With all the humidity, it took a little while for Wren’s Christmas cardigan to dry after blocking…

But finally it did and I was able to get the buttons on and call it complete! And isn’t it just the sweetest little thing?

I just love knits with that old-timey look. The purple yarn gives it a touch of modernity, but it still has that classic feel.

The buttons were from my stash – nothing fancy, but I have a lot of them. Wren has a habit of losing buttons, so if she does, it’s easy for me to sew on a couple more.

And with this, I have just four Christmas presents left to complete! The rest are socks, so  I probably won’t have them done by the end of summer, but it won’t be long after!

Since we had so much Chinese food left on Sunday, and I didn’t have to worry about making lunch or dinner, I threw caution (and the housework) to the wind and dove into completing the Time to Sew top.

I started at about 11 a.m., and with a brief lunch break around 1 p.m…

I was pressing back the last border before 5 p.m. And doesn’t it look fabulous? It’s so big, I had to take it outside for a decent picture. You couldn’t see the whole thing on my bed.

For cornerstones, I used this tealy-blue fabric that was leftover from the Petal Noir layer cake.

Outside borders were a clearance bin find that had been kicking around my stash waiting for the right projects.

I’ve got a beautiful purple floral for the back, and I’m still deciding on binding. I was hoping to quilt it this weekend, but it looks like Dave has made some plans for us (he’s doing sound at a concert for his school and is dragging me along to help), so this one may have to wait.

Still, it feels good to have the top done!

It’s Monday, and you’re probably back to work… but how about taking a break and having a little walk through my garden?

With the heat and humidity, the roses have been taking a bit of a break, but both Chicago Peace and Blue Girl have managed to push out a couple small blooms. I’m worried I’m going to lose Blue Girl, she’s not looking so good this year.

The Delphiniums have also settled down, except for this delicate little variant I have out front. It’s not as big and robust as the ones I have out back, but it’s sweet.

You’ll recall that the Hollyhocks have started blooming – I’ve already showed you this lovely white one. But the seeds were  mixed pack…

… and this year, these two pretty double-bloom versions have started showing off too.

The coneflowers have started to bloom… which means I’ll hopefully be able to capture some pictures of all the butterflies flitting through my yard.

My Black-Eyed Susans have started to bloom too – and as pretty as they are, it makes me a little bit sad… it means we’re on the downside of summer.

Another sign… my Toad Lilies have started to bloom. They’ve also spread like crazy, so I’m hoping for good show this year. They are small, but spectacular!

And before I leave you for the day, here’s a quick check in on my  sunflowers. They got planted late, so they are not quite as far along as they could be (the tallest is about 2 feet tall), but the squirrels have left them mostly untouched. Maybe in a few weeks, we’ll have some budding up.

What’s bloomin’ in your corner?

As I mentioned previously, this weekend saw Dave celebrate another birthday. We had plans to hang out with the lovely Samantha and her family yesterday afternoon and then head out for a nice romantic dinner. Unfortunately, Samantha got stuck at work… though in a way it was a bit of a blessing, because I woke up with a migraine and fought it all day.

And like most of North America, the weather is absolutely sweltering. So we decided to spend the day in the house, lazin’ about in the air conditioning.

When it came time for dinner…

…we had some Chinese delivered! Luckily, I had the foresight to pick up the cake the day before so I didn’t have to go out for that either. No pictures of the birthday boy, because he’s shy. But I promise, he’s just gets more and more handsome with every passing year!

And happily, because plans got changed, I was able to finish up Wren’s Christmas cardigan. But I’ll save that for a post mid-week!

I’ve mentioned before that I take most of the indoor plants outside for the summer. And they are lovin’ it this summer.

My Burgundy shamrock is looking so cute in its little watering can planter. Especially with that single pink bloom.

The green shamrocks are just as happy, thought their pot is plain.

I think my Christmas cactus is confused by all the gifts I’ve been completing, because they are definitely blooming at the wrong time. The white one you see above is in full bloom.

The pink Cactus is getting new sections, too, so it must be happy.

I’ve got several spiders plants, and a little bonsai outside that are all loving the fresh air, but the thing I’m most excited about is this…

I bought a small passionflower sprout off a lady on Facebook four years ago. And while it’s continued to grow, I’ve never been able to get blooms. Last year, I had a couple buds, but they dropped off before blooming.

This winter, while it was inside, I started to give it a little Miracle Gro. The plant REALLY beefed up. I moved it outside in spring, but other than the new  leaves, not much seemed different. Until about a month ago when it started putting up flower buds. And there are lots of them!

The flowers only last one day, but they are so pretty.  It’s definitely been worth the wait!

If this isn’t the epitome of happy cat, I don’t know what is…

I’m hoping to get the Time to Sew top together this week, so I wanted to get my only other completed top quilted and out of the way.

An afternoon at Mom’s took care of that nicely, and I can now show you a final Rooster Eggs quilt!

It’s a nice sized lap quilt that I made simply because I wanted to use up a charm pack and practice some more nine patch stars.

Dave and I made a trip to Lens and I found the most perfect backing in the clearance bin…

Seriously… what are the chances? I love that clearance bin! I have enough of it, and the fried egg fabric (a previous clerance find) to make a couple matching throw pillows.

On Monday I briefly mentioned a project called Happy Camper. You may recall that my dear friend Samantha has commissioned me to make another quilt for her trailer. Together, we picked out these fabrics.

But Sam gave me free reign on choosing a pattern. I had a couple in mind, but in the end, I decided to go with Dapper Squares. The collection of fabric has a couple of prints that are quite large, and this pattern has some nice big squares so you can see more of those big, beautiful prints.

It took a bit to get everything cut up and organized, but after I did, I couldn’t resist putting together just a few blocks.

I had to fussy cut that trailer fabric. But it’s worth it! It’s going to look so cool all laid out!

The body is complete on Wren’s Christmas cardigan – all that’s left is the sleeves.

It took me longer than I expected to get this far. But I have to keep reminding myself that’s she’s much bigger than she used to be! That little bird is growing up fast!

I’m hoping to have the sleeves done by the end of the week, but that might be pushing it. Dave’s birthday is coming up soon and we’ve got a few outings planned.

While I have completed a couple quilts, it doesn’t feel like I’ve done much sewing for the past few weeks. I didn’t get into the studio at all over vacation, and the first week was busy, as it usually is after a week away.

Still, I managed to carve out an afternoon to finish the last few blocks for Time to Sew.

The finished top will have sashing and cornerstones between the blocks, but this was the only way I could get all the blocks to fit on the design bed. Mom’s already got her top together, so I’ve got to get cutting so  I can catch up.

As I was finishing those up, I also finished the last of the Leader & Ender Nine Patches.

They will also have sashing, but I wanted to see them all together. I just love a good rainbow! Now that the blocks are completed, it moves from L&E rotation to regular rotation. It also needs a name… any suggestions?

It also means that I have to find a new L&E project. I still have a lot of 2.5 inch squares left, so I’m going to do another style of nine patch (and not colour coordinated), but I need to cut some white 2.5 inch squares before I start on it.

In fact… all my QotGs are at a cutting stage:

• Time to Sew – Need to cut sashing and cornerstones
• Happy Camper – You haven’t seen this one yet, because I’m still cutting pieces for it. But I will unveil it soon.
• Honey Patch – This too needs sashing and cornerstones cut.
• Scrappy rainbow nine patch – MORE sashing to be cut.
• Leader and Ender quilt – I’ve got about eleventy billion 2.5 inch squares to cut. Luckily, I don’t have to do them all at once.