Yeah — spring is officially here in Western NY. Yesterday was a glorious day with bright clear skies in the afternoon and a warm, velvety breeze that lifted my spirits. Right after work I grabbed my first (and favorite) quilt and headed into the backyard to gather some Vitamin D (per doctor’s orders).  I wasn’t there long and I had company.

You may notice the hay field in the background–yes, my mower is broken again, else I would have been trimming the lawn instead of lolling about.

Whilst enjoying the rays, I started re-reading one of my favorite books — Outlander. Love me some Scottish romance. I want to re-read the entire series before I watch the live action version.

On the sewing front, I’ve given up on my idea of refurbishing a cutting table. I spent a lot of time priming and painting an old cabinet from the Salvo (a la shabby chic style) — but I simply cannot make it work as I had originally envisioned. The wood for the top is just too hard and I cannot successfully attach the supports for the top that will give it the correct cutting height as planned. Yes, I am a DIY failure!

Plan B. Now I’ve found a dude who makes custom islands and I’m hoping to persuade him to build me a custom cutting table (a la Joanna Gaines — Joanne and Chip, if you’re reading this, come to NY to redo my sewing room, please, please, please! Love, your biggest NY-Texas-NY fan).  Meanwhile, what little organization I had previously has devolved into chaos since I’m without a fabric storage solution as well as a cutting surface. Yes, I moved out the old before the new was ready <story of my life>.

Despite the disarray, I did manage to get the final wide border on my modified Paddle Wheel Quilt! Woop! Woop! I’m searching for the proper backing, but soon I will be able to go and see the fabulous Ms. G about applying the appropriate quilting to this striking quilt top.

The lawnmower dude picked up my machine right as the sun was going down last night. I hope he doesn’t feel obligated to rush — I’m rather liking the thought of more sunshine, books, quilts and cat hair because it’s going to be even nicer this afternoon!