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Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Spring has Sprung!

Spring is officially here when I wake up to the little trills of the cedar waxwings in the Kanardi junipers. They come in flocks of a hundred or so, stay a week or 10 days and eat all the blue juniper berries to get energy to finish their trip to the north. They are so perfectly beautiful with their black masks, yellow dipped tails and red spots on their heads. This is the view outside my sewing table, just to the west of the junipers where they are busily eating their fill.

This is our favorite Spring quilt. My hubby bought the kit for me in AZ at the Chicken Coop in Mesa moons ago. I carried it around for a couple of years, stitching on it whenever I was at the hospital with my dad or my mom. I took it on vacations to Colorado, and to the Caribbean. It's all hand pieced and appliqued, except for the binding. It's quilted with different kinds of embroidery stitches using perle cotton, and it is always the first quilt I think of when it's time to get ready for the season. It's about 60" X 72". I so enjoyed all the time I worked on this quilt. Maybe I need to make up another "kit" to carry around for another season!

This is the view once the sofa table is put back, along with the lamp and my Mr. and Mrs. Wabbit guarding the candy dish.

Close-ups of the "quilting" embroidery stitches:


8 comments:

The Calico Cat said...

How darling, I love you interpretive quilting - especially the rain! I like how the quilt is scrappy, especaially how there are a couple lights, so that the contrast is low for the pieced bits.
What a happy cat... You know I "had" to mention the cat!

ForestJane said...

I love the cat under the flowerpots. :)
Is that a cat in the middle basket too?

I'd like seeing the Wabbits up close too, did you make them?

Quiltgranny said...

Forestjane asked if I made the Mr and Mrs Wabbit? No (but of course, I could have!). They have the most adorable ceramic faces and feet. The rest of them are stuffed, and embellished with laces and beads and fuzzy stuff. I've had them for abour 10 years - got them at a craft fair.

If you click on the pictures, you get a bigger view of the pieces, too. There's only one cat, and there's a rabbit sitting in the wheelbarrow.

Darcie said...

So that's what we all need to be eating for energy: juniper berries! (I'll pass, thanks...wonderful aroma though!)

I can understand why this quilt is your favorite. It's fantastic, Sharon!

Besides all of the great color and design elements going on with the applique, piecing, and quilting...the stories behind each piece bring back many bittersweet memories for you, I'm sure. And to me, that's what makes the quilt yours only!

Finn said...

What a great quilt Sharon!! I could be completly in love with that one!!! And actually, it's stitched with memories of the times and places and people who were there, block by block. I think it would be lovely to get or make a kit and do a different season..*VBS* Great job!!!

Love the Cedar Waxwings..they used to stop off and "clear" our crab apple tree when we lived over by Green Bay. It was a happy day of family reunion for them, and a treat for me as I watched through the kitchen window..*VBS*

ForestJane said...

Ah, I see now. I was kinda tilting my head to the left, and thought tha darker bit in the middle (the flower leaves) was really a cat lounging in the basket on top of the tulips, with one paw hanging out of the basket.

Cats lounging all over on top of exactly where you don't want them to be is the norm at my house. :)

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh it is a wonderful spring quilt! And what clever quilting! I love it - for a spring color quilt that is!!! :) I bought lots of dark muted colors today!!!!!

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

This really is a fantastic quilt - so much detail, fabrics, quilting, subtleness that draws you in for a second look! Very special!

Cheers!

Evelyn