The Birds are Back.

It feels like Spring is in the air.  The birds are arriving in large flocks.  The snow is melting and the air is feeling warm outside.  It is only February, so we will enjoy it, while it sticks around.  

The Secret Project's are finished.  They are on their way to the two young ladies who will be celebrating their 21st Birthday's in March.

Diamond Hill's first block is finished.

Stems.

Berries, petals and flower centres.

 The Big Red Flower.

 Small flowers.

Berries.

 Flowers stitched in place. 

Tulips.

 Tulips ? These flowers remind me of the tulips with the frilly edges.

 Almost done, just need the little green buds, at the top of the stems.

The block is finished, for now, the strips of fabric for the corners is still a creative choice, which has not been decided.

Sleep? Snow? Quilting?....

We have been reminded, by Old Man Winter, just what snow is.  As soon as one round of snow is cleared, the next arrive and so the pattern continue.  While outside the world turns cold and white, we are inside, cosy and quilting away.  The secret project is keeping me very busy, hopefully this week will see the end of this project.

Diamond Hill has received some love.  I found the background fabric for it.

The sage is the colour for my leaves, the cream with the blue stars, the background. Found both here.

The charm packs , some light grey binding, from yesteryear and some ribbon which compliments everything else.

The leaves stitched in place.

The stems, tacked on the background.

Last week I baked Lamington's.  Perfect for a cold day, just before the next storm arrived!

Snow and a touch of sunshine.

With grey skies and snow most days, we had some sunshine for most of the day yesterday!  It was still cold, the sun just made the day so much better.  Found this mini I made while I was sorting some fabric for projects.  It was an Indian Wedding Ring Quilt pattern.

This quilt top and the binding already made, was another WIP, which will be added to the list of to do's. It is all machine pieced and appliqued.  It was a mystery quilt in McCalls Quilting magazine.  Queen size and this one will be machine quilted.

The Snoopy flannel quilt, amazing how after every wash, it gets softer and the raggety edges becomes more chenille like.  It makes an appearance every winter on the couch, which anyone can claim to snuggle up under.  It just reminds me why we make quilts. It is not just the process, but the joy of using the quilts, we make.

A friend asked me to help her make this quilt, she did all the embroidery by machine.

French General fabrics was used for this Bargello, it was a wedding gift. The bride requested three colours. 

This week the secret project has kept me busy, it is coming along. Purple is growing on me.  I have two friends who love purple. My nieces love the colour too!

Where would we all like to be?

at the beach..........

Time to do things slowly.

Sometimes we get so busy, we get bogged down with everything that we need and want to do.  This year I have decided not to that.  I am going to take my time, do what I need to in a timely fashion (hopefully it will work) and get it done.  While I enjoy the process.  To this end, it means I will relax and at the end of the year, I will see if this experiment worked. 

As for projects, a few will get some love, LE, 365 Challenge and The Splendid Sampler.  Dear Jane gets a little dose every two weeks, so in time progress gets made.  Lets see where this will lead....

This is for block number 11 for Dear Jane.  225  Blocks in total.

Splendid block, it is in my bag.  So when I have to wait for a oil change on the car or anywhere else, it gets some love.

Zip lock bags are very handy, they can be used for a lot and the best part? I can squeeze them into any spot in my bag.

This block got some yellow leaves.

Found some more fabrics, which could work, we will see.

Album of Memories, is being quilted.  this is the center of the quilt.

Today is a very Special Day for our Family, we also share this day with Australia, which celebrate their national day!

An apple a Day.

This is what it looked like last week, see how a lot of rain changed it all.....

365 Challenge:

A lot of time is spent at the moment, cutting fabric and getting blocks ready for sewing.

Fabric for a secret project.

The Splendid Sampler:

Esther's new BOM 2017: Diamond Hill

Sometimes we see fabrics we like, these charm packs followed me home, with no project in mind.  Now I just need to find the background fabric to compliment them.

The stream, with lots of ice dripping from the branches.

The trees, the snow has melted.

Happy 60th Birthday, Kevin.