I need to make plans. Actually, I need to give some thought as to how to share what I know about quilting with a beginning quilter, without scaring her off! *G*
Elegante Mother was a member of the Empty Nester group at her church. I got to know a number of the ladies when they came to our house for a monthly craft session. They made all sorts of things including lap robes, baby quilts, neck coolers for the troops, and gift bags for women in shelters. I discovered that they have a new member who is interested in quilting, and I e-mailed her. We plan to spend a day together in my quilting studio. She makes quilts for troops returning from the Middle East. I just discovered that she is a beginning quilter, so I’m trying to decide what pattern I can show her to expand her experience, without being too difficult.
Dear Husband and I will be visiting a quilt show this afternoon, so perhaps I will get some ideas there, and I can check to see if there are any books on the subject.
Mary plans to come for the day, and we’ll have soup for lunch. We can set up both sewing machines and still have room for a cutting mat. We can put completed blocks on the design wall, so that we have an idea how things are shaping up. I may try to put together some blocks ahead of time that could be mixed into what we make on our quilting day.
I’m really looking forward to making a new friend, and spending a day sewing.

Oh, my! Spring is arriving early to northeast Illinois. We’ve had a week of off-and-on rain. The snow has melted away, grass is greening up, and crocus are in bloom. Each day I visit the gardens that lead to the front door to see what’s newly sprouted. The daffodil leaves are at least six inches tall. The Darwin hybrid tulip leaves are all up. There are scads of iris coming up, sharp little points of green pushing their way up out of the dirt. The lavender is greening up, and I can see leaves on the phlox, foxglove and centaura montana.
I’ve seen the first chipmunk, but not the first robin. My sister said she saw one, so they will be here shortly. I figure the rain has flooded the chipmunk den and floated him up and out, along with the worms. The robins can’t be too far behind, since the worms are such easy pickins.
Dear Husband is getting his ears lowered this afternoon. He said if I accompanied him, he’d treat for lunch. I asked if he would go with me to a quilt show after lunch, and he agreed. It turns out the show is just half a mile from Elegante Mother, so we’ll make a stop there.
Tomorrow, I hope to get some more work done in the basement, and work on my ironing. I let that stack grow until it begins to irritate me, and then spend an afternoon cutting it back. It’s always more fun when there is new fabric to iron, but I’ve been trying to resist buying more fabric until I use up some of my stash. I think there may be about twenty quilts waiting to be designed from the stash, perhaps more. I hope the quilt show will provide inspiration!
I hope you all have a great weekend. Stay dry!