Another Saturday is here and this time it’s Rupert’s turn to take you around the garden

Despite what this picture shows, Rupert is probably the most active when outside. He’s always on the hunt for birds, or squirrels, or bugs.

I recently put some seed in a feeder under the lilac and the birds have been enjoying it regularly. The other evening, one cheeky sparrow must not have noticed the cats in the yard. But Rupert certainly saw the sparrow. By the time he got to the feeder, sparrow was long gone. Rupert spent a good 10 minutes under the feeder, crying and wondering where his snack went.

And despite his activity, he still likes to take time to stop and smell the roses…

As expected, White Lightning is the first to bloom. The roses are pretty behind compared to last spring. The others have buds, but they won’t bloom for another week or so.

Both of my poppies have bloomed with HUGE paper-like flowers. They are just gorgeous.

All of the other irises are finished for the year, but this little blue Dutch Iris made a late appearance. I bought a bag of these from the dollar store a couple of years ago, and this is the only one that’s ever come up.

It’s Dianthan season again! They are just getting started, but soon these little plants will be covered in bright blooms!

And my favourite part of June has begun! It’s strawberry season!!! These berries aren’t ginormous, but they are much bigger than the ones I’ve grown before. I will definitely sitck with the hanging pots from now on.

“You are mistaken madam… this is my seat, not yours….”

With the ankle socks off the needles, I needed another pair on….

And as you can see – they won’t be on for much longer either!  They are man-sized, but just plain vanilla. I needed something I could knit easily at the trailer. As a result, I flew through the first one and I’m well on my way to finishing the second one.

I’m liking this monogamy thing… should we take bets on how long it will last?

The FO train keeps a-rollin’….

While I quilted Mystic Maze a week or so ago, I wasn’t able to finish up the binding until this week. But now it’s all sewn down and it completes another wonderful quilt.

It’s a very simple pattern that looks complex thanks to a mix of vibrant, jewel-tone batiks, whimsical cat fabrics and sturdy, solid black. The finished quilt is a good size too – almost 70″ square.

The purple border and backing fabric aren’t batik, but a 108″ wide backing fabric that looks surprisingly close to some of the batiks in the quilt. It was a no-brainer to use it.  I did my usual loops for quilting, but this one has something a little extra… though it’s hard to see. The thread is a variegated blue-purple. Sadly, the camera doesn’t show it well – but it looks pretty cool in real life.

And with that, the year is almost half over and I’ve already completed 12 quilts! Amazing!

It’s amazing… the power of knitting monogamy!

Normally, it takes me a minimum of two weeks to complete a pair of socks. But, I had this cute little pair off the needles in just six days!

The pattern is my Undine, and I used a leftover ball of Kroy Socks (Bramble stripe), and a cheery bit of leftover Barn Cat for heels and toes (Sunshine).  I think the yellow adds just the perfect bit of perkiness to this pair – perfect for Miss Lily.

With them off the needles, I’m well into a man-sized pair which will be gifted to Owen (Lily’s oldest brother). I’m going to see how long I can  keep this monogamy thing going… I really like finishing projects!

I mentioned on Saturday that this weekend was a little bit of a girls getaway. I was about an hour from home with these lovely silly ladies…

We spent the day and night at Sam’s trailer in a lovely little park called Willow Lake.

There was a fire

With marshmallows of course!

There was a beautiful sunset of the lake

And just wonderful time spent with great friends!

I know I said I’m trying to curb my spending… and for the most part, I’m doing ok. But Samantha has commissioned me to make another quilt for the trailer, so I had to order some fabric special from Missouri Star Quilts (and technically, it doesn’t count because she’s paying for it.)

Aren’t they cute? Sam gave me free reign on which pattern to do, and I think I’ve got an awesome one picked out. Details will follow.

Now I should have left it there, but I really like to get the most out of their flat rate shipping, and the Daily Deal that day was hard to beat….

A killer price on 20 mystery fat quarters from Free Spirit – a company who offers designs from Kaffe Fassett, Tula Pink, and Amy Butler to name a few.

I love a good mystery, and I was not disappointed!

Look at that chipmunk and that fox…. so cute!

And check out this crazy frog!

No plans for these yet, but I’m sure they will find the right project eventually.

And last… by spending a certain amount, I also go a free mystery charm pack!

And once again, it was a great surprise – a cute little pack of ditsy florals. I recently picked up a nice piece of  flannel with similar colours, so I think this charm pack will become a baby blanket with the flannel as the back!

I guess I better get sewing!

I’m off  to a girls’ weekend today, so I leave you in the paws of Burton for this week’s garden tour.

Of course, if the sun is out Burton’s usually taking cover – all that black fur isn’t great for warm temps.

My little Lilac is in full bloom. The bush is only four years old now, so  it’s still pretty slim, but the blooms this year are amazing.

My irises are  really showing off…

I think it’s all the rain – the irises love to be wet.

The Columbine are all starting to bloom and I added two new colours this year (the pink and the burgundy).

Like the irises, the Chives only bloom for a limited time, but they are spectacular this year.  They are almost always covered in bees.

Soon enough, we’ll be on to Lilies and Roses. I can’t wait!

 

Not at all sure what’s going on here…

With Paisley’s quilt top done, I was full of energy and decided to bang out another top.

Of course, Bear Mountain is a baby quilt, so it came together pretty quickly. I had the paws already done, it just needed sashing and borders.

And since you can’t be a Bear Mountain without some bears…

I fussy cut a few of these little bears for the corner stones between the paws.

For borders: The blue grid was a fat quarter I had in my stash, and the green was leftover from Aliza in Wonderland.

But it’s the grey I’m really excited about… it was a remnant at Lens, and when I first bought it, I thought maybe it was duck prints, or little tulip flowers. But turned upside down… it kind of looks like little snow-capped mountain tops!

For the back, I’ve got a snuggly chunk of  blue-grey flannel, and lots of the green left for binding. Look for an FO post on this one soon!