Catawba Spider Lily

Yesterday I took a road trip with my photography club to upstate South Carolina to view the Rocky Shoal Spider Lillies in bloom.

It is a really pretty park.  Would like to go back in the late afternoon so the sun may be better positioned to photograph the flowers.  Not happy with my shots...

however there was a lot of fun things to photograph...like frogs (toad?)

spiders...real spiders

and this good sized rat snake that surprised me on the trail (lets just say snakes should not be in trees...my rule!)

So how does this fit with quilting?  I loved the shape of the spider lilly!  I have drafted a string block based on the flower and plant to stitch one up tonight!

It is fun when I can merge the two hobbies...like knowing how to remove stains from quilts and from the slacks after a photo shoot!

Donation Quilt at Home Show

My quilt guild makes a quilt each year to benefit Camp Rainbow, a medically supervised camp for children with cancer.

One of our big events for this quilt is the Augusta Home Show.

I worked at our booth for the first shift and was really happy with how generous the folks were.  One man said he didn't have time to fill out the tickets but wanted to donate and put a $20 bill in the bucket!

Flowers are starting to come up even with the cooler weather...makes me want to work out in the yard but it is still about a month too early!

Speaking of flowers my friend Paula gave me my swap quilt this week!  The quilt on the left is Carnival corn that I made and gave to her and on the left is Fanciful Blooms (a Sue Spargo pattern that Paula made her own!)  which she made and gave to me!

Pansey flower theme...

I know I'm not supposed to buy fabric as I am still trying to fit my stash into the new sewing space but...

I saw this new fabric from  Philip Jacobs with these pansies on it and "needed" a yard.  Didn't realize until I looked around that I like pansies so much!

They are on some of my Polish pottery...

By my front door...

And in some of my old fabric stash that I have been sorting this week!

Writing this was a nice break from the pressing, moving, sorting...all the stuff that goes with setting up my sewing space again.  I feel as if I'm making a commercial for back-pain medication!

Spring day!

Down here in the southern U.S.A. I may complain bitterly about the long hot days of summer; I may miss the New England autumn colors; and periodically long for a just one winter snow storm to dress the trees for the holidays; but there is no-place like the south for the springtime!

First, it lasts a long, long time.  There were daffodils in my front garden the last week of February.  Various Azaleas and flowering trees have been in bloom since mid-March.  And today my Iris and rose bushes started blooming.  Three months of spring!

Today it is sunny but cool so I can actually enjoy the deck with the pets.  Though I don't do as much in the garden as I used to today I can enjoy it with out guild as the yard crew came by and did in an hour what would take me a week!

I also rotated some of the quilts up on the wall and this little English Paper-pieced Grandmother's flower garden is now up in the wall of the guest bedroom....

The quarter/coin gives an idea of how small those pieces are! I made this quilt 13 years ago...my eyes were better then!

Spring makes me want to work with pastels or bright colors!

I have several projects that fit that requirement (like the row of crayon quilt above that is all ready for quilting or the material obsession that need binding) but I am battling the urge to start something new!

That may be part of the "spring" fever thing!

We have had a mild winter this year. The spring flowers are in bloom and even the azaleas are starting to liven up the landscape.

What really surprises me however are how many insects are out already.

Yesterday I saw bees working hard (as expected)

and today there were butterflies around my front yard.

Makes me want to sewing with spring fabrics...

and to start planting some seeds for my veggie garden. This year I am going to plant a few russian sunflowers too!

Flowers and other things

The past two days have been more seasonal here...cool with bits of rain. We needed it. I also needed to stay in and ge the hosue ready for my niece and nephew's visit later this week. It is so hard to do laundry and dust when the sun is out! Note how british I am becoming - I automaticly start talking about the weather! Anyway, the showeres hasve also given me time to work on the little needlepoint bag I bought at the gardensale the other day (1 pound for two unfinished bags.) There are some very tiny beads on this that started to fall around me like bits of hail the moment I took it out of the bag. I think I got most of them back on...enough for me anyways! I'm going to try my hand at putting one of them together this week. I am going to run over to the Beckford silk and get some black for the inside.....Before you ask -I have no idea what I will do with it when I am finished. It will remain impractical and pretty - there is space in the world for that no?!

I noticed a lot of flower photos as I cruised the blogs this weekend so I decided to post a few from my village. On the left are the lilacs I see from my front door. The cottage across the street has a beautiful front garden with a half a dozen different types/color lilac bushes. I feel a bit spoiled since I get to enjoy the view of a great garden without any of the work.

At the top is some queen Anne's lace. The sides of the road are just covered in this right now. It reminds me of my family's cottage by the beach...we made small bowls from clay and pressed the Queen Anne's lace flower into them for decoration. Then we buried the pot in the hot sand and let them bake. The things moms come up with to keep kids occupied during summer vacation!

We walked up to bluebell woods on Breedon Hill last week and glimpsed the end of their blooms. Next year I will plan better and see them at their peak. It was still worth the climb. It has a very Tolkien/elfen feel to it...old trees, quiet, small running brook, lots of low dark green undergrowth. Can you tell I really like it there!

Unfortunatly to get to the Blue bell woods I have to go through this...the dreaded rapeseed blooms. It feels like they are everywhere. A few weeks ago I was going on and on about how pretty and bright they made the hills look....now I can barely open my eyes wide enough to see!

Finally a photo of a huge (ok about 3 inches long) snail that has taken up residence in our garden. I know they eat the plants but he is so cute! I just keep meoving him over to the blackberry canes that we want to get rid of anyway....