Spring IS coming....

I think Spring is finally on its way! Yesterday I hauled off some of the leaf mulch on a few of my perennial beds. These darling little blue Chionodoxa were blooming despite the cover. I had to pull it off gently so as not to pull their heads off! I guess all spring bulbs are pretty hardy- they must be to survive the continuing below-freezing temps at night. Even though we're finally seeing some warm days, it's still pretty chilly overnight.... But it is encouraging to be seeing some spring color. I took these shots of the crocuses in the late afternoon - I love the backlit effect.







I have made a little more progress on my Challenge piece. The borders are all on, and the decision on the appliqué has been made - as much as I wanted to try some wool work, I decided I didn't want to invest the money it was going to take to get all the colors I wanted, and then have a bunch of wool left over... So hand appliqué (with cottons!) it is! I am going to machine quilt the piece first, and then add the appliqué. That will prevent a whole lot of stopping and starting with the quilting. In my head this is a good idea. If some of you wonderful hand-appliqué people out there know that this is NOT a good idea, please let me know (and why). Otherwise, it's full speed ahead this week!
I got out and got a good start on my canvassing for the Cancer Society this evening. That feels good- another thing partly crossed off the list.. Tomorrow a number of our Guild members are off to visit the Sussex Guild for the day - we have been paired with them as a "sister Guild". I can't wait to see what they have in store for us! I'm sure it will be a fun day! Our Choir Spring concert is coming up soon- I'll be studying my music in the car tomorrow... It's somehow not quite as easy to memorize now as it used to be.

Peace,
Linda

"It takes courage to be crocus-minded. God, I would rather wait till June, like wise roses, when the hazards of winter are safely behind, and I am expected and everything is ready for roses. But crocuses? Highly irregular. Knifing through hard frozen ground and snow, sticking their necks out. because they believe in Spring and have something personal and emphatic to say about it."  ~ Jo Sorley