Spring influences some quilting designs...I made this needle holder and mini pin cushion for my friend Tricia's Christmas present. Then I adapted a pattern called "Crowdiddy" to make it look more like a lady bird, I gave it to her for her birthday. It morphed into looking like a cross between a lady bird and a platypus! The tulips along the quay this year have been very pretty. I love how delicate this one looks.

I don't know the name of this flower, but it looks so delicate and truly is a greenish yellow.

Who would think that mother nature loves to play with checkerboard prints? Can you see the small spider on one of the blooms?

I love the contrast of the yellow double bloom tulip and the blue forget-me-knot flowers.

The witch hazel leaves are an amazing colour of green and the texture of the leaves and veins are wonderful.

The shape of the branches are very zen and inspirational to me.

Oh! The rhododendrons are beautiful, this purple one caught me eye.

The purple grape Hyacinth were almost finished blooming and got so large this year.

This tulip looked so pretty and tall amongst the yellow pansies.

The blue spring sky with the pink cherry blossoms look so dramatic.

These apple blossoms look so inviting.

Pink dogwoods show off their veins in the leaves.

The shadow on this twisted blossom made such a pretty image.

Red rhododendrons look so luscious.

These white tulips are under a tree by one of the entrances to my condo, I like the white and blue flowers growing with them in harmony.

We've had a few chilly mornings earlier in the month, there was even some fresh snow on the local mountains. This weekend morning you could see your breathe as you walked. The pansy had a bit of frost that was melting off.

This tulip was also covered with with water drops from the melting frost.

We've had some rainy days this May, but when the sun arrives the skies are a beautiful colour of blue.

This white rhododendron looked almost silver with the sun shining on it.

This purple tulip has such a delicate shape and looks translucent against the sun.

I found these seed heads very interesting, they are from the greenish yellow flowers I photographed and shared at the start of this blog. I will have to find out the name of this flower.

I found the yellow centre of this red flower to be so pretty. I may have to create it in cloth one day as a quilt.

The dogwood trees have had some wonderful blossoms on them this year, although the recent rains have left some of them bruised and spotted.

Most of these pictures were shot in the first 3 weeks of May.

The sky was blue and the birds were singing yesterday, Spring has made it's entrance here. This is a view looking up the Fraser river, there are 3 paddlewheelers in this picture. The tall bridge in the background is for the skytrain and beyond it the Patullo bridge. There were lots of people walking along the quay enjoying the warm sunny day.

I love how the sun caught the centres of these two pretty tulips.

This is a Dogwood in early bud, the flowers will turn a creamy white when they open a bit more.

The muscari [grape hyacinths] are almost overtaking the rose bushes.

I spotted the ladybug on this daffodil, the hyacinth is a gorgeous purple/blue

The sky was just an incredible blue and the apple blossoms looked so white against it.

There is a large pond near one of the condos, this duck was diving for a snack, there were also some large Koi swimming around. You could see their orange/white/black markings in the water as they swam about.

I love how these narcissi seems to have both yellow and orange petticoats on.

These ones are decked out in cream dresses with yellow petticoats, in the background you can see one with double yellow.

This cherry tree is in my courtyard. The bloosoms caught my eye as I walked by. They are blooming from the trunk!

This is looking up from below the same tree, the bloosoms almost look white, but you can see the pale pink.

Here is the view from my balcony towards the cherry trees and the river. The song birds are singing today, one is just outside my suite sitting on the gazebo roses. The cherry tree petals are starting to fall like snow on the lawn below.