green convenes

Now is the time when exciting things are happening outside.

I, who used to be so indifferent to spring, am now a convert.  The sweet fresh air, chorus of spring peepers, and tiny green things unfurling everywhere have made me a believer.

I can't stay indoors and not even the rain is enough to keep us inside on the weekends.

Oh, the anticipation!  The magnolias are going to be glorious in a couple of weeks.

Old friends have returned.  I know to expect hyacinths, hellebores, and early-blooming daffodils right now...

Meanwhile, snow-in-summer, forsythia, the bulk of the camellias, redbuds, dogwoods, and azaleas will be right around the corner.  What a delight to daily check their progress!  In the interim, I enjoy the appearance of other new arrivals...

...which is not limited to flora.

In Indiana I would not make the "spring switch" until mid-March or perhaps a bit later, depending on the weather.  But here in South Carolina, I brought spring indoors on February 15th.  All red throws, tablecloth, napkins, placemats, pillow covers, and general accents were put away.  In their place, lots of cream, green, and light blue.  Bird nests were returned, filled with real and ceramic speckled eggs.

Simplicity.

Bouquets all around.

The quilts are still out for cool mornings...I think Bosewichte would strongly protest if I put them away! But at least I'm using the "cool colors" quilt. 

It feels so good to make this seasonal switch.  Since we don't really have four distinct seasons here, it feels like a needed acknowledgement. 

I've also been working on several projects.  I quilted an autumn wall hanging/table runner, but it was accidentally washed with an ink pen.  What a mess!

You'd think that it was ruined, but repeated applications of rubbing alcohol and Grandma's Spot Removal took care of all but one small spot.

I'll gradually bleach that out.  I think I've decided on "table runner" for this project and will use some of my batiks for the autumn wall hanging that I've been mulling over.

I've also been slowly working on my big quilt.  I've completed twelve 15" blocks, and need at least twelve more.  I hate to say it, but I'm not enjoying this quilt.  I am not a fan of making flying geese, and each 15" block needs 20 geese.  This means that I'll have over 500 flying geese for the blocks alone, not to mention the sashing that will go between each of these blocks.  I love the way it looks, but I am going back to a sampler quilt after this, I think.  No more geese for a while! 

I've been knitting a tiny bit, literally.  Having no desire to knit any more socks, hats, cowls, or gloves, and not ready to commit to a sweater right now, I've started knitting miniature things to hang on the Christmas tree.  These tiny mittens will have a little braided cord to connect them.  Although the pattern had directions for a 4-stitch thumb, I decided that it would be a little too fiddly for me. 

Otherwise, work, regular life, and cupcakes.  :)

Have a great week!

Lots of scraps and turkey chaps

I love picking flowers in January.

The camellias are beautiful, and the Lenten Roses, or Helleborus, are now in bloom.

Just like animals, flowers have distinct personalities.  Lenten roses are the Victorian ladies of my garden. They're shy and blushing, with faces bent toward the ground, but with delicately colored apparel meant to attract attention (in a modest way).  They last forever as a cut flower, too.  An all-around winner.

My favorite camellia bush is blooming right now, too.  I love it!

Richly-colored fungus has started to sprout all over our biggest tree stump.

Have you ever wondered why mushrooms sprout on tree trunks or trees, for that matter?  They're opportunists and look for entry points on wood.  They eat the tissue of a tree, so if you see a live tree with mushrooms sprouting on it, it's in trouble.  It's a good thing to see them on stumps, because they accelerate the decomposition.  People actually order spores to shake onto their stumps...it's cheaper and easier (although not quicker!)  than digging them up.  

The sun is shining and the creatures are out and about!

The turkeys are out every day.

Beautiful feathers!

This turkey was separated from the group and slow to notice me.  When he did, he fled.  But look - because of his agitation, his head turned blue!

I started and finished a quick but satisfying project this week.  I have piles and piles of fabric scraps - wrinkled, balled up, trailing shreds.  I read somewhere that when you have scraps, you should immediately cut them into squares (2", 3", 3.5", 4", and 5") or strips (1.5", 2.5").  Then they're already in the most commonly-used sizes and when you accumulate enough, you can make a scrap quilt. 

I had two piles of scraps this size:

I set up a station and worked on cutting about 15 minutes a day.  Before too long, I had my nicely-organized group!

I am excited to see what kind of random combinations will show up!

I also practiced machine applique this week.  I am not very interested in applique, but I thought I ought to learn, especially since applique is used on my block-of-the-month quilt.  A few Youtube videos later...

My first try is on the left and second on the right.  I thought I'd improved enough to move on to my quilt square.  I decided against the snowman design given in the pattern and traced out a snow-covered branch.  I added a little bird and appliqued things into place.

I don't know...there's something not right about it.  It's just not appealing to me right now.  Until I have some inspiration, I'm going to put it aside and just think about what I might want to do with it.

Last week I was halfway through the work day when I realized that I had a headache.  I took some medicine and curled up on the couch with my quilt for about 30 minutes.  I was walking by it later that afternoon and had to take a picture.  It's going to get a lot of use!

Also, there's a cat under that quilt.  She curled up with me while I was resting and stayed there the rest of the day. 

Speaking of quilts, I've been feeling a little antsy lately.  I've been knitting at night, but have felt like something is missing.  I realized that I haven't done any sewing for a long time.  I finished my quilt blocks months ago, and the only real sewing I've done is the less-than-pleasant machine quilting needed to secure the quilt layers.  It's time to start a new quilt!  I pulled out my notes, but some of the fabric I'd chosen is now on backorder or discontinued.  This week, I'm going to try to pick the right fabric to go with my chosen quilt pattern, and hopefully make an order.  I can't wait to get started!