And Spring Comes Blooming -

The old apple tree at Quiltville Inn is blooming!

Barely pink – and so delicate.  My heart leapt when I also saw the tiny leaves beginning to unfurl.  Bees will be buzzing.  Spring is here.

I have no idea how old this apple tree is.  Truth be told, the apples on it aren’t that great, no one has tended the old apple tree for decades and it’s kind of grown amok. 

But the sweetest blossoms – with some pruning and care, could this tree return to productivity?

In the past 2 years (Yes, 2 years in the next 2 weeks that this place has been ours!) the apples have proven to be mealy, not much taste, buggy, and the only folks appreciative of this trees fruitful efforts are the deer who come to gobble up anything that has fallen to the ground.

Scraggly apple tree.

Closer up.

And that isn’t the ONLY tree that is beginning to bloom in front of the inn – the one I’ve long waited for (Because I missed each year by being gone on the road) is just starting to show its blooms and hasn’t reached peak yet:

Bloom, dogwood, bloom!

It will be a few days yet before we can really see the blossoms.

And while that sky looks so wonderful – the temp was 36 when I took these photos yesterday morning.  We’ve had a cold snap – and the temps this morning are also still in the 30s.  But I’ll take it.  For that clear cloudless blue backdrop – I’ll take it.

Yesterday was a day of working at the QPO – And after all mail order was out, I found myself with time to tackle some of the bins and boxes where stuff had been placed “to deal with later.”

Leftover’s from Jeff’s Elvira quilt.

Fabric is like Loaves & Fishes around here.  I was worried I wouldn’t have enough to make a queen-sized version for him and Ashlyn, and I swear, there is just as much fabric left over as I started with!

Dresden!

(Did I post this photo already?)

As I cut the rectangles for Elvira – anything left from that fat quarter was cut into Scrap User’s System increments – so there are a TON of 2 1/2’’ strips just begging to be used together in another project.  But what project?

In the mean time Dresden has discovered that the strip basket is a very comfy place to be.  Click to Play:

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A post shared by Bonnie K Hunter (@quiltville_bonnie) on Apr 14, 2020 at 9:04am PDT

The cats continue to be great studio companions.  They always leave me laughing – Lola who zooms around like it’s the Indy 500 and chirps in her sleep (so precious) and Dresden who seems to be determined to defy gravity at all costs:

Big roll of blue shop towels – over the edge.

(Blue non-woven shop towels are being used as filter liners for the fabric folded face things that shall not be mentioned lest google redact all of my photos.)

Dresden’s hind end – even MORE over the edge.

And how can this be comfy? LOL!

Click to Play:

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A post shared by Bonnie K Hunter (@quiltville_bonnie) on Apr 11, 2020 at 7:41am PDT

I am raring to get back over to the QPO this morning, get mail out and as soon as that is done, do some more “spring cleaning” around the place.  it just FEELS so good.

Has all of this “Stay at Home” stuff had you digging in as well?  I wonder if we really could use this as some sort of challenge to tackle just one small area per day.  One drawer.  One cupboard.  

Use this time to bring Marie Kondo back to life and just make things all around better so we are able to go out into the world when the world is ready in a much better frame of mind.

Of course, if you are happy staying in your jammies all day watching Lifetime and eating cereal as your main events, I’m perfectly fine with that too!

I’ll be back by mid afternoon to sew for a couple of hours before dinner, getting our next round for our Unity Quilt Along ready to release on Monday.

From our #unityquiltalong hashtag on Instagram:

Some folks are just beginning – it’s not to late to jump in!

Some are still on Part 2 – and that’s okay.

Some are zoom zoom zoom and already have Part 3 in place! 

AMAZING!

I find myself shaking my head and wondering  HOW on earth they can do that when the clue was released only Monday morning and by TUESDAY they had it done.  It took me all WEEK to get that done? 

Oh yes, still working – and sewing only a couple hours a day in between everything else and – PUPPY!

For those who wish to join us, you can find everything you need under the Unity Quilt Along tab at the top of the blog.

By evening this is us.

Who knew that being isolated could be so exhausting? LOL!

The funniest thing with the photos being deleted is folks talking in the comments section about how they have re-named things to avoid the google bots.  One group is calling them NOSE NANNIES.  Hahahaha.  It’s perfect.  And the stitching of those goes on too.

I made a pair for some neighbors down the street whom I have never met.  When I delivered some to Jean and her family, I asked if there was anyone she was aware of who may need some m*sks (aka Nose Nannies).  She mentioned a couple they knew.  The wife is dealing with cancer on top of everything else so I quickly sewed up one in pretty pink for her and a blue one for her hubby.  They were dropped in the delivery box at the end of Jean’s road (Hope Valley.  How is that for a name with all that is going on now?) and Jean’s hubby Gordon took them over to the couple last night.

I’ve got my ears open for anyone else in my community that may be in need who doesn’t sew.

And yes – this is still a hot hot hot deal:

The Addicted to Scraps book Quarantine Blow Out!

Do you have your copy yet?

I have placed my stock of the Addicted to Scraps book on deep deep discount at just $15.99 (regularly $27.95) and it comes with a free PDF pattern download for my Wanderlust Table Runner.

If you've been waiting for this book - now is the time. Put your stash to good use while you retreat away at home.

You'll find it in the Quiltville Store along with other goodies you may want to add to your cart - check the NEW category to see what else we've added.

This special sale is only good while Lock Down lasts. 

Want to know what quilts are in the book?  Click the BOOKS tab at the top of the blog.  Right under the book cover photo is a link to view the online trunk show post.

Okay.  That’s it.  Let’s kick Thursday into gear and see what we can do with it!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Maybe this break from everything is also a chance to let go of ideas and compulsions that don't serve us well.

Let the need for perfection go.

Cut yourself some slack - while you extend the same grace and courtesy to others.

We are all in this together.

Have a good one!