waiting for spring

Unless you're a family member or close friend of mine you probably don't know this about me... I HATE winter. I can count on one hand the things about winter I enjoy:

1) Christmas Day
2) Turtleneck sweaters - but it doesn't technically have to be winter to wear them. I mean look at Diane Keaton in "Something's Gotta Give", right?
3) Hot chocolate with marshmallows - again, winter not required.
4) One single, solitary, minimal snowfall of 2" or less on a day when my entire family is home with no requirements to leave the house. Said snow must have disappeared by the very next day for this to count as an "enjoyed" item.
5)at this point I can't even come up with a #5

Everything else about winter - I've got absolutely no use for it. I often joke that I need one of those "SAD" lights, but maybe I need to stop joking and buy one - anybody out there use one?

Back to the point - this week I have an addition to my yard that has me longing for spring even more than usual: two new raised vegetable garden beds! Don't they look like they belong in a magazine?

A local genius handyman, Nick, built them for me this week on top of a platform we already had in the yard that used to be the base of a playhouse/potting shed/storage area.

Each bed is 8 feet by 5 feet with a 2 foot walkway separating the beds, and all cedar so it is rot-resistant, and we won't be poisoning ourselves with pressure treated lumber chemicals.

A one foot fence surrounds both beds to keep the rabbits out, and there are four lift-out gate sections - one at each short end of each bed.

Four cubic yards of rich garden mix soil covering a layer of chicken wire (to keep any burrowing varmints out), and I am ready for some planting!

I just have to get through this dreadful winter... sigh.

New Spring Pillow finished!

You may remember that I took a couple of hand-sewing projects with me on vacation in late March. I am happy to report that one of them is now complete! Due to my recent convalescence (foot issues... see earlier post if you need the details), I was able to finish all the hand applique, and today I headed out for a zipper, piping, and a 16" pillow form to complete the job. Isn't it so spring-y?! I love, love, love the way it turned out!

Dritz Wash-Away Wonder Tape is my new favorite notion. It is a 1/4" wide, double-sided adhesive that makes adding piping, zippers, and machine-finishing your binding SOOO much easier!

You simply peel what you need away from the roll and press it onto the fabric where you want to hold your piping/zipper/etc. Here I have applied it to the raw edge of my quilted pillow front so I can hold my piping in place without pins.

Next you just peel away the paper backing to reveal the front side of the adhesive...

press your piping down and you are ready to sew!

PEACOCK UPDATEI am happy to report that the wandering peacock I told you about last week was reunited with his owner. My local paper reported that a nearby family keeps two male peacocks, and both went missing that day. The one I saw was captured by Animal Control the same day, and the other male was apprehended the next day. The owners (who live less than a mile from my house) were keeping them in a 7 foot high enclosure. They are planning to make it higher... and get a female so the guys don't need to go out looking for chicks :)

My sewing is packed, but my suitcase is another story...

I am leaving for spring break vacation with my family later today... desperately seeking sunshine on a Gulf of Mexico beach in Florida. After much deliberation and auditioning of hand-sewing projects, I have narrowed it down to two.


Aren't these colors so spring-y?!? This needle-turn applique project will eventually become a pillow for my family room. All Kaffe/Kaffe collective fabrics on a pale blue and yellow batik. As the pieces are needle-turned, the background will appear between each piece resembling grout between tiles. I know - what's with the tile fascination lately? I dunno know, but it's working for me! Check out the cute donut full of colored bobbins that I picked up at QIJ yesterday - 36 colors of 50wt Masterpiece thread PERFECT for traveling with your hand-applique projects! Got myself some new needles, new cheater/readers at Borders (with flowers = super-cute because we that need readers also need to look cute while wearing them), a needle threader, and some kindergarten scissors for the plane.

The pattern for this project came from the new Tile Quilt Revival book by Carol Gilham Jones and Bobbi Finley. This is only one of many tile quilt patterns to be found in the book, and if this project goes well, I see more of these pillows or even a quilt in my future! I enlarged the 10" pattern 160% to make it suitable for a 16" pillow form. So the pieces are relatively large, but there are some sharp points that will make it challenging. This is the finished project photo from the book:

I also have about 100 2.5" fabric squares cut and ready to English paper-piece into hexagons for another pillow... because I'll have so much time, you know :) But this is the project that I will start with. I hope to have all the applique finished when I return, as well as a healthy-glow so I no longer look like a vampire extra from the Twilight Saga!

Happy Spring Break everyone! Now, where is my suitcase??

Oh, heavenly day!

Today I spent an entire hour outside walking my dog, and it is a glorious day here in Northern Illinois. All of our snow is finally gone, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and LIFE IS GOOD! I have also spent A LOT of time staring out the window today, finally feeling that soon I'll be seeing this view...

This is a small garden area near the gate to my back yard. It is the view I see every time I drive the car into the garage, every time I come home from walking the dog, and every time I go out in the morning to get the paper (during the summer, of course.) It is a lovely little area filled with boxwoods, snapdragons, coneflowers, zinnias, as well as other annuals that spring up from seeds that were just "dropped in." But my favorite part is the sign. I made that several years ago from a pattern found in a Mary Engelbreit craft book. I have to repaint it and the post (a painted stairway spindle and ball-topper from Home Depot) every few years, but it is worth the time - so cheerful! It stays outside all year long, and every year the twine holding up the sign breaks, and sometimes the entire thing is covered with snow. But it is always there, waiting for spring and flowers - just like me!

Speaking of flowers... these Anna Maria Horner Garden Party prints came in the mail last week from hawthornethreads.com. I just had to get them out and photograph them on this wonderful day along with these cuties...

Aren't they happy! Alexander Henry Willow line... again from hawthornethreads.com

I did have a few moments of productivity today when I managed to get some more paintbox quilt-along blocks done. Only six more solids to go and I"LL BE READY FOR SASHING!! I am love, love, loving how they have all turned out!

Hope you are having a glorious sunny day at your house, too!!