Gifts from Friends
Along with those wonderful blocks I showed in the last post, there was this book. I have had more fun looking through it and have some great ideas for some small quilts made with some of the blocks. This is a fabulous reference book.
Today I received this book as a gift from a friend and am thrilled to bits! I have one of Kumiko Sudo’s other books and love it as well.
There are some absolutely fabulous little patterns in it for needle and pin books, pin cushions, you name it. A lot of the patterns call for little seed beads, so I can tell I’ll be heading to the bead places this weekend. There is one needle book pattern that I cannot wait to try. I have some scraps of Oriental fabrics that will work perfectly for this! I can see some great gifts for stitching friends coming out of this book!
Gifts from Nature
Every spring, we have the wonderful scent of the crab apple blossoms. The tree on the roof garden started to bloom on the weekend and it’s wonderful.
Here’s a close-up of the blossoms. I wish they lasted a wee bit longer, but am grateful we have them at all.
Smudge — awake for a change. 🙂 He is the most interesting cat to watch when the camera is turned on. He hears that little click and immediately starts striking a pose.
I have two little 9-patch blocks left to attach to the main body of the teddy bear quilt and then 2 small borders. It will be done this week! I’m half tempted to do the borders by hand, as I know they’d get done sooner if I did. Sitting down and doing them on the machine just seems too much like work! Hmmm — I wonder if this is why I shy away from borders.
Quilt Obsession 
I’m amazed that you have a tree that big in a roof garden! Wow. I would have thought it would need deeper roots.Sounds like a wonderful book. Small projects you can finish in an afternoon are great!
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I’ve never asked before but this photo begs the question: Did Smudge get his name for his, er, smudged nose marks??I love all the blossoms but am glad our trees are mostly past this stage. Makes my nose twitch just looking at that tree!
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Hi Cathi,Wow! You’ve been a lucky girl :-DThe blocks you received are just gorgeous. If they were mine and I wanted to put them all in one quilt I’d arrange the beauty blocks in the center without sashing then use the other blocks as a border with maybe a simple border separating it from the center. Sort of medallion style. Then with the extra fabric make another round. Just an idea if you want to keep it altogether.Ellyx
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I love when trees blossom out in spring – the colors just shout ‘Happy’ *s*
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Books are fantastic. I was hoping you’d go for the pincushions. A girlfriend could always use one of those. ;)Cathi, ummm….well can I tell you this is a new favorite of mine now that I see Smudgester awake. I love him and his super handsome self.
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Hi Catherine,Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love Smudge and Lester. They are beautiful cats. I hope you were able to find a cushy home for Sammy. He’s a cute little thing. I am fascinated with squirrels too. We don’t have them here in Hawaii. I have seen them only a couple of times in my life, once in Washington and once in London. They sure are fast on their feet!You’ve made some really wonderful quilts that I just adore. It was fun browsing your blog. Aloha!
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