Snow? Not Now

Look what we woke up to this morning! SNOW and it keeps coming. My tulips are now buried under a thick blanket of fresh snow. Why didn't we get this in January or February? Nature has waited until Spring to give it to us here in Europe. Oh well, it won't last and we do need the precipitation. Sigh..... Good day to stay in and get some work done.

Yesterday I went shopping and had to buy some cheery flowers for my living room. The flower shop had mums, tulips, Gerber Daisy's, and lots of bouquets with springy flowers, but when I laid my eyes on these roses, I just couldn't resist. They are so beautiful. Roses are my absolute favorite flower and there isn't one variety I don't like.

In my country phase, I made a queen size quilt for my son's bed. This was about 9 years ago. He's used it everyday since then and I've washed it probably a dozen times. The binding is the plaid fabrics you used to see a lot of. They are a looser woven fabric compared to the quilting cottons today. Well, I should have known this would happen, but it's showing a lot of wear and tear. So, someday soon I will have to take the binding off and replace it with something else. Probably a solid double bias cut binding as the corners are rounded.

Here's the back of the quilt.
Here's a couple pictures of the tears.

Now this is only a couple edges. I would have to say that 80% of the binding is still in excellent condition, however, this is disheartening and I will have to fix it. My lesson for today, do not use loosely woven fabrics for the binding even if they are a double thickness. :o)

Spring has sprung

Oh my gosh, it's been forever since I posted something! UUGGGHH! I feel bad as I have nothing to show for my being MIA either! Well, let me tell you that I have been busy with

packing boxes up, inventorying everything, and tying up those loose ends before our move.

Moving is extremely time consuming, however, I would like to darken my sewing room door
a few more times before that inevitable day when it all gets packed into boxes, then crates and shipped off to the final destination. Such a process!

This is a wall quilt I made a couple years ago from scraps I had lingering in my scrap basket. I really like the way this turned out and now am sorry I didn't make it into a lap size quilt.

Here's another wall quilt I love. It was a challenge for me with all the set in seams. Go here http://www.jinnybeyer.com/ to visit Jinny Beyer's site. However, I don't think she has this pattern there. You can find out how to recreate it in her book; "Designing Tessellations". Wonderful book that I don't spend enough time with. I'm not sure if it is out of print. Anyway, here it is:

The sun is finally shining today. Even if it is still chilly, the sun is a much welcome sight. The daffodils and tulips are blooming here. The fruit trees and forsythias are in full bloom as well.

The picture at the top is from last May. I love taking pictures of flowers and trying to recreate them in a quilt. Here is a quilt I made a couple years back for a family auction, so everything in it is family related.

And a close-up of the center.....oops! kinda dark, sorry. It it a bright blue and white quilt. I loved the dark navy fabrics in this with the blue and white toile.

The pansy's in the center are appliqued and I used fabric pens to paint on the centers. One day I'll try this again and keep it for myself. I am a firm believer in making quilts and samples to keep. My sample book is heaving, so I will have to make another one one day.

Here is another family quilt I made for my mother this time. She loves red and white. Again, sorry it's so dark. I didn't get a very good picture of this one before sending it off to her 3 Valentine days ago. I have been to her house since, and she did have it hanging.....do you ever wonder how appreciative people who receive your blood, sweat and tears of a quilt you made just for them is treated? Most gifts I give for weddings or graduations or birthdays....I don't care what they do with "they know where the garbage is" if they don't like it and I don't mind (now this is a gift I am talking about like a coffee maker). BUT, if I make a quilt.....that's a different story all together. I don't make quilts willy-nilly. They take a tremendous amount of time and patience (and a lot of other things, I assure you), of course you all know this. So I really care if it is thrown into a closet on the floor, or is being used to sop up water from a leaky clothes washer. If anyone gets a quilt from me, I won't say it, but you better appreciate it. Otherwise, they won't get another gift from me.......ever. They could very well hang it only while I'm around and neatly and properly put it away when I leave, that's fine and that makes me happy....thrilled as a matter of fact. OK, so I said my peace!

Moving on...... I just finished Robin McGraw's book, yes, Dr. Phil's wife. It's titled "Inside My Heart". It's pretty good, however, I think a lot of it is, DUH, no kidding....who is she trying to get through to here, young 20 somethings who have just gotten involved with a significant other? She repeats herself quite a bit, too and I find that very irritating. My son is reading "The Mist" by Stephen King. We saw the movie a few weeks ago. It was disturbing in a way and I didn't remember it being that bad in the story.