All Flowers All the Time

It's starting to be that time of year when I need to walk around the house each morning to check out what's new. Things are starting to pop, for sure. One of the cherry trees is days away from bursting into bloom. The flowering plums are also very close. Yesterday I noticed one of my favorite flowers is getting ready to open...the Star Magnolia.

I'm really hoping it will bloom soon. It's flowers are so beautiful, but also very delicate, and they get beaten up by the rain pretty badly. We have a few dry days ahead, but I'm not so naive as to think the rain won't be returning to Oregon next week sometime. The forecast is good for Saturday, however, and Erik and Mae and I will be heading off to the farmer's market. We've missed the farmer's market for more than a year.

When this photo popped up on my Facebook memories yesterday,

I was motivated to take a little stroll down to the woods to see if the trilliums were blooming. Not yet. I found only their green shoots, but lots of them.

Another week or so, and there will be a carpet of these lovely whites. Along the way, I saw lots of little wild violets.

And this Oregon native, the red flowering currant should open in the next day or two. It's so pretty.

Of course, we still have lots of daffodils.

I noticed these crazy tulips blooming in one of the whiskey battels. They have no stems!

The daphne is covered in buds, but I could find only one open flower. Mike is looking forward to this one. It puts off the most beautiful fragrance.

Of course, I knew you'd want to see the crocus again.

Back inside, I was making the final two flowers for Jenny's Flower Garden.

Taking a break, I traced out the next "name plate" for the newest Shop Hop 2.0 quilt. It's ready for stitching now. When that's finished, I'll make the next block for that quilt.

It will take it's place with the ones I have so far.

Also, the newest Posies block was posted. The color of the month is supposed to be light or bright blues. I'm sticking with florals for these blocks. I dug all through my stash looking for something light or bright. Apparently I'm the one who's light on those colors. I selected this darker blue floral.

When I had it appliqued, traced out and ready for stitching, I went back to Jenny's Flower Garden to finish the final flower block.

There are the final four ready for the final row of blocks.

And then I made the three "blanks,"

And all 49 blocks for this puppy were finished. There are 1,825 squares cut 2 x 2. That is a whole lot of cutting, my friends. No way I can fit the whole thing in an image now, so you get this angled one from my design floor.

This could not have been accomplished without my excellent helper cats. Sadie was ready to help me lay out all those little squares.

Smitty kept an eagle eye out as I matched up all those little seams.

And that was my flowery sewing day yesterday. This morning, I stitched up and finished the next Posies block.

I'll be linking up tomorrow with 

Here are the four blocks I have for this quilt so far. These are really fun. They stitch up fast, and then they are easily trimmed and bordered.

So, this morning I'll try to get the stitching finished for the "name plate" and work on the next block for the Shop Hop 2.0 quilt. After that, I'm going to make a stab at quilting the Sundress quilt. I worry that its large size might be too much for my shoulder, but I'm still going to give it a try.

Also on today's agenda, it's time to start some seeds for this year's garden. I'm growing the same things I grew last year: corn, beets, green beans, zucchini, and sunflowers. This year, I'm adding cantaloupe and pickling cucumbers. I'll save the corn, beets, and green beans, and sow those directly into the ground. As starters, I'll plant the seeds for the cantaloupe, zucchini, and pickling cucumbers, and I'll also start some sunflowers. Tomato starts are on order. (Note to self: find out when I can expect delivery.) 

I love this time of the year...so hopeful. With the pandemic danger receding as more people are vaccinated, there's good reason to think our long dark winter is coming to a close.