I'm enjoying the forsythia in bloom, the daffodils and hyacinths and the buds on the weeping cherry are plentiful. The temperatures are getting milder and we've begun sleeping with our windows open. Glorious, gorgeous spring!
My finished Breast Cancer socks which I wore to the James Stitching Sisters Annual Quilt Day. This is the 7th year. I've been attending this event every year since it started. This year only one friend could join me. That was my friend, Linda Henderson, from Salem, Ohio. She's come the last 3 yrs. to help out and boy does she help out! She's a quilting animal and machine quilted 3 quilts.
Linda's first quilt she finished.
Me piecing a pretty black, pink and white quilt.
This was kind of a collaborative effort. I had previously pieced this quilt and took it in that day. Linda wanted to quilt it so this was her 2nd quilt she completed. I failed to get a photo of her 3rd quilt of the day.
Here's the finished quilt top I pieced on that day. There were 150 ladies who came out to sew/quilt/iron/sandwich quilts that day. I think that may be a new record. There were also 800 quilts brought in by those ladies that they worked on at home. It's a wonderful project and I hope those chemo patients who get to choose one know how much love goes into the stitching of the quilts.
I'm working on a little baby sweater made out of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino yarn. It's so soft....it should feel really nice to some sweet little baby girl's skin.
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So, we had another Sue Spargo quilt weekend at our friend, Paula's house. There were 4 of us there sewing our projects and they were all different. We usually work on our hand applique for our Magnolia quilts, but Linda H. has this quilt that she's machine quilting to enter into the NQA show coming in June. I had to take some close-ups to show you how talented she is. The fabric is silk and she's brave enough to use a different colored thread to make her quilting stand out. She's amazing and I'm really excited to see this quilt hanging in the quilt show.
Here's the little block I was working on from my Magnolia quilt during that weekend. I'm almost finished with it. Lots of hand embroidery and beading over it.
Another view of the same block.
Here's the next knitting project for myself. This is the book Mark got me for a Christmas gift. Since Araucania is no longer making the yarn shown in the photo, I was on a hunt to find the right yarn to do it in. I was at Knitters' Mercantile here in Columbus where they were having a special sale. If I donated $25.00 to the Red Cross for the Japan Relief I could get 25% off of any yarn in the store. Well, I gravitated right toward the Noro yarn which I love! This is what I chose. It's silk, cotton and a small amount of wool in a beautiful aqua color. It's name is Shirakaba which stands for The White Birch Group in Japanese. There's also a lake named Shirakaba. I'm excited to get started!
I can't remember if I already posted a photo of my Ruffle Scarf made from some yarn Mark bought me for Christmas....if so, sorry....here it is again.
....and wait until you hear this one....this beautiful sock yarn in shades of blue is made by Lorna's Lace and is called Royal Wedding. I had to have it to commemorate the big wedding coming up on April 29th. I bought it from Jimmy Beans website: http://www.jimmybeans.com/
This is an I Spy quilt I'm working on for Luke to entertain him in the car. It doesn't look too exciting yet, but it will be. You'll have to wait to see it.
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We don't have an eternity to realize our dreams, only the time we are here.
- Susan Taylor
I lost my cat, Tara, this last Tuesday. Every day when I wake up I think of her. She realized her dreams. She was the best hunter and her dream was to be outside chasing chipmunks, moles and mice. If only life was so simple. Try to appreciate what you have, before it's too late.
