Just cause it rained

For those of you wondering if everything is okay with me here, I thank you for asking and YES everything is wonderful. It is spring after all and I love spring. And have I been doing any quilting? Yes,if piecing counts,
but only cause we had rain today.

 I picked up this project where I left off and got the blocks together. Now I am considering these hourglass blocks for a border. I'm not sure I feel this is worth the effort of a pieced border. So it will stay on the wall so I can think about it. Since it has been a while since I worked on it, I wouldn't be opposed to considering a flying geese border. Time will tell.

Tuesday at church we worked on the 9-patch sashing for the dresden plate raffle quilt. That is ready to go together now. I think it will be too big for my machine. I better line somebody else up in a hurry.

And now what is blooming out in the wild? Garlic mustard, UGH! Now that it is flowering they say you can't just pull this invasive weed and drop it cause it will still set seeds by using the energy in the plant. You are supposed to bag them and dispose of them in the trash.  I'm experimenting with ripping off the flower heads before pulling them from the roots. I can't imagine they will be able to set seeds if there is no stem or leaves attached. We'll see.

We have had a house guest and it has taken a bigger effort on my part to prepare meals, etc. It's only temporary.

Feels Like Hookey

Maybe I'm semi-retired. I sure haven't been working hard at my quilting. Not even 100 feet out my back door are lots of wildflowers at the edge of the woods. Distant shots don't show them very well, so here are some shown at closer range of what lures me outside every day.

First up is Hepatica.There leaves come out after they bloom. There are big patches of these. They are mostly white, but some pastel lavender and lilac. The fern-like leaves belong to the Dutchmen's britches that look like bloomers hanging upside down to me. That's the second picture. They are growing along the little brook at the east edge of our property.

 Not shown is the pale pink Spring Beauty. Lots of these in the neighbor's yard. I've moved a few over to this side of the brook.  Below is Blood Root. Their leaves fully develop after blooming too. Not so many of those.

 Also not shown is the big patches of white Cutleaf Toothwort and masses of Skunk's Cabbage. They are mostly in the woods across the street with hundreds of Marsh Marigold's (shown below).

 Now do you understand why it is so hard to stay in and quilt, especially when I have more quilts than I will ever need?  Can you guess what will be blooming next?