May Flowers

The lilac bush in our back yard in South Boston grew at the edge of the man-made cliff ... hundreds of years of coal furnace ash built up the land behind our two family home, creating a space that measured about 12 x 15 feet and ample room for a five line clothesline, an ash shed for the rubbish barrels, and a lilac bush.  When we moved to Georgetown, we found a similar old fashioned lilac outside the screened in porch, and enjoyed the fragrant blooms each May. The date of blossoms opening varied with the weather year to year, but I planned to carry some of our home grown lilacs as my wedding bouquet ... unfortunately, that year the bush bloomed early and by the thirtieth they had all passed their bloom. My bride's bouquet forty nine years ago, a small white, French family bible covered with trailing stephanotis, was instead a simple one. But every year following our wedding, Rick brought lilacs into the house whenever in May they bloomed, and we enjoyed their beauty and scent for weeks. He could always reach the best blooms at the top of the bush.

Curved blossoms, heart shaped leaves and wooden stems...

This month's QQ Block of the Month honors those lilacs ... The background is a deep blue print that echoes the cool, clear spring skies here in New England;the blossoms are made with Moda marble swirl fabrics, the  leaves and lilac blossoms are fused in place and will be decoratively quilted. The stem is a simple narrow zig zag stitch repeated three or four times. The pattern and various appropriate fabrics are available in the shop upon request.

The shop itself will be once again 'under construction' at times this spring and summer ... old clapboards are sagging, the window shutters are losing their louvers, paint is peeling, the storm door has paid its dues and will be replaced with a newer model, and some windows need replacing.  I had enough of a tax refund this year to do one large project and had two to choose from ... and the shop repairs won out over the new kitchen floor.  Such is life in New England, where one's barn is always prioritized, as it is where one's occupation takes place. One step at a time, one project per year ... eventually it will be as good as a two hundred year old barn can be.

I took my first sick day in five years today ... Grieving my loss of Rick sometimes leaves me without wind. But tomorrow is another day, and things to be done await. I'll be out in the shop at noon for quilters looking for fabric, notions and ideas.

As always, thank you for reading this. Please share the link for this blog with your quilting friends ... tell them of the automatic discounts that increase with time. I look forward to seeing you all. New shipments of fabric will occur in June, August and November ... come check on what's on hand each season!