Has the Roar Stopped?

Can we hope that Spring has come in -- and meld quietly into Summer without so much as a soft sigh?

Here are some Blue Tulips with their memories of Holland.  I think the forsythia will bloom soon -- those in back are shaded and tend to be later.  It's time to shed winter's cocoon.

Fabric and the start of Lent

Were I to say that quilters love fabric, you'd be right to reply "duh!"
Which means you would enjoy, as I have, Corey Amaro's photos of the carnival in Venice on her blog titled Tongue In Cheek.  Google & take a look--imagine working with those fabrics!  certainly not "keep warm" New England bed quilt fabric. 

Reading can be both yummy and mysterious.

Even cozy mysteries  need a villain.  In the Cat Quilt, this block is the "villain" --  

Goldie and Tri feel he's a cozy villain and would even curl up with him -- If they were allowed to sleep on this quilt. 

Just finished reading The 27-Ingredient Chili Con Carne Murder.  This is the last of the 3 Eugenia Potter mysteries, The Cooking School Murders, The Baked Ben Supper Murders and The Nantucket Diet Murders.  Virginia Rich was working on this novel when she died; it was finished by Nancy Pickard.  I do wish there had been many many more in this series, especially since its heroine is a "mature" lady, and not in a nursing home. 

And the Chili sounds yummy -- my bosses are reminding me that it's their dinner time.

(Who needs an alarm clock when there's a cat or two in the house?)





A Quilt Showing Goldie at Work

What a perfect wall-hanging to show how Goldie spends his mornings.

It's so exhausting that he really needs his after-lunch nap.  And, of course, I must join him.   

Good Day for

sitting by the hearth - or cuddling on the sofa with two cats and a good book. 

Years ago I participated in a block swap.  The theme was Cats -- cat fabric or a cat pattern.  

This is from that swap -- a Log Cabin with cats.   The center patch of red  represents the hearth fire. 

Quilt historians found that the Log Cabin design became popular in 1863 when the Union army was raising money for the Civil War by raffling quilts. President Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin. The pattern may have been a symbol of loyalty to him as head of the Union. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Didn't realize how long it's been since I posted.  As the prior post moaned, this has been "that year from hell".  And, there are still far too many items left on the To Do list -- not pleasant quilty ones either. 

It's a quiet holiday for me -- DH & his father would go up to northern Maine hunting during this long weekend.  So it's never been a big "turkey day" event. 

Watched the Macy's parade & remembered the cruise when one of the gals at my table worked with the floats the night before.  They have a huge crew working at NYC area warehouses getting the floats ready for the parade.  She was one of the volunteers for that.  Although that was a number of years ago & could be quite differently staffed by now.

I did put out the selected Xmas quilts -- have zillions of them.  When I was taking classes from quilters like Bonny Hunter, I often used Christmas colors so ... zillions.
I'll post photos of some in a future post.

Virus Alert

I've been told that the link in Feb 16, 2011 post has a virus attached to it.  I have no idea how it became attached and can not find out how to remove it, nor will the original post delete.  Therefore, if you do read old posts, please do not use that link to the fabric store in Jonesport, Maine.  If you do wish to locate the store, please use Google.  My appologies to all -- original plans were to upgrade my tower this summer and hopefully that can be fixed then.  I have run Norton AntiVirus which comes up with nothing.

Royal Clematis Purple

The clematis are in bloom.   This is the classic Jackmanii -- "the best known clematis of all time. "  Easy to grow,  @ a 130 year-old variety.  

I need this rich purple color for Granddaughter's quilt.  

But as so often happens, another "little" project has been inserted into the quilting lineup.

 

Summer Begins

Flowers, Anniversaries and Shooting Stars plus two Birthdays.  That's not a bite out of the heart, but a ring on it.  This banner fits above my kitchen entry-way bulletin board --where calendar and appointment cards are posted.  In keeping with the calendar format, the banners for this area are season related. 

Fictional Shop Name

Although the heroine is owner of an embroidery shop, there's a neighboring quilt shop named: Batty About Quilts.  Isn't that a great name for a quilt shop!

At Lights Out, Goldie and Tri felt curling up close was the best place.  The flowering shrubs withstood the brief moment of hail yesterday as well as the heavy rain. 

Need to hang my Summer banner -- have to get it out ; one of the few I didn't get a photo of yet.   

The Mt. Laurel is beautiful this year.  The faint red blooms are a red version of the laurel.  While I purchased the red one, the "parent" Mt. Laurel was on my In-Laws CT home.  Its blooms brings memories of them and that home.  Guess that ability puts the bush into the same catagory as a pass-down heritage quilt -- one that was used so it has good memories of family wrapped in it. 

You Got Mail

Turned on the TV to get the weather forecast and You Got Mail, my favorite movie, was on, so I've loafed here watching it - again.  Not a DVD buyer, but this is one of the few I do have on DVD. 

In it Meg Ryan says: When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.  

Growing up reading The Bobbsey Twins, guess it's only natural then that I'm a cozy mystery reader. 














Note the change over the years, from the small @3" square books I read to Kindle.  Happy to see they are still "in print".  Movie Watching Bonus -- there's a quilt on her bed. 

More Spring Colors



www.babylock.com -- Eleanor Burns



Green grass, blue skies, yellow daffodils. My scan of  the back cover of April's American Patchwork & Quilting (advertising baby lock machines), this Sawtooth Star in a Log Cabin setting -- an Elleanor Burns quilt. 





"The Wedding Shawl"

written by Sally Goldenbaum.  A very

Amazon.com

 enjoyable cozy series -- knitting not quilting but there is a cat, named Purl. 



Currently Reading



Amazon.com

This is the second one about Charlie, a librarian, and his cat Diesel which I have read.  Looking forward to a third one.  Diesel wears a harness & goes to the library with Charlie, actually a retired librarian who is now a volunteer.  Can't imagine either Goldie or Tri wearing a harness.












The Measby Murder is the other book I've also recently finished.  It's set in an assisted living facility that's in a traditional English village.  As a birthday gift, the heroine is given a kitten.

Currently reading Murder Under Cover.  The heroine of this one is a

 rare book appraiser & restorer.  She also has a cat but he hasn't played a major role yet in this book.  He does have a cat quilt in his cat bed.

.

Delights of a Spring Morning

Between breakfast and the morning nap, there's serious work to be done:  The House Wren (I think that's what they are) has a nest sheltered under the patio roof.  One can hear the babies chirping for their breakfast.  Goldie and Tri, who feel like Godparents to the brood I'm sure, monitor with great intensity the parents' trips to seed scattered on the patio edge . 

I'm enjoying the lilacs which have begun to bloom, including a white one on that side.  It was planted in memory of one of my Grandmothers who had a white lilac; the standard ones are from my other Grandmother's garden. 

  This photo of the opposite side was taken a few years ago .  I enjoy this view while having my breakfast coffee.  Sadly, the birdhouse feeder, made by DH, disappeared a number of years ago.   It was there when I went to work and just not there when I came home.

My sping tulips now hang on the wall.  

 The house sparrows are very busy doing a spring clean-up on their nest which is under the patio eves.  In the morning Tri and Goldie monitor their comings and goings.


DH's Birdhouse Quilt

 While they are selecting this twig or that one, I must chose colors for my "nest" -- I'm only changing the color of the doors, but some Marketing Wizard feels that paint names need to be changed annual so there's still sample chips to get and decisions to be made.  

Too little time

Years ago I took a workshop making the Polish Easter eggs, Pisanki.  The most difficult part was actually blowing out the raw egg.  Those eggs are long gone, but I still have the pens which were used to apply the wax.

Phone interruption. Lost Web Site Info.

After the pattern is painted on with the melted wax, the egg is dipped in the lightest color, allowed to dry, painted again & dipped again,  and so and so ending with the darkest color.  If you don't know your color combinations you soon learn.   I like the one-color look of those above.  Once the coloring has been finished, the wax needs to be removed.  

Wouldn't they make an interesting Table Runner for this season -- egg shapes with appliqued design on them and then they are appliqued to the runner's ground (green for grass? and for spring)?

Joining in common quilter's wail: Too little time; too many ideas.

Smell the Roses, Blow out the Candles

  Tri enjoys flowers too.  Perhaps her more sensitive kitty nose picks up a rose smell mine doesn't (these commercial roses are not bred for scent).  I do know she enjoys tasting the leaves & have to wave her off, reminding her that she has her kitty grass to nibble.  

As aways a bouquet  reminds me of our visit to the morning flower market outside Amsterdam where such flowers are auctioned off and immediately loaded onto planes for flying to the buyers.   

Blue patterned  fabric purchased in Dutch fabric shop.

April Showers

send thoughts to
Gardening.

Although, as an aside, we've had enough ground soaking precipt that the showers are not quite as welcome this spring.

I made Easter egg table runners for the kids, but not for myself.  However, there is this small quilt -- the printed fabric has garden hats & trowels and pots of tulips on it.

The little bird figure on Gram's cutting board is holding on to her Easter Bonnet.