April and May have been real.  Real Busy, Real Life.  Low and High.
(Do you mind if I babble?)

The snow missed me this year, but I am digging myself out nonetheless.  The spring has brought birthday parties, work travel, outrageous taxes, home improvement, school events, contests, awards, death, and new life.   Would you believe me if I told you it all happened in that order?

In one more week, the current school session ends and summer begins.  What better way to celebrate life’s constant skirmish than to sow and sew?

I am a month “behind” in my personal block of the month club.  I have finished my next sister blocks, which I will write a separate blog on later.  I did get my hands dirty and planted some tomatoes, hot peppers, strawberries, and herbs in my garden.  With unseasonably warm weather, I even planted them before Mother’s day, which is akin to playing Russian roulette with mother nature.   I won! (so far)

Since I am a month behind with the quilting, I will write it off as a loss and move on.

In light of planting my garden and tending my flowers, my block from Lori Holt’s Farm Girl Vintage patterns this May is “Crops”.

As I mentioned before (I think), one of my goals with this quilt is to construct it from my stash, most of which was gifted to me by my Grandmother.  I almost broke down and bought fabric this month.  The biggest challenge in my stash is finding large enough pieces with small prints.  Much of her stash was cut into smaller pieces.  I wonder if this was because smaller pieces were easier to use with hand piecing?  I digress.

In the end, I held strong and supplemented Grandma’s stash with some of my own, a scrap from a project I made for my Sister, probably some fabric that was passed between my Mother and my Grandmother, and some pieces of my own that didn’t have a plan yet.

The block is simple to create with half square triangles, tipped with smaller triangles, then sashed.  It was almost therapeutic.  Note: The pattern wastes fabric after trimming.  The half square triangles are created with squares of every fabric.  I have sewn and saved them for later, but am not sure if they will be handy in the other blocks in the pattern.

My block is finished.  I really need to get my behind out in the sunshine to sow some more seeds and prepare my garden for some delightful fresh ingredients this summer.

I mentioned death.  One of my Grandmother’s passed away this month.   At her memorial service, we were asked to think of a memory to remind us of her.  One thing we had in common was flowers and plants.  She loved sharing with me the flowers in bloom and the critters that would visit her back patio and garden.  I think that I might take a break from sewing one day and see if her children would mind if I transplant some of her flowers to my yard as a memory of her.

Life’s balance is that my cousin and his wife welcomed a new baby girl to the family the same week.  (Congratulations to the new parents and grandparents!)

Happiness can be Sow and Sew.