I love spring, almost everything about it, seeing the daffodils poke their heads up to check for an 'all clear' sign, the little purple hyacinths in the back yard bed, watching the clematis cast off it's blanket of last year's musty, old leaves, and start the climb up the porch trellis. A pair of house finches have again chosen the six foot conifer we planted a few years back, just past our front door, as their nesting sight. It never fails to make me smile, seeing long strands of dry grasses sticking out of the needles, giving away the location of their home. I'm praying T.C., the tomcat next door won't discover them. When I head out to retrieve the mail daily, they flutter out of the limbs, startled, anxious little parents, hovering on the wires overhead til the coast is clear, then they pop back through the limbs to check out that nest. Soon I'll hear little chirps as I walk by, the sound of a hungry brood. If T.C. doesn't discover them.

There's the sound and smell of springtime rain, sometimes a light mist to hold down the new grass seed, filling the air with the smell of wet, dusty dirt. At other times it's a hard, driving force, washing that same seed away. I love that smell! Like a bunch of hillbillies, we open the backdoor and leave it ajar to catch the sound of wind chimes doing a jitterbug from the rafters of the house - glorious! The songs of so many noisy birds mixed together this morning actually woke me up! I wonder if they've heard that verse, "make a joyful noise...." Hearing them reminds me of the scene in Cinderella where the birds and little creatures scurry about, whipping up a gown for the ball. 'Cinderelly, Cinderelly, we can make the dress so pretty!', it's a nice way to start a day. Everyone is busy it seems, busy with the chores that new life brings, and if I wait patiently, soon I'll catch a glimpse of a few new fawns resting on the hillside behind our home, just over the creek, where mama deer can keep a close eye, get a drink or munch on the ferns that are popping up through the hard clay ground daily.

Since I'm past the birthing age myself, thank the Lord!, what better way to celebrate this time of year than to birth a new quilt with my sewing group, The Sew and Sows. This one, called "Fresh Cuts" is going to be a beauty I do believe. We do several projects every year, as a group, but each quilt is individual, and it's always fun to see each woman's personality come through in her fabric choices.

Here's what mine looks like after I bought the pieces of fabric, brought them home and Susan, bless her heart, spent two afternoons helping me cut them into many, many little pieces, so I can put them back together again. (Yes, quilting makes a lot of sense!)


Each little area of fabric will eventually be a square block. That funny looking grey area is a 'design wall', such a handy thing for a quilter. It's a large sheet of insulation, cut to 6' x 7', covered with grey flannel, much like the old flannel boards used in Sunday School, then stapled right to the wall. It's wonderful for fussing with the pieces of a quilt block, moving them here and there and standing back to have a look-see. I'm thinking this quilt will make a pretty kitchen table topper, turned on point, with a vase of peonies or something else cut rom the flower beds plopped right in the middle of it all. It'll be the first thing you see when you walk in our front door, hopefully saying 'Welcome, come on in'.

That new sewing room is way too nice to waste - time to put it to good use. In a month or so I'll be back to show you what this looks like, once it's all put together. I think it's going to be a beautiful baby!

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