Spring - taking stock

All of a sudden, about two weeks ago, I noticed that the days started expanding, and at an extraordinary rate. The effect of this - for me a re-newed sense of optimism and energy - makes the long, dreary drag of winter worthwhile. 

As it happens, this winter has not been especially cold - it's actually been the warmest on record so far, which is a touch sobering - and the spring flowers seem more than a little confused. However, as spring progresses I still feel noticeably more 'full of the joys', so here is a picture of my forsythia just coming into bloom. 

I'm not a big fan of yellow flowers, but the burst of bright that a forsythia in full shout delivers is simply wonderful.  

And it's time to take stock isn't it? Take a look at where you are at, what you've got; and consider 'what next'?

So, this is my little collection of quilts so far. Not bad actually. And not quite all either - one has been sold and gone (Wonky Owls). 

...and one is in the pipeline - it's a bit of departure colourwise: an experiment with white-on-white. I rather like it (plus it sort of camoflages my decidedly inaccurate piecing...shhhh).

But, overall, I feel quite chuffed. The latest off the needle (almost) is very bright. Baby/cot sized; hand quilted. Turns out that though machine quilting is obviously way quicker, I just prefer the hand-quilted look. It's a mission to do it, but it's so nice - a bit 'shonky' and I suppose 'folksy' and 'homey', but then I guess that's precisely what I like about it.

Anyway - here it is. Another log-cabin really, just very very simple - a centre square and one 'round' of 'logs'. The diagonal border piecing was not as hard as I thought it would be, and it looks pretty nice - in fact, it was deciding how to use up a pile of left over strips that inspired the quilt in the first place. I wanted to use the fabric, but in a way that looked planned rather than patched together 'any-old-how'. Maybe I'm finally getting the hang of this 'make-do-and-mend' lark after all.

The binding is not quite finished in these pics, so it looks a bit wonkier than it actually is. The back looks nice - that 'whole-cloth' look again. And you can see that it will lay nice and square and flat once the binding is finished.

So - have I drawn any conclusions from this brief moment of reflection?

Well, the fabric stash pile is still pretty sizeable - and (shame on me) needs a good spring sorting: so...looks like I've got a bit more quilt making to do yet.