Happy Spring! Happy Equinox!

I think I've been  a bit whiney recently about what a gloomy and dismal time of year this is, but today is a day to celebrate!  No more whining from me!  Today is the first day of Spring! And it's the Equinox! Equal hours of light and darkness, and from now on, the days will get longer and longer until the middle of June when here in WI we'll have daylight until nearly 10 pm!  Love those long summer days, don't you? By the way, the apple blossoms are not in my yard. We have to wait at least another month before the apple trees are in bloom, but then they are just like the ones in the picture.  So pretty!

Yesterday I managed to make a trip to the grocery store, finish the book I've been reading, AND spend some time in the sewing room!

I finished deconstructing Jo's T shirt quilt, and sewed it back together in a square 4 by 4 block layout instead of the original one.  I took 2 pictures to get all the blocks in for your viewing pleasure. ;)

The 4 blocks on the left side of the quilt.

The four blocks on the right  side of the quilt.

You may notice the block in the lower right corner is longer than the others which are all 12" square.  This is the extra T shirt Jo wanted me to put in the quilt.  Turns out the design is long and this is the only way I could make it fit. I hope she's okay with it like this. Jo doesn't want to see the quilt until I have it finished for her, so she'll have to take what she gets, right?

I have the fabric for the borders, backing and binding, but I kind of ran out of time and energy to work on that yesterday. Maybe today.

I also began copying the embroidery designs for the project I'm taking along on my trip to Washington with my son. I know I can't embroider in the car--the roads are far to bumpy for that--but I'm taking the Amtrack back home and I think I'll be able to stitch on the train.  

I'm making this wall hanging called "Bless My Garden" wall quilt.  I saw this made up with a variegated #12 thread from Superior Threads, and it looked very nice.  I found a thread in golds, browns and greens that I'll use for my project and I'll use the same colors in the fabrics.  I have the perfect place to display it in my home.

It's from this book by Gail Pan.  She's an Australian and I love her embroidery designs.  Everything I've made that she's designed has turned out better than I expected. I only have this one book of hers but I think there are more heading my way in the near future!

Today the only thing on my calendar is to meet my customer this afternoon to choose a border fabric for her wall hanging

and then tomorrow I can get that project finished or nearly finished.  I'll let you know how it turns out.