One Saturday.....

 One Saturday, the quilts came out to air in the spring light. They looked like a magazine cover  hanging on the fence.

 The greenhouse was tidied , tomatoes were planted, and flats  were ready.  But it was too early to plant outside. Still cool in the morning, sometimes chilly during these rainforest days.

   The birds scolded Spencer, as they pulled petals off the cherry trees.

               Spencer sat in his pot. He liked his pot.

              The cherry blossoms  and the Pasque flower were the earliest to rise.

     Along with Smokey. Who stood sentry duty at the door.

     Both  Smokey and Spencer watched through their own doors.

                   Spencer in his pot. (How will I ever plant flowers ........)

                   The spinach newly planted on the hill, had not wilted in the  frost at night.

  And the Pasque flower grew thick and lush, each day, till the sun  lay  low and moon was high.

  And Spencer finally left his pot, to sleep on the bench with his yellow cup.  And Saturday was done.

Donna's Quilt

 Every quilt is so different. Each one has a life of it's own, and different colour feel, mood. I find I  quilt a lot when I want to make a LOT of panels. And I do mean a lot. I take pics of every quilt and keep in a folder on the computer.( I've made so many quilts, runners, etc by now that I can't even count them. ) It's pretty cool to look back at a quilt with the name beneath the photo, and remember making it and why, where, what. And most importantly the person you made it for.
    This time it was a large runner. For Donna. Something unique. It would take extra planning.I dragged out my "Farmer's Wife" quilt block book. Written by Laurie Aaron Hird.  A book I had lost. Now it was found.  A virtual gold mine of quilt blocks. If you like to quilt I suggest getting this book. Amazing.

 This time I thought it would be good to try a sampler quilt, where I could use all sorts of blocks. The "Farmer's Wife" book, (complete with letters from 1920's farm wives and 11 blocks by Laurie Aaron Hird)  is an inspiring book. The Disc that came with the book included ALL the pattern pieces to print out and make templates. Fabulous. So exciting.
                                            
 At first I thought I would do up ALL 111 blocks THEN choose the ones I would use from the mass of blocks. I never like a small project, I like a BIG one, doing everything in sight. After the first 20, I figured that  was pretty good for now. The rest would have to wait.

While working on Donna's quilt, I read the "Farmer's Wife" . Great book. Great stories. Well laid out  with one pattern per page. Colour coded. An easy read as well, and very clear.
 

 The squares come out to  6 inches or so. Nice size.I used side plates to keep the pieces organized for Donna's runner which had to be about 76 inches in length.

                 

 If I was to do the entire runner with just these small squares, I would be making them till Christmas. I needed some larger 12 inch Star squares to balance it all out.

 So I  made 12 inch blocked Stars for the centre panel. As you can see, Bo helped with the tape measure.....

  In the end ,Donna's runner was a good 76 inches  with a mix of blocks with cool names:  Friendship star, Friendship block, Evening Star, Economy,Country Farm,Century of Progress,Calico Puzzle, Buzzard's Roost,Butterfly at the Crossroads,Broken Sugar Bowl,Box, Big Dipper, Bat Wing, Basket Weave, Ohio Star, Autumn Tints, Attic Windows, and a few more star patterns that's I've forgotten...(so much fabric, so many quilt squares to go....)
   

Easter Day

 It was said today, on Easter, from a service  packed with families, from a pulpit bright,  that it was good to slow down and let your soul catch up with you......so a collage of some of my favourite things. Makes one want to do a lot of catching up.

                            My fav people.............doing ordinary things.

                                                   Low tide..........

                                                                    Church Kitty and a Kilt.......

                       Music................. Leopard's Bane in the rain.......

   "Easter is meant to be a symbol of hope, renewal and new life. " (Janine de Giovanni)

       Cordelia in the Greenhouse...............Drops dripping from branches
        
                               Leopard's Bane drowning in the rain.......
            
          Neighbour's cat come to call. Again and Again. Smokey  sits in the rain and looks in.

                           Cordelia, still in the greenhouse.......

                                   Spencer in his pot of dirt.

            Mt. Washington in the mist.

        Spencer's nose peeking out from the greenhouse.

                                                 The Pier  surrounded by white clouds.

 "Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and Hallelujah is our song."
       (Pope John II)