We're Both Designers

Despite all the rain drops 

and cold temps, it's May.

We're suppose to be outside doing

 spring yard work.

Well, Running Man has.

He's been designing and digging and 

 has outdone himself this year.

He's dug
up a huge section

of the front yard,

hauled in big rocks,

planted 125 assorted shrubs and ground covers,

created a dry creek bed,

 and

hauled more rock.

Me, on the other hand,
have been using these rainy days
for designing as well.

Although, in a much different way.

 Fussy cutting designs from my
coveted Dutch Chintz fabric pieces,

and coordinating all the design elements

for part 2 of Petra Prin's mystery quilt

from Quiltmania. 

Part 3 arrived last week so either

I need to work faster or

 

hope for more rainy days.
 

Until Next Time-

 A few weeks ago I

bought a bunch of daffodils.

It made me feel like spring was just around the corner.

Don't you love daffodils.

(And Yes, I remind myself, that

March is suppose to be snowiest month of the year

here in Colorado.)

*****

 Yellow is a color I like to wear in the summer,

but I don't have much of it in my house.

It's a wonderful color.

It reminds me of happiness,

energy, and joy, but

it generally isn't the star in a quilt.

Doreen over at 

Aunt Reen's Place

posted some instructions for a Triple Irish Chain quilt

using a jelly roll.  

I had always wanted to make an Irish Chain

and I had always wanted to make a yellow and white quilt.

Why wait.

Perfect timing.

It's interesting the affects a bouquet of daffodils can have

on you.

Doreen's instructions were great and I

opted to do the largest version  82" x 82".

The quilt went together as slick as butter.

I reversed the placement of the typical background and the dark pieces.

It didn't make much difference in the blocks with the  2" squares,

but it made the large squares my daffodil yellow.

Recently, I've been sewing with smaller pieces

and doing a lot of hand work.

I found this so much fun.

It was quick and easy in comparison and

nice just to sit at my machine and sew.

 Working with solids is always a challenge for me.

The quilt top can appear flat and uninteresting,

especially with a lower contrast, like the white and yellow.

Then I remind myself that it's the quilting that

will bring it to life.
I just have to be patient and wait.

Daffy-down-dilly

Daffy-down-dilly
Has come to town
With a yellow petticoat
And a pretty green gown.

Happy Spring!

 Until Next Time-

Spring Thaw

With the clocks springing forward

this past weekend,

it made me feel like
I just needed to be leaping too.

Leaping right into something quick and  FUN!

I've been working on so many long term

heavy wintery projects.

I  need to lighten up,

Thaw out,

And spring into a few 

Quick, seasonal projects.

Brighter colors are a good
indication that spring is just around the corner.

These cute ABC animals are from a Moda
line designed by Abi Hall called
ABC Menagerie.
Working with these sweet little guys will

certainly chase away the winter doldrums.

And then why not dance your way into
 a new wool pattern

from Nutmeg Hare.

This sweet little bunny with his dandelion wishes

can fill us with hope that spring isn't too far off.

I need to thaw out.

Explore, investigate,

challenge myself to something new.

I've wanted to try some Seminole piecing

since I had seen those beautiful garment in Florida.

Springtime colors some how
makes me feel a little bit warmer

despite there's still snow outside my window.

***
The other night look whooooo
came to dinner.

We didn't dare move, but
I could slowly reach for the camera.

I think he was annoyed when we saw he'd moved to

the bench in the garden.

.

Surprise!  We're still watching you

watching us.

Until Next Time-

A Springtime Sampler

Here in Colorado the blossoms are 

starting to appear on the trees,

and the tulips look especially colorful
this year.

Spring is officially here.

When the seasons change,
it's nice to also change the quilt that's our the bed.

One of my favorite quilts is 

this wonderful applique sampler.

The pattern is by Lori Smith

called 

Love Always.

88" X 88"

 I finished it in 2008.

The fabrics are a Fig Tree line by Moda
called Yuletide Jubilee.

Reds and greens don't always
say Christmas
especially if the greens are more of a

spring green.

Most quilters have done a sampler quilt

one time or another.

 Samplers are a delightful way

to learn new techniques,

pace yourself,

and have the opportunity to make

lots of different blocks without making a 

whole quilt with only one design.

I enjoyed appliqueing the simple,
soft curved pieces of the blocks.

You can see I used a fairly limited palette.

The blocks were framed perfectly
with the half square triangle borders and

 then framed again with the sashing strips.

My machine quilter, P. Raymond,
did a fantastic job, interpreting each
block individually and including accents on the appliques.
It definitely added to the
beauty of each block.

I used a wool batt in this quilt,

but that's a good thing.
 The nights can still be pretty chilly here.

Just like each individual block that
works together in a sampler,

each new sign of spring

 brings the beauty and sweet smells
of the season to it's fullness.

Weather Update:
At least 3 inches of snow
is predicted for the Denver Metro area
on Mother's Day!
So much for spring!

Until Next Time-

Rows of Tulips

 Several springs ago,

Running Man and I went to

La Conner, Washington

to admire and be awestruck

by the beauty of  millions
 of  blooming tulips.

There are thousands of rows

of colorful tulips filling the landscape.

It's like looking at a 

row by row quilt made up
of wonderful fresh spring time colors.

That was my inspiration when I 

gathered some quarter yard pieces

of  bright cheerful fabrics

and decided to make a chevron patterned

"get me out of the gloom of winter" quilt.

We all know, there can be many ways to get 

to the same conclusion.

In this case, in making a chevron design,

I chose to use only strips of fabrics,

no half square triangles 

to get a zig zag pattern.

I cut 2 strips of each of the 19 fabrics,
 each 3 inches wide.

Then arranged them in an order
to achieve some balance

between the colors.

Then it was simple straight strip sewing.

 Crazy Mom quilts

has a great tutorial on how to do use

this variation of a rail fence
to create a chevron.

You can see how the  duplicate strips were 

matched up. 

 

 Each strip was subcut into 5.5" squares

(Don't mix up the order of the strips or 

it gets WAY to confusing.)

Then on my design floor

the first set of blocks were laid out.
By turning set 1 one direction

and the second set turned the other direction

you create a chevron pattern.

I added an extra piece at the beginning of each

row so I wouldn't have to cut off so much

when it came time to straighten the edges.

The  diagonal rows of blocks
 were simply sewn together,

 then the rows were sewn,

and finally the jagged edges straightened.

The quilt top is finished

looking like colorful bands

of springtime tulips.

Until Next Time-

I Think I'll Put My Winter Boots Away

We needed to celebrate!

Jump for joy!

Clap our hands!

And stomp our feet!

It was Monday and we didn't have

SNOW!

Sanford said, "Nana, we need to make

cupcakes!

And he was right.

Chris of Cafe Surce' Farine

posted a wonderful recipe for 

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes.

These seemed perfect for our

"winter must be over...please"

celebration.

The cupcakes tasted like a scrumptious

 vanilla pound cake, but

were still light and were able to hold up
all that wonderful frosting.

The frosting is, well...

perfect, tart and sweet.

Along with some cream cheese
this recipe also included
pink lemonade concentrate.
It made the perfect pink color and
 just the right flavor combination.

My little helper and I
decided we would also do a
photo shoot outside just to
prove there wasn't any snow.

Watch out, cupcakes on the ground!

Someone needed a closer look.

Just a taste.

These were perfection on a plate.
What better way to celebrate.

Until Next Time-