Have you every joined something, knowing it wasn’t really your thing but you did it anyway. Remember my Blockhead Sew-a-long? Well, they just started another one. A new block comes out once a week for 28 weeks
Life is really keeping me too busy for a sew-a-long, and I’m not really a fan of sampler quilts.
So why am I doing it? Three words. Lord. Burton. Bearbottom
During Blockheads three he became somewhat of a celebrity on the Blockhead Facebook group. I think I had more fun making up silly posts than I did actually making the quilts (and I did mostly enjoy making the quilts).
So, Burton and I are diving in with both feet. I don’t have a lot of large fat quarter bundles in the stash. In fact, the only one I had with any decent amount of fabric (that wasn’t slated for another project) was the Mod Cat bundle. You can see above it’s got a lot of fun colours and prints in it.
We might not do all the blocks, but we have gotten the first one done so far. I’m quite pleased with. And Burton’s happy to be in the spotlight.
I’m making good progress on the baby cardigan. As you can see, the body is done and I’m ready to pick up for the sleeves.
The pattern is Little Pearl, and the yarn is Ice Yarn Glamor Sock. To be honest, I almost ripped it out. It just wasn’t what I had in my head when I first started thinking about what to knit for my coworker.
But I decided to just keep going. I could always knit another one and send her both if I wanted. But now that I see the body complete, I love it. It’s not what I had pictured, but it’s darling none-the-less.
And it’s so easy. The yarn does all the work. I think one ball is going to be enough. I have a second ball to make a hat and booties if I so decide. I do need to get into the studio and get started on her baby quilt though!
This weekend was another busy one. No traveling, just lots to do around the house. Still, I managed to get a couple nights of stitching in and as a result….
I’ve completed a little Queen Bee!!!. There’s still a million and one things to stitch around her, but for now I’m enjoying this small accomplishment.
And it probably doesn’t seem like it to you, but I have not had much time to sew this month. The last time I actually sat at the machine was when I put together ONE block for the motorcycle quilt. That was back at the start of the month.
Oh sure, I got several quilts actually quilted, but that was all done in one weekend.
The problem is, I don’t like sewing at night. My brain turns to mush, and I mess things up if I try sew after dinner. Normally, I could sneak in an hour or two here and there throughout the week while waiting for colleagues to send me stuff at work. But work has been absolutely hopping lately.
That means I only have weekends to sew. But March’s weekends have been jammed packed with other activities too!
Still, last week, I managed to find a couple hours one afternoon to get into the studio. I really wanted to get my March Rainbow Scrap Challenge block done.
March’s colour was yellow/gold.
Despite the fact that I love putting yellow in quilts, I didn’t actually have a lot of yellow scraps. I had to raid Mom’s scrap bin when I was there.
Burton was otherwise engaged when I was finished, so Relic kindly stepped in for the finished beauty shot.
I gave him a few treats for his troubles, and THAT got Burton’s attention.
He was none too pleased that he missed out, so I got out January and February’s blocks too.
That’s one quarter of the year wrapped up already. I’m ready for April… are you?
They’d been covered in chalk paint, and were in rough shape. The weekend I was at Mom’s quilting, Dave worked away sanding them down and repainting them and surprised me with the finished product when I got home. So this weekend, while he is at his grandma’s, I’ve rearranged the bedroom and put them into place.
Naturally Burton was extremely helpful with the whole process…
Previous to this I had a barstool for the lamp on my side, and one of my dressers of Dave’s. This looks much nicer and is much more practical. Now I’m on the hunt for the perfect headboard/bedframe. When we moved to the townhouse, ours got broken. Our box spring and mattress are really tall, so it was never much of an issue to have them just sitting on the floor, but I would like to get a proper bed one of these days.
And you may notice that the stands have different colour handles. This is how they were when I picked them up. We’ve left them as is for now, because at some point, Dave is going to redo my dressers
I have two of them. Mom and Dad bought them from a used place when I was about 14 or 15. As you can see, they could definitely use some work. But other than the cosmetics, they are really sturdy. I’m more than a little attached to them. It will be nice to give them new life.
And speaking of dressers, I have another surprise for Dave when he gets home. You may recall, we have two full bathrooms here. But the upstairs one only has a tub, no shower. It’s perfect for me, but it’s much too small for Dave’s tall frame. So he showers downstairs. But all his clothes are upstairs. So I found this nice little dresser on Facebook Marketplace
It’s just the right size for holding a few t-shirts and pairs of shorts. It can also hold a few towels, because the linen closet it up stairs too. This will certainly make life more convenient for him.
Not much has changed in the garden. Temps took a dive mid-week and now they are forecasting snow for the weekend. I’m staying firmly indoors, but that’s doesn’t mean things aren’t blooming!
Well last summer, around the time we moved, it died back for some reason. I’ve been nursing it back to health ever since. And while it’s not as bushy as it once was, it is flowering again
Another plant I’ve been nursing is my Easter Cactus. It’s like a Christmas Cactus, but wit slightly different leaves and flowers. I’ve had it a few years, but this year, something happened and I almost lost it.
About two months ago, I gave it a slightly sunnier spot, and now it’s blooming – in time for Easter too!
And apparently one of my Christmas cacti wanted to get in on the spring celebration too…
There’s just one flower on the whole plant, but hey – I’ll take it. (And here you can see the differences between the Easter and Christmas Cactus)
Elsewhere
One of my spider plants is making babies! I have always loved the little white flowers that precede the new plants.
I picked up this little cream mini rose at the grocery store one day
I’m debating whether this will end up in the garden or not. I guess it will depend on how well the ones already out there come back.
I don;t think I ever showed you this poinsettia I bought at Christmas time.
It was at the grocery store, and was rather sad looking. It had been marked down so I bought it because a) it was cheap and b) I just loved the splattered effect on the flowers.
It’s still a little sad looking all these months later, but it has new growth. I’m hoping I can get it up to full strength by Christmas!
The discounted orchid I bought last month is doing quite nicely. There are still buds to open so I expect flowers on this for a while to come.
And that yellow one STILL has flowers
A few have dropped off – but there’s still three, which makes me happy to no end!
Also making me happy
Two MORE orchids that followed me home from the grocery store this week. I had a little extra money in my pocket, and I just couldn’t decide which coloured I liked best! They now have a home on my vintage radio and Dave hasn’t noticed them yet (or if he has, he hasn’t said anything).
I don’t mind staying inside so much when I have these petaled friends around.
Those of you how have rescued cats can probably relate to this story.
When we first brought Relic in the house, it was almost as if he was trying to be on his best behaviour. He would never jump on counters or tables, get into my yarn, eat my plants… or really get up to any mischief. He certainly wasn’t like Chief Mischief Maker (aka Burton). It was almost as if he was worried we’d get rid of him if he was bad.
Now we’ve had him for a few years now, and more and more, I think we are starting he true personality coming out. He’s still mostly a very good boy, but he’s started getting…. braver. Or at least a little more comfortable with doing whatever he wants.
The other morning, I woke up to find him in my laundry basket. Now this isn’t bad (at least in my view), but it’s something he never would have done before.
I love seeing him make himself more and more at home
I don’t know about you, but for me, March has been a pretty insanely busy month. Not just with work, but a billion things around it. It’s no secret that my crafting keeps me sane, but this month it seems harder and harder to find as much time to devote to it as in the past. I hope it’s just temporary.
The craft that’s taken the biggest hit this month is my knitting. I finished off Hemlock, put a few rows on Dave’s Mom’s Christmas socks but other than that, I’ve not knit a stitch.
That is until the other night. I had some time and decided to get moving on a project that has a deadline.
Earlier this year, I found out that a coworker is expecting her first child in May. Naturally, I’ll be making her a quilt, but she’s a coworker who really appreciates the skill that goes into crafting, so I wanted to knit her something too.
Annoyingly, she’s not finding out the gender. She wants to be surprised, and I respect that… but darn it! I want to know!!!! So… keeping gender-neutral in mind, I decided a simple top-down baby cardigan would be best. (I’m using this pattern)
Because baby will be born in May, there wasn’t much point to making warm woolies in newborn/3 month size. So I skipped up to 6 months, which puts us right in the middle of fall, and pulled out this lovely autumnal-looking yarn. I figure it will work well for boy or girl.
I’m just about ready to split for the body and sleeves, and I quite like how it’s working up so far. I should have enough yarn for a hat and booties too, if I have the time.
Last in the FO quilt parade is my Stay-At-Home-Round-Robin creation.
And it’s quite the unique creation, if I do say so myself. It started with the panel, and was built out round by round. It took a lot of quilt math.
And several different cat-themed fabrics. It finished up at about 64″ x 72″ and it’s all wrapped up with some paw prints, and a lovely cat print backing
This one won’t be going in the shop, I’m afraid. But it has been donated to Bee Meadow Farms for a fundraiser, so you will have a chance to try to win it if you are so inclined. I’ll share the details on how, as soon as the fundraiser starts!
I’m afraid I don’t have much to show for TNT this week. Most of my weekend got eaten up. Friday was very busy work-wise and it spilled into the evening. On Saturday, Dave and I got up and headed to Mom and Dad’s for Christmas in March with the family. As you know, we weren’t able to get together with my brother et al at Christmas, and Saturday was finally a day when every one was free.
It was a great day, but it’s a long drive there and back, and with all the excitement of presents etc, Dave and I were zonked when we finally got home that night. Sunday was slower, but I was focused on binding a quilt (more on that tomorrow). I didn’t actually pick up my cross stitching until about 9 that night. And as a result…
This is all I have to share. Right now it kind of looks like a heart wearing a crown… but obviously, there’s more to come. A lot more.
The pattern is Tudor Bee by The Blue Flower. The part I have stitched is the little bee’s shoulders, and part of her head. Eventually, it will look something like this:
But I’ve got a lot more little x’s to make before I get there!
Wandering Cat Studio 