Spring has sprung!

These last two weeks have flown by.  Last week my brother Rob and his wife Linda visited, and we spent a lot of time just catching up on our lives.   It was great to see them.  There was a lot to do before and after their visit, and then there was catching up on things not done.  I spent some time outside on nice days, picking up sticks in the yard, edging the front flower beds, and simply enjoying nicer weather.  I did snow - hard - one afternoon, but it all melted within a couple of hours.  We hope not to see that again until November.  

Our daffodils and tulips are blooming, and every day I see something new peeking out of the dirt.  There will be violets and lily of the valley soon, as well as flowering crabapple trees.  Spring is always a surprise around here after the long winter.

This week I finished Row H for my modern Dear Jane quilt and then caught up on some blocks of the month.

The block on the left is going into the lottery at my guild meeting later this month.  The other two are for me, with the one on the bottom being blocks for the quilt designed by Kristin Laura.  She has given our guild permission to make her quilt as a block of the month.  We will only have 9 guild blocks and 12 Kristin Laura blocks, so I decided to make them in the same colorway and combine them.  Hope it works out.

Then I made the "rows and pathways" (?) block for the lottery at the state quilt guild meeting May 10.  I initially wondered if it would turn out OK, but I like my block and assume the other quilters' blocks will turn out just as nice.  It will definitely be a scrappy quilt when they're all together.  It's supposed to look like garden paths.

I've spent some time in the last few days getting stuff together for the state guild meeting, too.  This will be my last meeting as president, and I'm looking forward to "just" being a participant and not responsible for anything.  We'll see how that turns out!

A friend and I are doing a short program on Dear Jane-type quilts at the meeting.  That's how Ginny and I met long ago.  We each have stories to tell and variations to show.  I have encouraged others in the guild to bring their variations along for show and tell, too.  One person has a mini that I think is just amazing.

And speaking of amazing, the other day as I was watering my indoor plants I noticed that my orchid, which I repotted a few weeks ago, is sporting two blossoms, with more on the way!  It hasn't bloomed in years, so it just goes to show that it needed a bigger pot.

  

Happy Easter

 It looks like it's going to be a lovely Good Friday today.  The sun was out at 6 am and the grass has been greening up quickly.  Soon it will be time to mow, and our tulips and daffodils will bloom.  I always have a sense of relief when that happens, generally very quickly, each year.  Here's what I expect, based on this photo from 2020.

We are planning to grill on Easter - hamburgers, potato salad, cole slaw, and ice cream are on the menu, even though spotty showers are predicted.   Chris will come over to help us get the grill going again, and I've been saving some burgers that came with a gift we received at Christmas.

Next week is going to be busy with appointments and meetings as well as the Champlain Valley Quilt Show.  I'll be delivering my Harriet's Journey variation quilt on Tuesday evening and then picking it up again on Sunday evening.  In between I'm looking forward to the show after a couple of years without one.  Happy holidays to you!

A touch of spring

 

I saw these in the grocery store yesterday and just couldn't resist buying them.  "Field grown in England" (so the tag said), they greeted me this morning and gave me hope!  The thermometer read -0.6 degrees, and today's high will be around 8.  But we aren't having the big coastal snowstorm that may bring 24" to the Boston area and elsewhere.  For that I am thankful, and today I'll spend a little time organizing my tax stuff, balancing my check book, and quilting the scrappy, little bird quilt I made this week.  

I made four 10" pieced bird blocks and set them with 25 patch blocks made of 2.5" scrappy squares.  The back is an odd piece of Minnie Mouse fabric I had hanging around.  I will check with Bags of Love if they take smaller quilts (36" x 36").  Funny how those scraps don't seem to take up less room no matter how many I pull out of the boxes.

Spring is busting out all over

The flowering crab tree in our front yard burst into bloom yesterday, as did our old lilac bush.  I took a walk around the neighborhood early and was blown away by the brilliant greens, pinks, purples, and whites everywhere.  After a long, gray winter, it is a totally different world out there.  What a relief!  As a guy with a camera said to me, "this is why we live here."  We endure the cold and snow for these wonderful spring days.

I'm sorry I didn't stop to take a picture - this one's from 2016.  The upstairs window is my sewing room, and, when I sit at my machine, I feel I'm right in the middle of all that loveliness.  I did make a couple more Harriet's Journey blocks yesterday and have two more to make for this month's quota of eight.  

I still have several blocks of the month to finish for various projects in order to keep up, but I suspect that, when Paul gets home, I'll be home a lot, sewing.  Still to be done:  RSC 20 (Pop Stars and Pineapples) and Dear Jen.  And on June 1, block swap blocks from 22 guild members will be arriving in our garage for swapping, with pick up over the following weekend.

Our Governor has lifted the mask order for everyone outdoors and for vaccinated people everywhere except public transportation and health care facilities.  I still plan to wear a mask in most stores, and of course I'll be wearing one at the hospital when I go to visit Paul.  It was great to go maskless to Christine's for dinner Friday night and to see my brother Rob and his wife Linda yesterday.  They drove up to Boston Saturday, then here (a 3.5 hour drive) for Sunday lunch, and then back home to NJ via Boston. 

April, "the cruelest month"

 

They actually survived!  I noticed my tulips blooming on Monday or Tuesday of this week.  What a nice surprise!  They are on the south side so get plenty of sun.  The daffodils on the north side are still budding.  On Wednesday, it snowed all day so that by Thursday all of the tulips were flattened under about 3" of slush.  Out came the sun, and this how they looked Friday.  What a relief!  It is most definitely spring when the temperatures swing from 30 to 60 and back again nearly overnight.

I love to bring flowers in from outside and will pick a few today for the dining room table.  I need a little brightening indoors with Paul in the hospital since Wednesday night.  Despite lots of prodding and poking, the experts still don't have a diagnosis.  I work through worry by keeping busy, mopping floors, washing curtains and old quilts, baking cookies for Paul, taking walks, working on my "gridified" Kinderdijk quilt.  

Last night neighbors invited me for dinner, which was a fun, welcome diversion.   Today I'll clean the refrigerator and try to beat the rain by walking early.  I'll visit Paul before my last Ricky Tims class at 3.   I've enjoyed the five sessions so far but have a lot of work to finish up in time for our show and tell session May 8.