The weekend dawned with absolutely NO quilting projects on the go (if you don’t count the Leader/Ender quilt… which I don’t). It was time to start something new.

My quilting goal this year is to put a good dent in the fabric stash by finally making all (or many) of the quilts I’ve had planned/fabric purchased for for years! And that Fat Quarter bundle Burton is showing off is just that. Way back in 2019/2020, while making the Blockhead 3 blocks, I got an idea for a quilt using all of this block…

I bought the fat quarter bundle, which is all fun transport motifs (cars, planes, etc), as well as enough flannel for a back. And then it all sat hidden in the stash. Until Saturday…

I did some quick math, figured I could get 12 single arrows out of a fat quarter. Then I chose 8 fabrics from the bundle and got them cut up. As you can see, Rupert was less than impressed. I think he was hoping the box could be used as a bed.

With everything cut, the arrows sew up quite quickly.

I got 20 arrows sewn up before it was time to quit for the day. With the rest ready to go, I can probably finish them this coming weekend. Then I just have to decide it I need to make more. There’s still a lot of fabric, so I could make this one quite large if I want to.

Under this imperious green gaze, stitching happened.

As such, I completed the last row of letters, including their spidery details, as well as a couple more ravens. I even got a small start on the checkered border between this and the next section.

And the next section…

Is the last. It echoes the bottom section with the cats, pumpkins and owl. It’s not an exact duplicate, but it has the same motifs. We are on the home stretch!

As always…. Dave and I have been thrifting regularly.

Some finds have been practical, some whimsical… and always thrilling!

First up, the practical. As you know, I love feeding my feathered friends. I have a small collection of seed bins (repurposed cat litter pails) on the back porch. And it looks a bit ugly. I’ve been on the lookout for something to contain them for a while, and a long last, I found it.

A very well made wooden chest. I was absolutly thrilled when it slid perfectly between those two support posts. Dave’s excited too, as I can fill my feeders inside the bin – keeping any fallout contained!

Next up, the whimsical…

Another thing on the wishlist has been some sort of mirror to hang in the garden. But often mirrors are expensive, or just not suitable for outside. Then I came across this

An it was just $7! Dave’s cleaned it up and is goin to give it a nice thick coat of exterior paint so it can stand the weather. And if you’re wondering why I want a mirror in the garden… google “garden mirrors”/

The next, is also for the garden

Solid concrete and oh so cute! It’s also going to get a new paint job. Then I have to find a good spot for him!

And now the downright ridiculous!

It’s a print, (on stretched canvas) not an original painting… but I just had to bring it home. And I think you know why…

It’s now proudly hanging in my office where it can make me smile every day!

It’s March 1st. And that means that no matter what Mother Nature thinks… the first day of Spring is only 19 days away!

And while Lemmy was out enjoying the mostly melted catio, you can bet your bottom dollar that I was poking around what parts of the garden I could!

There are little green sprouts from bulbs coming up everywhere. I can’t tell what these ones are yet…but it doesn’t take much warmth for them to get going. I’ll be able to tell most of them apart soon enough.

I was VERY surprised to find a whole bunch of very green Sweet Pea vines. It must have been nice and toasty under the snow. These are perennial Sweet Peas, so they are hardier than the annual ones – and I guess that means they can grow under snow!

Another wonderful surprise was buds on the Hellebores! They need a little more warmth to grow tall and strong and shine like the beauties they are… but it’s a start.

Of course, we’ve had a couple more dustings of snow since then – and probably have more to come. But Spring is on its way. Nothing will stop it now!

It’s still a few weeks away from the time to start any seeds indoors – but that doesn’t mean I can’t do garden stuff…

I thought I’d sworn off the Winter Sow method when I discovered seed snails, but apparently not.

As a quick refresh (and for anyone new), I’ve grown (or attempted to grow) plants using the winter sow method on and off for the last 10 years or so (since I first discovered it). While I initially had good results, they haven’t been as great since we moved here. Last year, I managed a couple of small lupin plants, and that was it. After trying seed snails last year, I decided that was the way to go from now on.

But then I got those seeds from the Ottawa Wildflower Seed library.

Quite a few of them require a period of cold stratification. This basically just means the seeds need to be cold for a while before they will grow – which makes total sense for plants that evolved here! Now – I could stick them in the fridge for a while, but I thought why not give winter sow one last whirl.

So now there are four little mini upcycled green houses tucked away in between the raised beds in Potager Parlour. If you cant make out the labels, we have Joe Pye Weed, St. John’s Wort, Hair Beardtongue and Pearly Everlasting. I’ve had that last one in the garden before (in the catio, and the cats kept laying on it) but the others are all new.

Hopefully, using native plant seeds will give me better results with this method than I’ve had in the past couple years.

And in a few more weeks…. we’ll start some seeds snails… LOTS AND LOTS of seed snails!!!

For info on the Winter Sow method – go here

For info on Seed Snails – go here.

Over the last couple of weeks, the temps have remained consistently around freezing or a little above. We even had several days with rain (and a couple thunder storms!). That means the snow has been steadily melting. Enough for the cats to get out and moving around the catio again. (There’s been several feet piled up in there for at least month)

With the melting snow, we found a few forgotten toys…

So Lemmy got a little spring fever….

Literally!

I’ve been working on the Easter sock every spare moment.

In fact, I’m almost to the toe. I’m not loving working with the cotton – but the colours are making it worth dealing with. I expect to have the second sock started soon.

Sunday saw me back in the studio, using up the rest of the scraps I’d cut from the Blockhead quilt. As a reminder, the pattern line is called “Sketchbook” by Tula Pink.

I had an idea of how I wanted to use the blocks, it was just a matter of laying them out to make sure I had enough.

Rupert decided to help with that. And then, as soon as I turned my back….

He and Lemmy decided to trash the place. (There’s a video up on the Bearbottom Facebook page if you’re interested…)

Once they got their yayas out and settled down again, I got everything reorganized…

And things went pretty smoothly from there on out.

(I think he’s repentant for being a trouble maker… but then again he’s probably just pretending)

As you can see, I bordered it all with solid white just to give the eye a bit of a rest.

Since I was working with leftovers, I didn’t fussy cut the blocks, but still managed to get at least the head of each animal in each square.

I made a scrappy binding to get the edge a little pizzaz. I don’t have a backing picked out for this one yet. I have to go stash diving. I know I have some black and white flannel, but I was saving that for another quilt. I guess I have some decisions to make!

It didn’t have ANY snoopervisors this weekend, and I think that might have contributed to a lower level of stitching productivity*…

I got the spiderwebs finished, and added all the orange bits, but that about it.

All the candles are lit, and the pumpkin eyes are glowing. It’s the little details that really make this sampler!

*In truth, I can’t blame the snoopervisors. I didn’t stitch Sunday night, opting instead to get a jump on the work week and do a few tasks from my day job instead.

** And for those that admired my tights in yesterday’s post – you can get them, and many other fun patterns – here.

True to my word, I did set aside the sock and turn my attention back to the shrug. I undid the cast off and ravelled it all apart pretty quickly.I picked up the stitches again, this time increasing to about 2/3 more than the pattern called for. It actually didn’t take too long to get it all re-knit again – even at the higher stitch count.

And I’m so glad I did up it…

It lays and looks so much better now.

I do have to say, I miss having my celebrity photographer close by (aka Mom). Dave took these, and that boy just doesn’t not seem to know my best angles! But you’re here for the shrug, not for me, so I’ll just have to keep my vanity in check.

Back to the shrug

The pattern is “Shrug“. It’s only one size, and other than adding stitches to the body ribbing, I knit it as directed in the pattern. A very easy knit.

The yarn is Liberty Wool that I got at Value Village for just $6. Colour is 7972-Teal Chameleon. And it’s certainly fun! It’s something that’s a bit outside my normal fashion wheel house. I’ve only got a handful of dresses that will work with it. But it’s certainly helped cheer me up through the grey January/February doldrums. And it’s definitely nice and warm to wear!

I still have a couple balls left, and I’m thinking it would make a nice hat. But first – I’m going back to those Easter socks!