The Beauty of Spring

In February I started training to run a half marathon. I’ve been training with a group from our church. During the week we run 2-3 miles on our own Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Saturday’s we run the long runs with the group. Each Saturday we’ve been adding a mile to our run.

On the Saturday long runs we’ve been running on a bike path in our home town. Some of the scenery along the bike path is beautiful and really makes running outdoors a pleasure…even on cold mornings.

It has been really nice to see the change in seasons from when I first started training in February. The other morning as I came around a corner I was greeted by this amazingly, beautiful tree in full bloom.

While the surrounding trees are mostly still brown, this tree greeted me in its beautiful purple splendor.

I love how it hangs over the bike path.

It not only looked beautiful it smelled beautiful too. And the bees loved it. The tree was literally humming from all the bees.

I love the contrast of the purple blooms, the dark brown bark and the blue sky. Seeing things like this is one of the reasons I love to run outside.

Looks Like Spring

I’ve been machine quilting my “Looks Like Spring” wall-hanging.

Remember to bring the bobbin thread to the top to prevent the “bird’s nest” from appearing on the back.

Clip the threads and I’m ready to go.

I recommend practicing on a scrap quilt sandwich to correct any tension problems. And believe me this little quilt had several tension problems. I finally changed both the top and bobbin threads in order to correct the problem.

I can’t wait to get this finished and up on the wall. I will keep you posted.

I Need a New Spring Wall-hanging

It has been a long winter. Now that spring has finally sprung I felt the need for a new spring-like wall-hanging. After perusing my abundant stash of quilting magazines, I couldn’t settle on a pattern that I liked. So, I decided to create my own.

I wanted an applique quilt. The must haves on my spring applique quilt were a bunny, clover, a spring flower and, last but not least, a honeybee. These things just say “spring” don’t they? And this quilt literally says, “Spring!” I think I will name it, “Looks Like Spring”.

Here is a picture of my quilt as I’m getting ready to machine quilt.