Did you see this cover on the May issue of Martha Stewart Living? Those are paint swatches on the wall! What a good idea. With all the cool things you can do with paint swatches I hope the day doesn't come when we have to pay for them. You can click a link to read the whole story.

What I like the most about this cover is the smooth progression of color, from green through yellow into orange and finally ending in red, in both the paint chips and in the pillows on the sofa. This sort of color progression is both eye-catching and soothing. And If you pay attention, you'll see lots of color progressions used in magazines and store displays.

I use this sort of color progression often in my quilts. In fact the quilt that I have just finished is based on this very thing…

Columbine grows from seed in my yard as well. The yellow variety tolerates full sun. It pops up all over the place but it isn't as troublesome as some wildflowers that re-seed themselves.

The red and yellow columbine sticks to the shade. The shape of the columbine flower, from the bud through the full blooms, captivates me. I know that many people see shooting stars when they look at these flowers, but I am more often reminded of the monster from the Alien movies – the one that chased Sigourney Weaver from planet to planet. But I see a prettier, friendlier alien…

We are well into spring in north Texas. The days are warmer and sunnier, and the flowers are blooming. My front yard, which no longer has grass, is looking better every day! I thought it would be nice to share some of the colors of north Texas spring with you…

The Texas Bluebonnets are thriving. I have some in my yard. They are a lupine and they grow from seed. I'll let mine go to seed in the yard. They don't look great at that stage, but the plants that grow from the scattered seeds are better than the ones I've bought at the nursery.

We use very little in the way of herbicides – only Round-Up on the weeds that I just can't dig up – and no insecticides. We have ladybugs now. Bees and butterflies will be here soon.

I finished quilting the quilt for the new book that I've been working on for weeks. Oh happy day! I knew I might not have enough of the right fabric for binding as I was working on the quilt. I don't know what I was thinking… maybe that the bit of fabric I did have would somehow make more of itself when I wasn't looking? It didn't.

I needed a 33" square of deep turquoise binding for this quilt. I had bits of a few fabrics that looked like they would work so I sewed them together into a square…

… and I made a 2 1/2" wide strip of continuous binding from this square. (FYI – the instructions for this are in just about all of our books.) Below is the puddle of binding that formed on the floor as I cut the continuous strip.

This worked like a charm! The binding looks great on the quilt (wish I could show you, but it's too far from our publication date) and I can move on to the next thing.

I finished quilting the quilt for the new book that I've been working on for weeks. Oh happy day! I knew I might not have enough of the right fabric for binding as I was working on the quilt. I don't know what I was thinking… maybe that the bit of fabric I did have would somehow make more of itself when I wasn't looking? It didn't.

I needed a 33" square of deep turquoise binding for this quilt. I had bits of a few fabrics that looked like they would work so I sewed them together into a square…

… and I made a 2 1/2" wide strip of continuous binding from this square. (FYI – the instructions for this are in just about all of our books.) Below is the puddle of binding that formed on the floor as I cut the continuous strip.

This worked like a charm! The binding looks great on the quilt (wish I could show you, but it's too far from our publication date) and I can move on to the next thing.

I gave my favorite blogs a quick look-see just now and this is what I found on A Cup Of Jo:

Jessi Arrington (a founder and designer at WORKSHOP) LOVES color. Her friend, Jessica Hische, suggested a color-themed party to celebrate Jessi's 31st birthday. All the guests dressed head-to-toe in a single color and Jessi, the birthday girl, decided to opt for 11
outfit changes.

Her friend and colleague, Josh Stewart,
turned the day into a website. Click here to see it. Once you're there, click on the photo and it will take you to another page where you can click on each outfit for more views.

I think it could be fun to do this when I'm on the road teaching. I would, however, need more clothes because everything I've bought for the last year is highly patterned. Speaking of which, have you every shopped BodenUSA? I can attest to the fact that the clothes are really nice.