Decision Time

I have most of the pieced border together, and am trying to decide whether to float it thus:

or insert it right next to the quilt top and make the outside border plain blue:

I think I like it best this second way. I decided against the soft orange 1/4 inch inner border as it makes the quilt too busy. I make enough loud quilts; I want this one to whisper.

Meanwhile the kitchen rug is growing. It take much longer to get around it once, but each round adds about 1 1/2 inches total width. Still, I'm only about half-way there.

Lots of friends have been saving selvages for me; I've even received some in the mail! There will be some fun new colors coming up, as I was given a big bag full last Wednesday when my friend Diane came over from Lake Mills and we made scented soap. She had collected selvages from everyone at her last retreat.

We've had a beautiful weekend so far, not too warm, nice and sunny. I can hear a scarlet tanager in the tree tops. We don't often see them, as they stay up high, but they have a lovely song. Tomorrow I will assist (probably cutting up oranges) to provide refreshments for the 5K Power Walk for Parkinsons' my friend Mary and her son Peter are holding for the second year.

Gratitudes:

Great talk with grandson Noah this morning

birdsong

woods lush with ferns and cranesbill

Wildflowers and Birds

The woods are a riot of wildflowers, and we have had quite a wildlife show this past two days. Here are the wild geraniums, also known as cranesbill. All twelve acres are carpeted with them:

The lilies of the valley are just opening:

Last night a doe and two newborn fawns crossed the driveway into the woods. They were so spindly, they can't be more than a day old. I couldn't get a photo, alas. But we also had technicolor at the bird feeders. Here's the female oriole eating an orange.

See the indigo bunting on the ground under the feeder pole?
We also had hummingbirds, cardinals and purple finches, rose-breasted grosbeaks, goldfinches, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees -- it was busy out there!

And here are the bluebells in my friend Fran's woods (hers are later than mine).
It has been a glorious spring. Today summer has arrived with all its heat and stickiness. Yuck.

Gratitudes:

wildflowers and wildlife

time to enjoy them

dinner tonight with old friends

Much ado about very little

What a week! The cat on the left, Goblin, had extensive exploratory surgery Tuesday, without uncovering the cause of her distress (I hate having put her through that!). Glenna, the cat on the right, jumped up on the open hot tub and fell in Saturday evening, soaked to the bone.

I had to take both sewing machines to Waukesha for cleaning and tuning -- they were overdo and running rough. Now I can get back to work on Coplan's quilt.

It is Lent, with all the extra church activity that entails. And Lent reminds me that the mysterious Christmas cactus, one side of which blooms at Christmas and the other around Easter, is blooming. This conjures up memories of the Glastonbury thorn legend. Someday I'll write about that.

The only progress I've made on much of anything needleworkish is what I'm calling my "Depression Project." It's using up miles and miles of selvages left from cutting quilting fabrics, mine and donated by friends.

Very utilitarian, colors are whatever piece is next in the roll without planning. It makes me feel good to know that I'm making use of something that would otherwise be thrown away. Learning to waste not, want not can be an upside to the current economic situation.

Monday two bluebirds perched briefly in a tree outside the dining room window. I checked my 'arrival date' record: They used to arrive in late April or early May. The last few years they've been arriving in early to mid-April. March 16 is alarmingly early. More evidence of climate change.

Gratitudes:

nothing serious wrong with Goblin

Glenna survived her swim

snowdrops blooming along the walk