Another weekend, another snow storm....Believe it or not it is spring!!

April 15, 2013, Monday.

This blog is designed to show quilts done on the longarm machine. I like to show my quilts, ones made by my customers and also sewing crafts of my own. It is nice to see other projects besides total quilting and today that is what I'll do.
Last weekend I visited the old family homestead in Nova Scotia. It is a Christmas Tree farm, flower and vegetable gardens , and orchards which are now managed by my brother. My parents are 92 and 95 and are now in a nursing home nearby. They still love to come back home for a visit.

When I stepped out of the car I was greeted by hundreds of singing spring birds. There were crackles, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, robins and spring warblers not to mention the many winter birds still feeding there. Down in the orchard were pheasants feeding of the old apples from last fall. When I visited the farm at this time of year, two years previously, I was delighted to see that my Dad {then 93} had spent the winter days making bird houses in the basement. He was no longer able to get around in the deep snow so picked up a new hobby. On the back sloping wall outside the basement door was all his productivity drying in the sun. I grabbed my camera and took some pictures thinking all the while that I need to make a wall hanging, and that is how many great projects near and dear to you can materialize.

I show, here, my efforts from these photos that started with a piece of white cotton. I hand painted the sky and foreground. The birdhouses were appliqued on and the rest was thread painted using my Janome sewing machine. I enjoy thread painting and bringing things to life.

I made the picture with batting and backing so it is a true quilt but decided to frame it in the end. I hope you enjoy seeing my endeavors and please feel free to leave me comments.

J