It seemed like a forever long winter here in central Indiana this past winter. Normally I like winter. I get to work from home more, I bake bread, and I generally hunker down and just enjoy the slower pace. Not the winter of 2020-21. I am sick of the whole virus thing, sick of politics, and sick of being stuck inside since there was only a few days with enough snow to do anything outside. Bring on the spring quilting & gardening !!!!

Finally, Spring!

Hallelujah – my daffodils are up and happily blooming. Spring truly is on the way!

And so is the hellebores (Lenten Rose) plant !

Since the kids are grown and gone I don’t have a vegetable garden. However, I have several flower beds full of both bulbs and perennials that will keep me busy until late autumn. There are always weeds to pull, mulching to do, and Winter Creeper to eradicate. And no doubt somewhere out there is at least one poison ivy vine waiting for me to get into it.

The trees are starting to bud out, the neighbor’s magnolia tree is glorious, and I am actually hearing frogs. The woodpeckers have returned, and we have two juvenile owls in the old maple tree. I saw a batch of bunnies in the field across the road.

Apparently other quilters enjoy spring flowers too. If fact, most quilters I know also garden.

We do not use chemicals in the yard so we tend to see all kinds of interesting bugs and birds in our yard and among the flowers. It is also completely fenced to try to keep the wildlife out.

Stray Rooster

It is time I mention the stray rooster that has shown up here. I have asked around hoping to find the guy’s home but no one claims this handsome dude. He is hard to miss as he struts down the road in front of our home over the past months. Personally, I did not make any effort to feed or approach it.

Then we had about 2 weeks of (for here) cold weather and I felt sorry for the guy. This was also the only time we had several inches of snow, and he could not scratch around for bugs. Since I was putting birdfeed out in the backyard, I put a bit out by the road for him.

Last week he showed up under the biggest bird feeder. He cleaned up the mess the other birds left with the seed and was happy to get a bit more of his own corn on the ground. So now he is apparently a regular – much to my husband’s disgust.

If someone doesn’t feed him fast enough he stands on the back porch and crows until someone comes out. He eats the corn or seed is his little pile and then scratches around for bugs. I have mixed feelings about this situation that I apparently created.

Spring quilting…

This month I have made two road trips to the Daviess County, IN Amish settlement to buy fabric. No, I do not need fabric. But after the last two years of using my stash and scraps to make quilts I am ready for something new.

I have also been looking at chicken fabric and rooster quilt block patterns – go ahead and chuckle. I don’t see myself actually making a rooster quilt but…

So what is on my agenda for quilting ??

I have a stack of 4 patch blocks sewn together. All that is needed is for me to figure out which fabric would make a good alternate block and get that together.

I have a plastic container of 3″ tumblers that would make a really pretty scrap top.

This is an easy way to use up a lot of scraps.

There is finally enough muscle car fabric to make a double quilt for my nephew who is graduating high school this spring. He loves muscle cars and saved his money to buy an old Ford Mustang to restore. I have everything but the border cut out and ready to sew. Bright orange solid is the alternating block with white, orange, and navy blue being the borders.

And there are also…….forget the list, I need to work on these items first.

And so…

Better weather is here, my calendar is way fuller than I want it to be, and quilting time will be less until fall. But I still make time to do something quilt related most days. It can be as simple as looking at quilt magazines, talking to another quilter, or cutting and piecing.

I will spend some time collecting ideas for quilts to make later in the year as the weather turns cold. At some point before summer hits, I will clean and organize my sewing room – this is usually an annual event for me.

Happy quilting my dear readers. Bring on the spring quilting & gardening !!!!

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.