My beloved cat Emma died at the beginning of March which has made for a rather sad spring around here. We affectionately called her Big Kitty and she brought so much joy to our daily lives. She was a gorgeous blue eyed sweetie of a kitty and both Adrian and I miss her terribly. I knew from the minute I got her that she was going to be one of those once in a lifetime pets. The kind of pet that is so perfect and wonderful that you know without a doubt that he or she is going to be the best pet that you will ever own in your entire life. Emma was that pet for me. She was the sweetest most loving kitty and I was extremely devoted to her. Her loss has really devastated me, as I knew that it would. She got sick last spring and it has been a year of worry and bittersweet sadness knowing that she wasn't going to be with us for much longer. I tried to prepare for the grief, but in the end there was nothing to do but endure her loss the best that I could. Our house is terribly empty without her and for a while I really lost my vigor and joy for life. But spring has finally arrived here in Minnesota and the migrating birds are flying through and my garden is waking up and it's time to look forward to all of the good things that the future may bring.
My sister Sandra sent me this lovely stone a couple a weeks ago. It weighed a ton! She had it made for my garden as something to remember Emma by. I put it by the pond, next to a lone viola plant that sprouted up this spring. I always plant violas in my yard, it's one of my favorite flowers. I am always amazed when one or two little plants pop up in the spring.I have been bouncing around from one project to the next for the past few months. The first thing that I knit after Big Kitty died was this cute little bunny:
My friend Carmelita came over the next week, took one look at Miss Bunny and fell in love. She was having a bad day so I sent the bunny home with her. I then knit a Mr. And Miss Bunny for myself. 
The pattern is from fuzzy mitten. I love her patterns. 
I also knit and felted a few nests this spring. The pattern is by Marie Mayhew. I absolutely love her patterns and if you have been reading my blog for a while, you will recognize many of the things that I have made from her patterns.
I also dusted off some New York Beauty quilt blocks that I had not worked on in years. I began this project several years ago and it was one of the projects that got set aside after I broke my neck. I wasn't able to sew for over a year and it's amazing how easy it is to forget about a project when it has been out of your mind for a year or two. My friend Robin was visiting in March and I pulled out the quilt blocks to show her. I decided that it was time to finish up the blocks and get them ready to make into a quilt. Once I got back into making the blocks, I remembered what a pain in the butt is is to make the New York Beauty blocks! 
They are all paper pieced and some of the arcs were really difficult to sew accurately. I got all of the blocks on my design wall, remade a couple of blocks that weren't working and fiddled around with the block placement for a week or so. Then I had to put it away because I had to get cracking on a graduation quilt that I am making for my high school pal Nicole.So that's what I've been up to this spring. I did cast on a new sweater last week, I'll share it with you once it looks like more than an orchid colored blob of yarn. I'll have the graduation quilt done soon as well. Nicole wanted the quilt to be the colors of sunshine. I've had fun buying lots of yellow and orange fabrics, two colors I really don't quilt with too often. It's impossible to be sad when you are sewing with such vibrant and happy colors. Have a great day!
