Is Spring Right Around The Corner?

Good Monday Morning, Dear Readers! 

This fine day finds me in a cheery mood due in large part to the gorgeous day. I stepped out on the front porch earlier and noticed a couple of hopeful signs. First, it was really warm for 7:30am. The sun shone clear as can be, and the front porch was cozy and inviting. Second, birds were chirping! Yay! A real sign that spring is on the way! Such delight for the ears and hope in the heart! These hints of the coming of spring definitely put me in a cheerful mood.

I know that Ohio weather still has some wintry stuff to come, but these promising signs are definite indicators that soon we will be celebrating the return of spring.

So, let's have a look at a cheery, spring-inspired quilt, shall we? I have this currently on our bed, and the flowery nature of it beckons those spring-time vibes. This is an oldie, but one that is quite special to me in several ways. Most special is that I hand-pieced it and my grandmother hand-quilted it. Now when this was done is sort of a mystery, but I will guess the early 2000s. 

It cannot be older because this pattern, English Elegance, is on the cover of a magazine from February 1999. I have shared it here before; click here for the post. Bonus: there's a pic of Grandma with this quilt in her frame!

A second reason for it's being special is that I sorta'-kinda' count this quilt as being  the one that really jump-started my industriousness with quilting. I'd been collecting fabric with the intent of making quilts, but I hadn't been overly productive about it. At the time our kids were still young and I was working - life just didn't afford great amounts of time to be devoted to quilt-making. As the kids got older I found more time for quilting, and seeing this magazine cover was just about the best, most inspiring beauty ever. Talk about timely.

So, all the florals in this quilt now adorn our bed, and I am loving all the feels of spring that it brings to the space. It won't be long before Mother Nature is adding her own supply of florals. The birds and the sunshine this morning promise - it's coming!

Happy Quilting, Friends!