Another quilt is complete!

You may recall I finished this one (Marseilles Stars) a while back, but I left it in Mom’s hands for the quilting. She’s been practicing some fancy stitchery and all that white space was just begging for a pretty design.

And as you know, my Mother never disappoints!

The back and binding for this one were both clearance bin finds, and I think they work pretty well. I love the little shamrocks on the back.

This one is a bit of and odd shape… long and narrow (about 48×70), but it’s the perfect size and shape for a couch quilt.

It’s going to be great when Dave cranks the A/C  and freezes me out this summer!

I’m not doing very well at this not spending thing….

Ok… let me explain. On several occasions, I’ve mentioned Lens Mills store. It’s our favourite place to get fabric at killer prices, and there’s one just five minutes from my house.

Well, every summer they have a big tent sale at select locations, including the one in Port Dover, which is only an hour drive from my house. Usually it’s just yarn, so we’ve skipped it the last few years, but this year the flyer said they were adding fabric…. including Fat Quarters at deep discounts.

Well my friends… you know Mom and I just had to make a play date and check it out. Last weekend, I picked Mom up early and we headed out in Dory. It wasn’t a huge selection of fabric, but I still score a nice little 10 pack of Fat Quarters for just $20.

No plans for this… just pure stash enhancement.

One of the other reasons I wanted to go was they also had  by the yard Free Spirit fabrics on for 50% off. I’d been eyeing Tula Pinks Pinkerville line for a while, and I wanted it see if I could get a piece or two.

Sadly, the Pinkerville wasn’t part of the sale. I wasn’t too upset, I didn’t really need to spend the money… but then while Mom was getting some fabric cut, I wandered over to a table of precuts… and wouldn’t you know it, they had Pinkerville in Fat Quarters and Jelly Rolls. And for some reason…. the Fat Quarter Bundles were $30 cheaper than the  jelly rolls… and way cheaper than anywhere else I’ve seen. You can bet your bottom dollar that bundle went right in my cart!

Like all of Tula Pink’s designs, the fabric is a crazy mix of bright colours. In this set there are unicorns, sea monsters, moths, swans, and fantastic florals.  I was thinking this would end up as a quilt for Rowan, but the more I look at it, the more I want it for myself.. even though I totally don’t need another quilt.

After Lens, we decided to take a side trip to a town near by – Waterford. It was just 20 minutes away, and The Quilt Junction  – a shop we’ve visited before – had some Civil War fabrics on sale that Mom wanted.

While Mom got those, I may have bought a few more Fat Quarter packs – but only because they would go so well with some backing flannel I had in the stash.

These sweet little foxy prints are just perfect for some Holly Hobby Fabric I had leftover from Relic’s mat.

And these sweet animals matched perfect with a dotty chunk of flannel I picked up from the clearance bin a while back.

Both packs will be turned into baby blankets some time in the near future.

And last… this wasn’t bought on our trip, but it arrived at my  door a day or two later….

Darn Bluprint had another darn sale on the clearance items. I’d been eyeing these oceans prints for ages. Finally my resolve wore down and I purchased several charm packs and enough of the whale print for the back.

The charm packs will be turned into a school of little fishes and sewn together into an ocean themed-top. I’m hoping to get a twin-sized quilt out of this one.

And now… my bank account really does need a rest…. I think I can, I think I can…

Sorry… no tour guide today… Peno was unable to break away from her 23-hour nap. Since she’s a senior kitty, we’ll give her a pass.

The Dianthans I showed last week are covered in blooms now. I always say, if you want bang for your buck, buy some Dianthans. They are small and compact, bloom like crazy and come back year after year.

The Foxglove have started blooming. The plants are much smaller than last year (probably our cooler spring) but I’m just happy they are here at all. I’ve had the hardest time getting Foxglove to come back so I’ll take small plants as long as I’ve got them.

By contrast, the Beardtongue is loving the cool, wet weather.  Just look at all those blooms!

The Blue Sage is starting to bloom, which means the Lavender won’t be far behind.

And the Pincushion plant is pretty in pink!

Last, but not least, it’s peony season! And they are gorgeous. I took three years to get blooms on my peonies, but it was worth they wait. They are wonderful.

… and the living is easy…

Peek-a-boo!

My poor Time to Sew blocks have been sadly neglected as I’ve been paying attention to all my other projects. In fact, I’ve left it so long that Mom has actually completed ALL of her blocks. I needed to catch up so I made some time and got down to it.

Four blocks made with just four left to finish. I’ll catch up to her in no time!

Make socks!

With Owen’s Christmas socks off the needles, I immediately cast on for his little brother Ethan…

Now when I say little… I mean it only in the sense of being younger. Ethan, like all the kids in my life, is growing up fast, and his feet are already almost man-sized. For his pair, it’s Sock-Ease again, but this time in the Lemon-drop colourway. I’m doing a simple 2-2 garter rib for the leg and plain stockinette for the foot. As you can see, the first one is done.

Knitting monogamy is still holding and I’m moving on the second… stay tuned for an FO post in the not too distant future.

 

Remember that free charm pack I showed you the other week…? Well with some help from my favourite furry assistant…

it’s now been sewn into a top for a baby blanket…

Meet Sprite’s Garden. A few months ago, Mom showed me an easy way to make stars using charm squares. You simply snowball the corners of four of the 5″ squares with 2.75″ squares, and assemble like a nine patch.  It’s a fun easy technique that gives endless layout options.

I’d picked the solid purple up on clearance, along with this cute chunk of flannel for a back…

As soon as I got the charm pack, I knew it would work well with both. I’m hoping to quilt it this weekend, but we’ll have to see how things go.

As promised, the orange socks flew off the needles… especially for a man-sized pair – just nine days to finish!

And I think they look great. The orange yarn is Lion Brand Sock-Ease. It’s my first time using it, and it feels like its going to be a great, hard-wearing yarn. I used some leftover Alley Cat in Milk Chocolate for cuffs, heels and toes. I originally thought the yarn would stripe, which is why I added the complementing yarn, but its really more of a loose variegation.  Still, I think the contrast looks nice.

With that, there’s another Christmas present off the list. And time to get another one on the needles!

The super secret quilt project was completed so quickly, it barely spent any time in a project box. That meant I could start something new…

I give you Honey Patch.  These little four patch within a four-patch blocks will be part of a lap quilt. The mini four patches are from a charm pack I bought ages ago. The cream and gold fabric is from a kit I bought. I wasn’t a fan of the pattern in the kit, but the fabrics were gorgeous!

Now I just have to decide what I want to use for sashing and corner stones.

Here’s where the rest of my projects are at:

• Time to sew: I finally got some more blocks done – details to come
• Honey Patch: As you see above.
• Sprite’s Garden: A new project you’ll see soon.
• Leader & Ender Rainbow Nine Patches: Down to the last few blocks… this won’t be an L&E project for long.