I'm sewing, Al is painting and the yard is blooming

Al is still working on his den... the painting is now done and is a beautiful deep beige color. This is him earier doing edges.

I got the binding sewn on my Star Sampler and am now hand stitching it down. I decided on one of the green Happy Mochi Yum Yum fabrics for the binding.  

Just had to show a picture of one of the trees in the front yard... a bradford pear... it's in full bloom and boy does it look pretty. We have about a dozen of these trees scattered around the property. When we first moved in, we found an end of the year sale on them... cost us about a dollar each. We bought all they had left. A couple fell victim to the deer but most have survived and they're now big enough that the deer dont bother them.

OH... as a final note... Today I added a tutorial on making the block PAT'S PINES. Go here for the tutorial and pattern... plus some ideas on making the quilt. This is the block we have painted on our barn.