Hello Spring!

I thought I would have a bit of a breather after the Sacramento show but it seems like its been a whirlwind. The last week of March we did a trunk show/lecture and then on Saturday had a workshop. What a great group of women I met there! I hope they had as good of a time as I did. We worked on the Dutch Beauty Sampler. Its such a good pattern for a workshop. We start out with the Courthouse Steps Blocks to learn the technique and get in a rhythm, then we move on to the Dutchman's Puzzle Block. I hear so often that quilters hate making Flying Geese so this block proves how easy they are to do on our foundations and its so much fun when they get those perfect points. And sew EZ! (Sorry, I couldn't help it)

We had a few days at home and then headed to Tehachapi, California to meet with the quilt guild there. Our trunk show/lecture was Monday morning and the workshop was on Tuesday. Since we finished early on Monday, Bob and I played tourists for the afternoon. I couldn't even tell you how many times we have driven over the Tehachapi Pass (Hwy 58) but we had never taken the time to actually see what is there. We went to the train museum and then had lunch next door at the famous German bakery. Oh my. Thats all I can say. Then we ventured to the "Tehachapi Loop." We have seen the signs and had friends stop and see it but we are so happy that we took the time. The loop was built in the 1870's and since it is such a steep grade, they made a loop where the trains actually snake around a hill and drive over themselves. We were lucky enough to see three trains in the short time we were there. The workshop on Tuesday was another great one. Everyone did so well. And, when we got home, Donald was here! His visits are coming more often but way too short. I will take what I can get.

And the lemons I showed on the tree in my last blog? We started picking them. Last night I brought in a bucket and juiced about 1/3 of them. Got almost a quart of juice then cleaned and thinly sliced the skins and put them on the dehydrater overnight. Got up this morning and turned them into a beautiful powder for seasoning/zest. I probably have enough to last me the rest of my life. Tonight we will juice the rest in the bucket and freeze it in ice cube trays. I will measure how much each cube is so I will know how many I need for recipes.

And I started picking avocados. Yay! We have waited so long for our two trees to start producing. Now, to get to work on the rest of the yard.

The Beginner's Sampler has been quilted and I am actually sewing the binding down. I am about halfway with just two evenings. If you have been to one of my trunk shows, you know that I have a lot of unquilted tops and about half of the quilts that are quilted, either don't have the binding sewn on or if they do, its not finished. I am trying to do better. The fabric kits for the Beginner's Sampler have been assembled and are on the website.

I have another trunk show/lecture this coming Tuesday evening in King City. Our workshop will be on the 26th. And don't forget, our special this month is Star Patterns and Blocks. Use the code STARLIGHT10 at checkout to get 10% off star quilt patterns or blocks. This does NOT include the Family of Stars pattern or blocks. These specials are only for our Blog readers as a way of saying thank you for reading our every-once-in-awhile blogs and trying our product.

HAPPY QUILTING!!!