Spring.....

has finally come to my part of the world...... but the lake is still frozen...... not warm enough to plant any flowers yet.... but there is hope.
I made another bag to go with my tote bag - these will be great to take on retreat!

Thought for the Day

If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen.

Loretta Girzartis

It's Snowing....

today (will we ever see Spring ???) .... and a great day to finish off some projects. I made two bags - a tote bag and a smaller bag with wool applique. I also completed a couple of customer quilts and am now caught up with those.

The wool applique bag pattern is by a favorite designer, Sue Spargo.

Check out Shirley's blog - she has pictures up of the class she taught at our LQS last weekend.

Thought for the Day
There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.
Orison Marden

Busy Month....

April has been a busy, busy month.... lots of quilting. This past weekend my friend, Shirley, hosted a landscape workshop at the LQS in town and was a great success. Check out her blog in the next few days and there should be some pics. I also got a few private lessons - lucky me, on how to paint trees and other fine points of landscapes.

I received a great block in my montly blockswap - another to add to my collection of pinks and browns. This should make a great quilt when I get all the blocks.

Thought for the Day
Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves.
Nathaniel Branden

Look what came

in the mail today!!!! My parcel from the Secret Easter Swap hosted by Julie at Bush Baby Jag. The parcel was wrapped in the prettiest pink Spring fabric - tied with Ric Rac..

Opening it up I found the most wonderful surprises...... my alltime favorite quilting magazine is Patchwork and Stitching, and the little Easter Egg ornaments are just sooo cute. I am a lucky swapper, that's for sure!!! and want to thank Nicole H. from Seton Pk, SA, Australia.... I don't have a blog address for Nicole - but hopefully she will see this and provide me one!! AND thanks Julie for being a great hostess.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
It's never too late to have a happy childhood. Walk in the rain, collect rainbows, smell flowers, stop along the way, build sand castles, watch the moon and stars come out, say hello to everyone, make up new rules, go on adventures, act silly, take bubble baths, hold hands and hug and kiss, dance, laugh and cry for the health of it, feel happy, say the magic words, and trust the universe.
Bruce Williamson

April...

just snuck right up on me. I have been working on a variety of things.... quilting mostly and some piecing and applique. My never ending quest to complete my Baltimore Bunnies is humming right along - I have the borders almost complete, just appliquing the final bunnies and flowers on the borders. I wished I could have completed this for this Easter... but, it will be done THIS YEAR at least, LOL. I am also preparing to teach some classes at the LQS and finishing my University course, which I will take a break from over the summer to get a bunch of UFO's done.

I have completed two more blocks in my wool applique "Chestermere" quilt. This quilt was designed by Laurel Frances Everett of Shaggy Dog Designs - formerly of Calgary, now of Pincher Creek, Alberta. I hand appliqued this quilt in homespuns about two years ago (it is the picture in my blogger profile) ... and I wanted a project to work on in wool and thought this would be great. These two blocks are number 4 and 5, so now I have to decide if I want to do another six for a complete large quilt or just one more for a smaller wall hanging. The other blocks are here and here.

Thought for the Day

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

Jimmy Dean