When I looked outside yesterday morning, I noticed the birds had emptied their feeders again. It wasn't raining, and so it was a good time to get out and give them a fill. I had plenty of company as I went. Smitty thought he might be able to sniff out a squirrel.
Sadie played Queen of the Mountain.
My favorite trees, the flowering plums, are getting ready to burst into bloom. A few flowers have opened, but there are many more to come. In the valley, these are in full bloom right now.
The daffodils are blooming too. Prior to this, they were only in tight buds. These are white ones with yellow centers.
Also, the daphne is blooming, but it too has a long way to go. Its flowers are only about the size of a dime, but they are among the most fragrant things in the garden.
Here's another all yellow daffodil. I have more daffodil colors too, but so far, just the two have opened.
Overhead was a hummingbird. With no sunshine, there were no colors to see. I have an idea we might have a hummingbird nest in that tree...or maybe it's too early. I suspected it last year, but I can't find the tiny nest.
Okay, and it was beginning to drizzle by that time. Back inside, I got a start on the "fat cat" for the Ties & Tails quilt. These are all the pieces I needed to cut. I ran short on the more orange fabric, and substituted the brown you see in the lower-right corner. As it turns out, those pieces were included in the paper-pieced tie, and there was enough cut off to stick with the original color.
So here we go...I first made the ears and nose. Then, I attached the collar. The collar instructions leave a lot to be desired. Although this is at least the third time I've done this, I'm still not clear on how to do it correctly. I'm really just taking a stab with my pins, and then sewing, and hoping it works out. This one is a little uneven, but it's good enough.
When the collar was attached, I could add the paper-pieced tie section.
After that, I built the rest of his striped body.
Then, I added a border and trimmed him to size.
I took a break there to deal with my housekeeping chores. When I came back, I went to work finishing him off. Here's how he looked after I added the eyes, whiskers, mouth, and buttons.
Smitty was a little concerned about this guy, hanging out in his sewing room with his button-down collar and tie.
Hey, Buddy...this is my purrovince. Don't be trying to take over my purrsition as chief quilt inspector.
After that, I added a black flange, and that was where I left it for the day.
The only thing left to do is to add the scrappy red sashings/border. I've done these with all the blocks, but they are not yet sewn together. Each one needed a different amount of sashing, and I tried to keep straight how much to add or leave off to make it easy enough to sew together eventually. This one will have two patches all the way around. I needed 84 patches, cut to 2-1/2 inches each. I just sat with my red scrap bin and pulled out anything that would give me somewhere around 1-4 patches. When I quit for the day, they were all cut and waiting to be sewn together.
Okay, so I have a little housework to do today, but I should easily be able to finish off this cat. After that, I'll get started on my next art quilt. We're still getting rain, and so it's a good sewing day. As I'm writing this, I have some
Baked Apple-Blueberry Oatmeal in the oven. In fact, I just heard the timer go off, and so it's time for breakfast.
How's your spring weather treating you?
10 comments:
Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. ~ Lewis Grizzard
Spring in N Alabama is like a roller coaster. We recently had a 70 degree day, then before bedtime it was snowing. The following day the high temp was 35! Allergy season is kicking my behind too, causing a lot of sneezing and coughing. That fact I'm knee deep in working through a bin of scraps doesn't help much. I may have to start wearing a mask while I sew! Hope you all have a great week.
Temps have been more tempreate--low 50's here by the shore; but the ocean winds are still pretty cold...Nice to see your blooms;))) hugs, Julierose
Weather in So. Cal. is showing stronger signs of a comfy spring. Flowers are out along the sides of freeways and everything is super green, with pretty stable comfy temperatures. Your cat with tie just quacks me up. Purrfect!
We've had beautiful weather the last few days. Tomorrow is supposed to be rain, then a rain/snow mix, then back to sunshine. Typical March weather here.
It is not to early for the hummingbirds to already have eggs in a next. We feed them all winter long and have at least 4 different birds visiting our feeders. I suspect that they have a nest in the Camilla bush in our yard. Lots of coverage to hide from the other birds and crows. One set spends a lot of time in the neighbors yard so probably where a second nest is. Last year we had mom and babies at the feeder after the babies fledged. Later they all took off and we never saw the babies again but mom returned to the feeder the next day.
It is so hard to believe that the Anna’s stay here all winter. We had them at the feeders everyday.
Our winter Daphne is almost done you are just a bit behind us.
Our weather map is saying that the rain might stop for a little while tomorrow. It actually shows sunshine for tomorrow afternoon with a high of 68. I will believe it when I see it. But then the rain returns. They keep saying that we a low on rainfall this year. Couldn’t tell it by this week.
That cat looks very professional.
Everyone is talking about their weather. I will play along. We were cold this last week with overnight lows in the mid 40’s. Daytime in the low 60’s with a few small showers. We warm up this week with today’s temperature reaching 84*. Then back down to the weekend with another weather front to brush a few more showers our way. That’s when we will be in the mid 60’s again.
The photo of Smitty looking at the quilt cat was purrrfect.
Our weather is unpredictable, but it is that time of year. We actually had a record high of 61 degrees a few days ago and several days of sunshine. But now it is back to deary, rainy, windy and colder weather.
And to add to the misery, Spring allergies have started and they say it is going to be a bad year for pollen sufferers. I did see come crocuses on my walk yesterday, but not in my yard yet.
I like the new fat cat block.
Flowers are a long way off here yet although the snow is pretty much gone. They're calling for more though so I guess winter isn't done with us quite yet.
Glad to see a return of the cat project. They are such fun to see!
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