I wasn’t planning on having two quilt tops together this week, but one of my work projects got canceled and I found myself with an unexpected free afternoon.

I could have started something new but I decided to behave and finish another top. The Leader/Ender nine patches were all done and ready to go, so I only needed a few hours to get them all assembled.

You already know how I feel about nine patches, so I won’t go on and on about them. But can I take a minute to say how much I LOVE making quilts with black fabric? It’s just so…. dramatic! It makes something like a simple nine-patch modern and fresh!

As soon as it was done, you-know-who was right in there, doing quality control.

This one will be bound with some of my scrap binding (green chevrons left from the back of the Zebra quilt), but I haven’t decided on a back yet.

Believe it or not, my backing stash is starting to look a little sparse – at least the backs that enough for a large quilt (this one is 63″ x 75″-ish). Not only has COVID seen me make more quilt, but it also means I haven’t been able to get to Lens to replenish from their awesome clearance table.

And our COVID numbers are crazy bad right now (we were doing good for a while but then it all fell apart), and pretty much all non-essentials are closed up again.

I’m going to raid Mom’s stash and see what she has. If nothing strikes my fancy I may have to *gasp* order some backings!!!!!

How did that happen??? I don’t know about you, but April just flew by for me. To be fair, both work and house hunting have kept me pretty darn busy.

But I still make sure I take time to smell the flowers.

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The spring bulbs are still going nice and strong, as expected.

Most of the colour is out back, because it gets the most sun. But I did take some time last weekend to clean out the front and side gardens and make sure everything was up to snuff.

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And it is. Everything that’s supposed to be coming up is.

I moved this little Leopard’s Bane last year, and it seems to like it’s new spot. It’s about to bloom.

The black-eyed susans in the front garden have never been overly robust (again, not as much sun as they really need), but they have managed to reseed themselves – these little fuzzy leaves are coming up all over the place in that garden.

And my big, bold purple globe alium should be showing off by the end of the month! It’s always exciting to see them making their debut!

What’s promising in your garden?

The other day, neighbour Krista came over with a little present for Burton.

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A little personalized neckerchief made just for him! AND… it’s reversible!!!

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A friend of hers makes them and she was sweet enough to order one for our little Lordship.

He wore it so well, I’ve put in orders for Rupert and Relic too!

I haven’t had a lot of time to work on the Silla cardigan, but the little time I have put into it has some visible results. That’s the beauty of working with chunky yarn – those rows add up fast.

If I can carve out some time to work on it, it will be done in no time!

I have been itching to cut fabric and start a new quilt lately. It’s always a sign that I need to sit back, take a deep breath, and finish one of the quilts I already have on the go.

The Around the World quilt only needed one more quadrant assembled before I could put the top together, so I decided to tackle it first.

With the bed already made, you may be wondering where my little ginger overseer was. Don’t worry…

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He’s found a way to make a made bed work for him.

Despite his “help” the quadrant was together in no time.

I still had some time, so it was quickly added to the third quadrant.

And you can pretty much guess that I just went right ahead and added it to the first and second quadrants.

I could have left it there. With 256 HSTs, finished at 4″ each, it was already 64″ square. But you know I didn’t!

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After a thin “palette cleansing” tone-on-tone border, and a thicker final border with cheerful sunflowers, I was finally ready to call this one done!

Or at least the top, anyway. It still needs to be quilted.

I’ve got this lovely dark country green for the back, and this pretty brown/gold floral for the binding.

NOW I can go cut something new!

Don’t worry – there hasn’t been any more REAL snow. The snow I’m talking about is this kind…

I was hoping to have these socks done by now, but you know… life and such. Instead I’ve been trying to catch a few moments here and there while Burton gets his yayas out on warm, sunny days.

But the leg is done and I’m ready to start the heel. Maybe if we get enough sunny days, I’ll have this pair done by next week!

The other day, Mom finished the quilting on my Round Robin quilt, and delivered it into my hands for binding. Before I show you the whole thing, here’s some shots of the amazing stitch work she did on it, as she was working on it.

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And now the whole thing!

Isn’t it stunning??? I was in love with it before quilting, and I fell even harder when Mom brought it home to me.

The only thing keeping me from putting it on my own bed is that I’d have to redo my bedroom colours. So it’s in the shop and available to one lucky person!

You will recall this quilt was made as part of the Stay at Home Round Robin earlier this year. That means it’s 100% designed by me and 100% one-of-a-kind.

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There are so many wonderful elements – highlighted by Mom’s amazing quilting! The fabric is mostly from the “Jane Austen At Home” line, which is inspired by fabrics from her actual home. There are a few other more modern florals mixed in here and there. The back is a pretty soft blue floral that just compliments the whole thing quite nicely.

It finished at about 86″ square, so it’s the perfect thing to complete a romantic bedroom decor.

I’m so proud of this one!

And thank you to all the quilting ladies who hosted the Round Robin – I’d love to do another!

Since the kittens top was completed, it was perfect timing to join in on a new QAL.

Mom and I have both joined in on the Spring Brook Blossom QAL from Coriander Quilts. The first block was released at the start of last week.

Mom got hers done right away (you make two of each block each month for six months).

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She’s using the Apricot and Ash line from Moda and it’s just so pretty!

It took me a little longer to get to mine. Since all the stem parts are the same, I decided to chain piece them and get them all out of the way first.

Once that was done it was time to tackle the flower part. Unlike Mom, I didn’t have any fat quarter bundles with enough different fabrics, so I decided to go another route.

Every month, I’ll be stash diving and using random colours. Like my pinwheel quilt, I’m going to focus on getting a good bit of “pop” between the two fabrics.

You can also see another difference – instead of using the background fabric inside the flower, as Mom and the designer did , I changed it up a bit.

It’s gives my blooms a more substantial feel instead of the light and airiness the others have! I like it. And now I have to wait a full month for the next block!

One of the things I love about spring flowers, is that the blooms last for weeks.

Or at least, under normal circumstances they do…

Like quite a few other, mid-week our temps dropped and Wednesday morning we woke up to a pile of the white stuff.

It wasn’t alot – maybe an inch or so… but it was wet and HEAVY.

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All my poor pretty blooms bent over and covered in snow.

By the afternoon, most of the snow had melted.

But the garden was definitely looking the worse for wear.

By Friday, the sun was out, it was much warmer, and most of the flowers had bounced back

Though some of the daffies were still drooping.

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The Grape Hyacinths are all doing nicely

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More tulips are popping out every day.

Even my Turkistan Tulips!

And the first Pasque flower has bloomed, with many more to follow!

Mother nature just can’t keep a good garden down!

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I’m pretty sure Relic thinks he’s incubating my tulips…