at the same time and made each baby one of these quilts. She let each mom-to-be make any fabric choices desired...and I picked fabric left over from my favorite maternity dress made by my mom to be the dress for the Holly Hobbie girl and let Louise choose the others. I did choose the basic color scheme of blue and yellow. Back in those days we didn't know if we were having a girl or a boy, but I knew I'd like blue and yellow regardless.

You can't really tell from this pitiful picture, but the solid yellow and yellow gingham are actually quite a nice and bright yellow. The hearts were appliqued in each corner, angling toward the central picture. And when you look at the quilt you never notice that the horse's back shadows through the dress!
She did a great job of using floss and cutting it for the mane to properly have strands. And my very first few quilting stitches are somewhere in this quilt...very, very bad ones.
I need to get some better pictures.

Weekend blessings: sunshine, rain, the greening and springing earth, time spent with loved ones

Spring is Here!!

Spring, glorious spring! (this to the tune of "Food, Glorious Food" from Oliver!)
It started out quite chilly yesterday, but even with the breeze warmed up nicely to around 60°. Today started at 30° but is supposed to get even warmer than yesterday. I'm trying to make the most of it, because I know there will be more cold, wet yuckiness.
Beth and Joshua came over to help me yesterday, and we got a great start on yard work. We even replaced some broken lattice that spans the 12" between the side porch floor and the ground. It's partly cosmetic and partly to keep the dogs and other critters out. Worked on pea gravel paths, mowed, pruned, worked on a flower bed - and then was ready to DROP!
My fabulous son-in-law even managed to remove the post that held the old satellite dish! It was never my favorite yard sculpture, and now it's gone!! HUZZAH!

This quilt was my birthday present from some folks at the office. I had seen it in a thrift shop in Huntsville and liked it, so they dispatched someone to get it! Quite a surprise.
It is truly a scrap quilt. A utility quilt. Much used and worn - it's patched patchwork! I think flour and sugar sacks and wornout work clothes and scraps from other household sewing are here. I'm not even sure which is the front and which is the back.
It has great personality.

I love the wonkiness - from before wonkiness even had the name. Binding? Maybe? She obviously used stuff till she ran out and then used something else.

The colors are really more reds, blue, and yellows. In spite of being outside in the sun (and shadow - oh, well - a photographer I'm not, as Yoda might phrase it), it looks even more faded than it is in these pictures and more purply.

Spring. Yep, it's nearly here. It was 80° and then 26° (with snow) and then 70° and now 44° with wind and rain.
Here's a nice green to make me feel like spring . . . I've been playing with one of Donna Poster's blocks called Block Party. I saw her "do" it on Simply Quilts several years ago and wrote down the simple directions. It's one of those dummy-proof blocks where no seams have to match, etc. and you can be really scrappy or more controlled. Me, I like scrappy. These retro-ish prints are JoAnn's fat quarters. I'm thinking of maybe a fun little tabletopper thingy that will be okay if gravy is spilled on it, etc. It's really just to have some fun requiring no thought or concentration.

In case you haven't noticed, quilters are just the neatest people. They are so creative, and the creativity goes much further than quilting. I've been trying to catch up on some blog reading, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing some of Marlene's work including stitcheries and how she uses it in her house. And Melanie always has such neat things, whether quilts or gift bags or bunnies. And there are so many others that I'd like to mention, but the laundry is calling me, and my internet connection is mostly not working this morning for some reason - most likely the wet weather. It almost always causes problems with the phone lines out in the country.

Blessings: this beautiful, beautiful world awakening with birds' spring songs, spirea and forsythia and peach trees blooming, and a different smell to the air

The Sound of Music!

It's back! The sound of music. Frog music, that is. For the last several nights we have been able to enjoy the lovely sounds of the treefrogs. I don't know how many varieties we have here, but there are several different songs going on. It's absolutely wonderful! I keep a window open at least a little bit all year round, and for the last few nights we've had it open quite a bit....for the air as well as the music.

Beth and I thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show Sunday. There were many inspirational gardens and displays of various kinds. A few favorites were of the Cumberland Herb Society as well as other folks with displays/wares to sell. One of the best things is something I don't have a picture of to show - a marvelous garden of succulents - in an old enamel bedpan of all things!!
this lovely garden miss had motion sensors to let her tip the watering can and to let the other thingy spin (don't even remember what it was)
This is a wide view of a wonderful display full of delightful vignettes of various herbs and sedums and hypertuffa containers...

And EVERYWHERE were variations on vertical gardening...for small spaces, for folks who have trouble getting up and down, and for every other reason you could imagine! Quite lovely and lots of good ideas.

Are you tired? At the end of the week? Well, me too! It's been a really rough week with end of month with critical people out and it's deductible time so revenue is hurt and after our beautiful snow it's been warm and springlike which means it's terrible to be cooped up indoors . . . but - as Robert Browning said, "God's in His heaven; all's right with the world." There is so much more to be thankful for than to be annoyed with or discouraged by. Sometimes - like this week - I have to remind myself of that more often than other times, but it's true, nonetheless. These lovelies came from beneath the snow...aren't they pretty? Jonquils have always been just about my favorite, and if they made perfume in that fragrance I'd probably bathe in it! I was so tickled recently to read Marlene's mention of jonquils! (most folks here call them buttercups but I grew up with my mother calling them jonquils) I've been able to enjoy several bouquets of them over the last couple of weeks. They are truly THE harbingers of spring to me.



I've worked on a couple of projects in odd bits of time, always wishing for more time...

pincushions made with teacups from Goodwill @ 49¢ each..don't know if the embroidery's visible on the left one...one of Natalie's birds...

Got the green fabrics for a special project for a special person and then made a few extras...didn't have enough ribbon and had to use something else...typical of me...but I'll figure out something to do with them at some point (having already put the special first one in the mail)

Blessings: beautiful days, DST coming this weekend which means sunshine later in the day!!, a jaunt to the big Nashville Lawn and Garden Show with Beth on Sunday (we'll go up for an early service at church in Nashville and then hit the big show at the Fairgrounds), a sweet and lovely husband who's all for such jaunts

IT REALLY SNOWED!

They said it would! But who knew to believe them this time - of so many, many times when we were lucky to see 5 flakes in the air. Hurrah!!

We've got 3 inches in some places and 5 - 6 in others because of the wind. Beautiful and wonderful as it is, though, the frustrating part is that if it had not been so warm and wet beforehand, we might REALLY have a snow! It must have snowed at least 8 inches to give us what we've got because the first so many inches melted! It was 70° Friday and has rained a fair amount in the last few days, so it's pretty wonderful that we have as much as we do. It's 27° this morning and quite windy, with gusts around 25 mph.

I'm out of suet cakes for the little birdies, but I have replenished the seed feeders this morning and scattered more on the snow. (above you can see evidence of the pitter patter of little feet wanting me to hurry up with the grub!)

HUZZAH!!!