A spring-time disappearing 9-patch

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I wanted to make a quilt for my aunt, who has always been a very special person in my life. But time passes and things don’t get done and you know how it goes. (sigh)

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So one day last spring I was sorting my sewing room and I came upon an unfinished quilt top. It’s one I started way back when. Before I had (mostly) mastered the art of matching corners, lol.

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I’m not sure why I put it away and didn’t finish it. I think maybe I felt (at the time) that the colours were too bright, or maybe I didn’t like using grey for the background neutral. I really have no idea.

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Anyway, it was spring when I pulled it out and all the spring flowers were in full bloom. I carried it out and took some pictures with the tulips. And oh my gosh…the quilt just sang!

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Suddenly, every spring colour just jumped out at me, and I realized that every single colour was in the quilt. It screamed Spring!

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That’s one of the things I love about Kate Spain’s fabrics. She really captures the colours in nature.  🙂

020I looked at the grey background and thought of the soft spring rain that comes and melts all the snow, and makes the flowers bloom.

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And I thought to myself, this quilt belongs to my aunt, whose favourite season just happens to be spring.

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Mine, too!

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This is a lap-sized quilt made from the Cuzco collection by Kate Spain. The backing is cream flannel and it was hand quilted in a clam shell pattern. I didn’t wash and dry it before I sent it, but when she does, it will shrink a wee bit and pull around the stitches, creating that wonderful crinkly look that makes a quilt so soft and snuggly.

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Spring!

I didn’t have to go to work today! It was such a beautiful morning that I decided to take a walk and get my errands done early. Samson and I walked the river loop at about 9:30 in the morning. It was about 0 degrees, so everything was crisp and frosty. I love it when the sun is warm on your shoulders and the air is chilly on your skin at the same time. I love it when the ground is slightly crunchy before it’s warmed up enough to soften. Spring is definitely here! The seagulls are back on the river, screeching and squawking. Walking along, I heard an especially loud ruckus start up in the gull population. I turned around just in time to see a bald eagle fly about 20 feet over my head, chased by a half-dozen of the afore-mentioned squawking flock. Further on, I found my first crocus flowers blooming on the river edge, and Sammy and I had to stop and smell the air when we got our first whiff of warm dirt and sap. Robins are singing, leaf buds are swelling and the snow is melting. Oh, happy day!

I didn’t have my camera with me, so I took some pictures of the yard when I got home instead. Here is what spring looks like at my house today:

 

Here is the rhubarb just starting to peek out of the ground. And brave early poppies sprouting, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Spring to you!