Wheatears and Spring Flowers

A bouquet for my birthday! 

Tulips in the garden

Phlox by the front steps

Rhubarb!

TAST Week 17 Wheatear stitch 

Here it is sideways...

and here it is upright 

You can take a look at other TAST stitches at Pintangle

The daffodils are so beautiful dancing in the wind this spring. 

Happy Spring!

p.s. I will have some quilting to show you soon. I've been working on my Camp Kieve project and it is done! After the recipient has received it, I will post photos. :-)

Forsythia and Flowers

Spring in Maine is a chancy thing. My birthday is in April so I have always loved Spring. We are as apt to have a foot of snow on the ground as green grass at this time of year. This year Spring has been very kind to us as you can see by the yellow sprays of forsythia in the back garden. Some years all we get are a few piddly blooms near the ground, but this year is glorious.

"Hoe while it is spring, and enjoy the best anticipations. It is not much matter if things do not turn out well." Charles Dudley Warner

I like that quote. It sounds like me and my many projects. It is always so lovely to start something, isn't it?

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush." Doug Larson

Now that sounds like Maine! 

Here is my Week 16 TAST - French Knots

I used the trellis worked in stem stitch from last week. Two strands of DMC embroidery floss. SharonB gave a good tip for working French knots on Pintangle. Use a milliner's needle as the eye is the same width as the needle and your French knot will not slip through to the hole. 

Last weekend I layered and pinned the new purple Ann quilt I am making. Tomorrow I hope to machine quilt all day. Pictures to follow.

Enjoy Spring wherever you are!

Congratulations

Do you remember this quilt? It was featured on my blog last August. Here's what I said:

 Wow, that's a lot of ribbons! Cartoline da Venezia (Postcards from Venice) by Margaret Solomon Gunn. Best in Show! Fabulous. I couldn't do that in a million years. Just enjoy

Margaret entered this quilt in the American Quilters Society show held in Lancaster, PA this March. She won Honorable Mention in the Wall Quilt-Longarm/Midarm machine quilted category. Congratualtions Margaret Solomon Gunn of Gorham, Maine! Fabulous!

TAST Week 14-Stem Stitch

TAST Week 15: Stem Stitch. I was a little pressed for time this week so I practiced the stem stitch with three strands of Caron's Wildflower thread. I worked a trellis which is about 2 inches apart. I think this will be a nice basis for adding small motifs within the trellis.

Take A Stitch Tuesday is offered at Pintangle by SharonB. Take a look at her blog for more stitching goodness. Lots of crazy quilting eye candy!

Okay, the weather is too nice today to stay inside. Monday is a holiday here in New England. It is Patriot's Day, a holiday commemorating Paul Revere's ride in Boston and the start of the Revolutionary War. Huzzah!

Belfast, Maine

TAST Week 14-Satin Stitch
I've never really liked satin stitch, so many ways it can turn ugly. Too close together and the stitches buckle. Too far apart and the background shows through. One stitch a little too high and it glares at you forever. This litte world of satin stitchery was actually fun to stitch! Done on green cotton fabric the circle is 3 1/4 inches across (8.25 cm). I used a blue quilter's washout pencil to draw the circle and the inner shapes, waves, hills, valleys. The threads are embroidery floss, perl cotton, and wool.

I bought a several hanks of Paternayan wool yarn yesterday in Belfast. I went out to lunch with four friends and we visited several interesting shops in town. The first shop we visited was right next door to where we ate a delicious lunch (Darby's). Try the Scottish Toffee Sundae! Fiddlehead Artisan Supply is a beautiful fabric and craft shop. They have many fresh and modern quilting and sewing fabrics. Along with a good supply of sewing notions there are embroidery threads, both cotton and wool, Collette sewing patterns, a good selection of sewing and quilting books, and sketching and paper supplies. It is a lovely shop and well worth a visit.

There is a delicious range of colors in solid fabrics. I bought a gorgeous deep purple fabric for the back of a quilt the dragonfly quilt I am making. It was only $6.50 a yard and the quality is really nice. Since most fabrics are now at  $10.50 a yard, this one seems like a bargain. I hope my quilting is up to the scrutiny of a solid fabric!

Happy Easter!