Transitioning

Good morning, my friends. It's a bright sunny day, as it was yesterday. I'm very tempted to get outside for a walk this morning. Also this morning, I'm making some Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Arrabiatta Sauce for our dinner with the neighbors tomorrow. It's not difficult to make, but there are several steps, and it is time-consuming. Tomorrow I'll make a salad and a dessert. Today, it's all about the pasta. 

Yesterday morning, I finished up April's block for A Year in the Garden.

When I selected the floss colors for this, I was going by the name alone. The pattern listed names like "Rust" and "Medium Rust," "Aqua" and "Light Aqua." I picked whatever seemed right. As I've been stitching these, I've been thinking the colors are unconventional, but I like how they look together. Also, the background is a darker off-white than I would ordinarily choose. It was in my stash, and so I used it. These are the blocks I have for this quilt so far. It's only a coincidence that I'm working with the month we happen to be in.

With that finished, I had a stitching emergency on my hands. I went straight to work tracing the first block for my new project, "Le Jardin." There are nine blocks for this quilt, and they are small. If this one stitches up too quickly, I might decide to do them two at a time. For now, I'll just do this one:

Smitty kept me company for this.

It took quite a bit of time to select the floss colors. It's possible I might have missed it when the pattern was published originally, but there was no sheet listing all the colors together. I had to go block by block selecting whatever colors were used. Smitty helped by giving me the yes or no as I held up colors for his appurroval.

In the end, I selected these colors, and these should cover the whole project from start to finish.

Thanks to all who chimed in on the selection of a quilt back for The Story of My Day. The consensus was that the white on off-white paisley was a good choice. I first went in search of a fabric I might use for a colorful binding. I selected a stripe. But when I opened up the backing fabric, I realized I needed more width than what was available. I ended up piecing together this back using the stripe I'd selected for the binding. I'll also use it for the binding. 

For my last gasp, I added borders to April's "Sewing Room" block. I still need three more pieced blocks, but I was getting tired of sewing by then.

Besides, it was a beautiful day. I wanted to spend a little time outside. I was happy to see a flower on the Bleeding Heart. I expect we'll see more today.

Another daffodil has opened. This one is called "Flower Record."

This next one is called "Pink Wonder."

The grape hyacinths are small in number but big on color.

The kitties kept me company as I wandered around the yard.

I made my way down to the woods, thinking there might be some trilliums blooming. I noticed these wild yellow violets. There are purple ones too, but my pictures didn't turn out. The bright sunshine bleached them white to the camera's eye. I'll try again.

And, sure enough...trilliums. They're a gift from the forest.

It seemed a good day to bring the dahlia pots out into the light. They've been wintering over in the garage.

Two of them have sprouted already.

We keep the fencing over the top of the pots to prevent the squirrels from digging there.

We're going to give them some tomato cages this year. I've tried staking them in the past, but the plants are tall and heavy, and they'll just pull the stake over with them. We'll be gone for a good part of their growing season, although I expect we'll see their flowers when we return.

And that brings me to today. When the stuffed pasta shells are finished, I'll get back to my sewing. I want to finish the three pieced blocks for the Sewing Room quilt. Also, I want to get busy making April's red Kitten in a Teacup. These take forever to make, and so I expect it will take up the whole day. These are the blocks I have so far.

If I can finish the kitten block, I'll get back to the regularly-scheduled projects on my white board. Next is to quilt one of the small quilts. There's only one on the list...Blue Blazes.

Probably I'll just do a diagonal grid on this, but I haven't made up my mind yet. Maybe I'll decide to do something fancier. Either way, I expect I'll have this finished by the end of the week.

So there's plenty on today's agenda. Just now I'll take the first stitches on the new Le Jardin block. After that...cooking. Time to get going.