False Springs

Spring has been teasing us lately. First she sends out a couple of sunny days, then blankets the hills with fog.

It rained for the better part of 6 days, a gentle, steady rain that made oodles of puddles and pawprints and turned my yard into a lush greenness it hasn't seen in a couple of years. I don't know where we stand on our drought status now, but I'll bet there's been good headway in reducing it.
For the next two days we're supposed to have sunshine and 70, before the cold front comes in and brings thunderstorms, and then snow flurries. It'll be at least a week before we see 70 again. If I'm lucky, I might get those tulip bulbs out of the freezer where they've been for 2 years and put them in the ground in time to thaw slowly and pretend that's where they've been hiding.

I spent some of those indoor weather days working on my taxes. The '05s are ready for the tax person, the information to file an amended '07 is at hand, and I've sorted through the box of '08 paperwork. By Friday, I will be completely caught up and looking forward to refunds!

I've also been watching an awful lot of HGTV--Curb Appeal, House Hunters, My First Place, Property Virgins, etc. No, we're not moving, but I feel the need for some updating and making things pretty again after the grayness of winter.

So, other parts of the indoor days were spent doing a little sewing--finally! No, the room isn't ready for photos yet, but the blue-striped tab-top curtains were just too wintery and heavy for this lovely blue room. I pulled out a sheet I bought at Goodwill last winter and decided to make curtains from it. It was a fitted sheet, which brought some challenges, and there was only one, so I added panels from an old white sheet I had, to make the sheet enough for two curtains.

They're not finished yet--I'm debating about making these into tab tops also and whether to add any trim--but I'm loving them already.

Also, in sorting my fabric for storing and stacking, I found some pre-cut triangles I bought off eBay several years ago. Back when I first started quilting, and was insecure with my own color sense, I bought "kits" from someone in CA who must have had one of those die-cut machines, and put fabrics together. I don't know what happened to the squares these triangles were supposed to surround, but I have a set of blues and greens, and a set of pinks, purples and a flower print. I dug through my larger scraps, tried to cut triangles to fit, and turned them into a pile of half-square triangles just waiting to become a table topper or runner or something equally scrumptious:

There will be Spring this week, one way or another!