Sweet Spring Flowers and a Quilt

Lilacs.

I wish you could smell them, because they would make you happy.

Until I come up with something better, my old-fashioned lilac bush is the best place to hang little quilts for outdoor picture-taking.  And when the lilacs are blooming, it's a double treat.

This is my most recent completed baby quilt, made for friends of Will's who just had a sweet baby girl.  The fabrics are from the Wee Wander Collection from Sarah Jane Studios, supplemented with some orange I had in my piles of fabrics, plus the yellow with orange dots I found at Sharynn's Quilt Box in North Vernon. 

I divided the main panel of children catching fireflies and inserted two rows of pinwheels, a la Stacy at freshly handmade -- such a great idea.  I added some sashing, and a border of more pinwheels, because now that I have the great ruler I told you about earlier, these half square triangle blocks are much more fun.  

And I'm doing a little better with my machine quilting.  

After lots of reading, I realize that there are several keys to good machine quilting:  a sharp new needle, good thread and correct tension.  And practice.

I think I went a little overboard on this one, but things were going so well, and I just kept quilting.  And quilting.  And quilting.  

I added a few little words:

Peace is on there somewhere, too.