Piecing Progress & an Impulse Purchase

I have the color strip portion of the quilt top pieced, along with the large triangles that surround it.

 These are almost all the colors in the hand dyed strips I cut (and showed you) earlier in the week.  I've picked out a name: Sunshine to Blossom.  I'm pretty sure I want to add white panels on the left side and at the bottom, but I'm bouncing around a couple of other ideas too. And of course, I'm thinking about big areas to fill with quilting.

 My friend and I stopped at Trader Joe's before we left town on Friday. My purpose in going was to buy some marmalade.  As we walked through the door I saw this beautiful hydrangea for a fantastic price.

It came home with me, and I've been admiring all the beautiful colors in the petals and wondering how they may change once I get it planted outdoors.  I've wanted a bush for years, but figured there was no hope since the little bit of time I have had at home is hardly conducive to basic maintenance, let along caring for my plants. I don't know how long this one will survive, but I'll certainly enjoy every minute of it.
Of course, I almost forgot the marmalade!

The coming weeks are filled with a myriad of appointments, so I'm sure I'll treasure the time I have at home.

I'm going to join a couple of linky parties:
Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop (although just a little soft applause would be adequate)
Karen's Sew Darn Crafty

Please take a look at some of the other projects that are linked at their parties, and leave a few encouraging words on a few of their blogs. A little encouragement can bring a lot of joy!

Happy quiltmaking...and have a blessing filled Sunday.

Spring! Spring! Spring!

I love this picture because it makes my house look lavender--a color I would never, never paint it--at least, not on the exterior!

At last! The narcissi are in bloom! It is the end of April!

Due to some unseasonably warm weather at the end of February and for a few days in March, my neighbor's daffodils bloomed and were beaten to shreds by the wind. We have been enjoying several early tulips that she planted. We waited and waited and waited for these flowers. They too may well be beaten to shreads by the wind, but today they are just beautiful!

And, promising to bloom soon, are some of the tulips we planted. See this tiny bud hiding in the leaves?

We are thrilled!

Shopping Results and A Welcome Sign of Spring

These are one of the pay-offs of today's shopping. I splurged on King Arthur 100% whole wheat flour and mixed up a batch of whole wheat rolls--they're dark because I used a bit of black strap molasses as the sweetener. I needed to make the rolls because we also splurged on crab cakes, something our local Smith's store usually carries only at this time of year.



This bedraggled little specimen is the pansy that has clung to life all winter, putting out new, tiny sets of leaves whenever the weather has been warm enough to allow it to do so.
Alexandra wanted to plant some things in the planter. I asked her to be careful of that brave little pansy. I hope she didn't bruise it too badly. It looked a lot healthier this morning.

The real signs of spring are these tulip leaves poking their tips up through the soil in several planters. They didn't bloom last year. Maybe they'll manage this year.
They could still be frozen before they have a chance to bloom. We expect a low of only 25 F. tonight--and, according to our notoriously erroneous forecasts, a high of 76 F. tomorrow. I don't know how all our recent unseasonably warm weather is going to effect our bulbs. In the past, we've had snow as late as May 8, so it's touch and go.
We've also had precious little moisture this winter. We know that with or without moisture, we will still have many, many days of wind. (I just didn't take pictures of the most recent tumbleweed blessings.) With so little moisture, there's no point in even attempting to break soil that's not in a planter. Alex and I do need to go get a few more planters, however.