A Quilt's Value

Priceless really, if we are speaking about the hours spent selecting fabric, fussing over the pattern, piecing, quilting and binding, and then relishing in the victory of a finish (yea!).  But a quilt has a different kind of value, one that Sew Katie Did got just right in this method.  Scraps galore!  See other WIPs at Freshly Pieced.

Sprung Out

With the "finally" theme running warm through my veins, 96 degrees in Green Country was a welcome reprieve today.  Spring is blooming like mad around every corner.  Trees are blossoming, grass pasty and wet, birds and bees and everything in between humming with new life since the last freeze bid us farewell a few weeks back.  And there's a sweet little cardinal nest on in the porch light fixture to welcome the season with love.

We moved into this house nearly 9 months ago, and this rose bush hasn't done a darn thing all that time.  Except for now.  The voluptuous, electric magenta of these medium sized beauties is filling our home with vitality.

Not much on the quilting front since I finished piecing a top from How to Make a Too Cool T-shirt Quilt. A decent publication, with detailed step-by-step instructions on how to put together all those t-shirts that you've been meaning to make a quilt out of for years.  It's a unique, quick and hassle-free method. Yet to be quilted.

WIP Wednesday - Life in Color

Taking ideas for quilting this bad boy.

Other brilliant WIPs at Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday

  

































































Stained glass pattern coming along.  Anna Maria Horner really inspired me on this one.  Her fabrics just go with this one.  Still debating on whether to put a border around it or just bind it with the Kona Steele.  Stay tuned.

Stained Glass

Craftsy is hit or miss for me these days.  But once in awhile BINGO! and I'll snatch a brilliant pattern idea.  Stained Glass by Pam Yeomans is perfect for Anna Maria Horner's True Colors and a few other extras I've thrown in the mix.  Through the reds and yellows this weekend.  The rest of the rainbow to follow.  Stay tuned.

Winter Warmed

As much as I loathe running as a form of exercise, once I’m out there in the cool winter air, birds flying overhead, smiling back at the other enthusiasts passing me on the trail, I remember how gratifying it can be.  And then the beautiful little secrets along the trail make themselves apparent, and I find myself stopping, frequently, to snap shots of a billowing American flag, a young mother crossing the prairie with her baby 150 years ago, an eagle landing regally on a naked winter bough.  Only getting off the well-worn path gave me the views and angles I sought.  As I hopped over gopher holes and small ditches full of dried winter leaves and brush, a new trail was blazed, leading me to this young mother.  Who was she?  When did she live?  Did she survive the prairie crossing?  I studied her and her baby intently, her long dark cloak draped over the both of them, guarding them from winter weather perhaps.  She lives captured in time atop a solid foundation created just for her.

In other news, my very own True Colors by Anna Maria Horner arrived today.  With the holiday hangover sales on Craftsy and Etsy, I couldn’t help but gift myself with a bodacious addition to the stash.   Seeing my kids go wild unfolding and refolding the fat quarter stash, just made my heart melt.  I’ve only recently gotten turned on to Anna’s lavish, folksy fabric designs.  She has warmed the winter up substantially, and this particular line is reminiscent of sunsets where I grew up. 

In closing

A year's end is always bittersweet.  What starts as a wish list of accomplishments and resolutions, hope and grandeur, frequently doesn't end as such.  But as the months pass and memories are catalogued into our minds, we look back and smile at what gifts the year has brought us.  Thankful I am for all that we have in this great life.  

A few of my favorite holiday images.