Prettiest Quilt Shop, Crocheted Hexagon Blanket, Plaid Tilda Flimsy, Strawberry Season

 Remember I shared with you I had taken a fall last month? It is mostly better; I still feel a twinge when I lie on my left side a certain way. I must have bruised a muscle there. I mention this again because it reminded me about a blog I used to follow faithfully, the Carolina Stitcher. Faye, back in 2019, took a very bad fall which broke her arm in two places and shattered her elbow. Her son gave several updates on her blog but then nothing. Just wonder what happened to her. Anybody know??  As for myself, I've not kept Ned on a leash since. Hubby always thought it unnecessary and me too much of a worrywart which is my middle name so no escaping that bit. But do be careful everyone!

We made a couple of stops on our way home from the doctor's last week...where hubby got a clean bill of health thankfully btw. July is his birthday month...going to be 83!

First stop was at Paisleys Quilt Shop on Carp Road. Prettiest quilt shop I've ever visited and there was the owner, Madonna, sitting at the counter embroidering a piece from French General. (Here is a link to their embroidery page if you'd like to take an online look.)

Madonna's Pretty Photo-She made all the quilts on display. 

Talk about me being in heaven! So many beautiful quilts, kits and fabrics. Truthfully, I felt a little overwhelmed by the selection of Morris, Free Spirit, and French General fabrics all so beautifully displayed.  I felt like my eyes kept darting everywhere. That ever happen to you? Also so many beautiful books and novelty items having to do with Morris and /or quilting.  I bought something rather boring...the thinnest batting Madonna had for sale.

But something beautiful came home with me too. A William Morris inspired drink bottle. It's like holding a little work of art.

While still on a high from the quilt shop-well I was, Hubby not so much :D, we stopped in at the local berry farm and bought strawberries, the first of the season.  We've enjoyed a bowl each night but the remainder will have to be frozen. It's one of the things on my To Do list.

Below is the Jane Brocket inspired crocheted hexagon blanket I made in 2017. I'm re-sharing this for the sweet Patricia of  Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer blog who is hoping to make one and wanted to see mine. This one is worth its weight in gold; no, I'm not kidding. On a whim I ordered real wool from Australia and blithely looked through the online site, Adding to Cart all the colours that took my fancy. It is by far the best wool ever to go through these fingers but the price was much more than I am accustomed to paying, let's just say. Amazon link to Jane's books. Doesn't seem like she is still blogging though old quilting and yarn posts are available here at Yarnstorm and well worth a look.

And I accomplished my OMG for June linking with Elm Street Quilts - for once. Happy to report I finished Plaid Tilda to the mostly flimsy stage. 55 x 80 or thereabouts. 

Pattern is from the book, Quilts From Tilda's Studio by Tone Finnanger.  

And now that I have the batting, there is no excuse not to get it all done. 

My flotsam drawer is calling me. It's been crying out for a while. Do you have one of those??? It's rather sad to say that I work hard at not having such a drawer yet despite my best efforts there it is! All chockablock with the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life.  I've been needing to sort it for awhile and I will be listening to an audio book while I do it.  I have to think that my time is well spent, every minute of it, these days. 

I'd love it if you meet me back here on Thursday for more ramblings including Three Free on Thursday links. 

Happily linking with Texas Quilt Gal, My Quilt Infatuation, Creations-Quilts, Art, Whatever, Sugar Sand Quilts, Alycia Quilts and Life in the Scrapatch.

Stash, Finishes, Bird Fair in Town

I've been walking a lot to try to cure this sad head of mine. Fresh air and time passing is working its magic I would have to say. Witnessing the change in nature from winter to spring is also wonderful. 

And sitting out on rocks and logs trying to let the fresh air and woody vistas sink into me. I had this little thing float down on my head during one of those times. I thought it was a leaf. Realizing it was a moth put a smile on my face. Where did it come from with the air so cold and freezing overnight! Such pretty shades of greens- perhaps an emerald moth??

It is like the fair has come to town to see all the birds that have appeared like magic. I just love it.

All taken through my kitchen window so not great shots but you get the idea of the array that are showing up daily now. This is not Tilly but she has been visiting morning and evening.

Yesterday I saw a few brave green sprouts have poked through the ground. Sun and cold have been the weather news this spring. No more snow though which is a bonus.

And a few out of focus pussy willows too which is the earliest I've noted them here.

I've always said stitching is my therapy. I finished stitching Quilting Bee and took this photo in bright sunshine to try to get the colours right. I've been frustrated by this.

I wish you could see the true colours as they are pretty plums and deep blues contrasting that bright gold. It now joins the others in a drawer for someday framing.

And I finished up the Snow Bound Table Topper just in time for spring. 😉

I edged it with a herringbone stitch  in black.  Tucked away now for the fall.

Lying on the floor doing my exercises I really liked this view of the plants in front of the patio door where I kept a bunch this winter. The sunlight was wonderful despite how cold it was outside. The geraniums and Christmas cactus are sprouting flowers in response to the extended light. I'm looking forward to getting all these outside.

Now I get to choose a couple more projects. Get back to the tulip research and kit up another cross stitch project...maybe flowers this time. So nice to have some stash at times like this. If one thing doesn't suit, it's good to have another to consider. 

A huge thank you for the kind comments and email messages which we both read. I was touched by how many of you shared stories of your precious pets too.

Always happy to link with Not Afraid of Color, Kathy's Quilts and Paying Ready Attention. 

Quilting-Scrappy and Hexagons, Leaping Hares and What Do You Think???

It is remarkable how true this is.  Sections of our trails through the thicker wood and the chill just hangs in the air with a noticeable drop in temperature, while mere steps away the sun is beating down warming everything. 

But overnight temperatures dipping well below zero are keeping our little pond a frozen expanse.

The wind has stopped...gosh that made walking so cold in spots.

Including the little wetland below to the left of it. This is a part of our walking trails that is now off limits as even though we have cleats on our boots, we don't take a chance with falling.  We probably won't get to walk over there again till late July when the path nearer the woods  dries up for a brief time.  This is where I've spotted unusual ducks and the regular ducks swimming but so hard to get close enough for photos.

We did this this week. Grateful for the free service and so useful for pantry items.

I've been busy stitching as always. Several more Sawtooth Stars, in particular, this one,

that features the Leaping Hare, a very common motif in quilting and cross stitching designs.

And here it shows up in the Rifle Company fabric line, Wildwood.

I've not had the best of luck getting photos of the many many rabbits living around us here. I took the one below at Daughter's house where the rabbits visit her bird feeder which rests on the ground. They seem very tame compared to ours here. 

I'm also diligently quilting the Hexagons on my coffee table runner. Hand stitching at night in front of the tv. which, as you know I enjoy, though I do feel the weather will be decidedly more spring like by the time this is finished, hopefully. I've outlined each hexagon using one of those heat erasable blue marking pens as a guide for the stitching. 

I got out my scrap bags last weekend and made a right mess in the sewing room. I managed to cobble together four more of these super scrappy blocks. I haven't evened them up yet.  I found the mess I made a little overwhelming, truthfully. I couldn't wait to get it all stuffed back in the bags and out of sight.

I'm sharing some news/photos about this girl, Abbey, daughter's dog.  She has had puppies!

Here she is patiently waiting by the truck for SIL. She's so loving and also loyal... has never needed to be leashed as stays close to her people no matter the distractions. I wish Murphy could be like that. 

We are discussing whether we will get one of the puppies. Hubby has always had 2 (sometimes more) dogs at a time and would love another. But at our ages... and then there is Murphy's feelings to consider too. She loves to see Abbey and other dogs, but how would she feel about one staying here and a puppy at that. Also Hubby has always adopted rescue dogs and feels strongly about doing that...this would be a first time to have a puppy. What do you think??

Linking up with Not Afraid of Color, Brian's Home Blog, My Quilt Infatuation, Life in the Scrap Patches, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Kathy's Quilts, So Scrappy,  Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and My Corner of the World.