The finished quilt parade continues, but we have left the ocean and traveled to the farm yard!
The pattern is Flapjacks. It’s free, and it’s another one of those “looks complicated, but totally isn’t” type patterns. I had this one together in an afternoon. It’s just a crib size, but it can easily be made bigger (the pattern has four sizes, so you dont even need to do the math.)
I used these fun, farm-yard prints. Can I just say how much I love those carrots???? I really which I had more of that.
I do have a few fat quarters left…
As well as enough of this cow print for another back. So there will be another farm quilt in the future. Not any time soon, but eventually.
In the meantime, you can stop by the shop if you’re interested in this one. It‘s just waiting for a new home.
Friday night after dinner, Dave asked me if I was able to take him on a Kijiji run. He’d found a deal on a pressure washer (the siding on our house is REALLY in need of a good cleaning) that was only half an hour away.
So we hopped in Dory, hit the bank machine and headed out to the middle of nowhere. As many of you know, you can meet quite a few “characters” through Kijiji. And this particular seller was definitely a “character”.
He’s one of those guys who just collects random things… and EVERYTHING he has is for sale. And he tried to sell it ALL to us.
We ended up there for an hour and a half going through the garage, a couple sheds, a truck trailer and a barn, and by the time we left, the back of my truck was full. We did get the pressure washer, but we also came home with…
A milk can, an old small spoked wheel and an A-frame trellis. These, of course, will all be cleaned up and put in the garden somewhere. He threw in a big roll of landscaping fabric too, which will come in VERY handy. It’s probably enough to cover the catio space, if not more!
Buried deep in his barn, I found this sturdy little wood shelf, which will be perfect for plants when it’s cleaned up. Dave also got a metal cabinet for the garage from the same barn.
But the real prize….
…was this gorgeous ceramic birdbath. I’ve been searching for a decent birdbath for a couple years now. But they are either cheap plastic or glass, and flimsy, or they cost a fortune. This one is sturdy, almost as heavy as my Dad’s concrete bird bath. And all those little “pockets” in the base are there for MORE plants!!!! I can’t wait to find the perfect spot for it!
There was one disappointment though. I made quick friends with this sweet barn girl….
She rode on my shoulder almost the whole time were were there. Kijiji guy said he would totally throw her in with the deal (he had 11 barn cats – all fixed and well cared for). Unfortunately, Dave put the kibosh on it.
Part of me thinks I should have left him there and brought the cat home instead…
I don’t know how it is where you live, but here the weather is a total roller coaster. One day warm, two days cold, snow in the morning, raining by the afternoon. Not unusual for March of course, but I’d love a little more stability.
On the nice days, the cats and I are outside as much as possible.
The cats are mostly just soaking up the sun. I do that too, but I’m also poking around the garden, and looking for signs of life.
More and more bulbs are peaking out in the bulb box, but they are still very small. To be honest, I think I placed the box a little too close to the fence. When I put it down the fall, it got a lot more sun than it does now.
Of course, the ground is still mostly frozen… all the up and down means it hasn’t had a chance to do a really good thaw yet.
Elsewhere, there are small signs of things to come.
Left to right: Sedum, Black-Eyed Susan, and Chysanthemums.
One thing that’s really going gangbusters are these.
Remeber back in the summer I mentioned that the catio ground was full of bulbs….? I was digging them up every time I dug a hole. Well pretty much the ENTIRE catio lawn space is covered in them. I’m pretty sure they are grape hyacinths. I vaguely recall seeing some in bloom when we first looked at the house last year.
Whatever there are – there are literally thousands of them. And they are all going to have to come out, because I’m landscaping that entire space. There’s a lot of digging in my future.
As you know, one of my favourite things about this place was having the ability to create a catio for the kids. It’s still a work in progress, but the cats don’t mind, they are just happy to be able to go in an out as they please.
Especially this one who is always in search of a nice patch of grass to munch. This time of year, all there is are a few tufts of the hardier grasses. The rest of the catio is an unfortunate mudhole (which you can kinda of see above).
And all that in and out has one MAJOR downside
Proper landscaping will help mitigate this, which is one reason why it’s a top priority this year!
I know you’ve all been waiting to see this finished. Adding those words did not take very long.
I just love these “subversive” cross stitch patterns that marry a pretty, traditional pattern with a snarky, sarcastic phrase. And I just love how it looks against the “antique” wallpaper on my studio wall.
But of course, this one is for my sister-in-law Jenn, so it won’t be staying on my wall.
Paisley helped me pick the pattern out. Jenn works at a pharmacy, and had a very sarcastic sense of humour, so we figured she’d appreciate this one.
I got the pattern on Etsy, and there are tonnes of them out there. And very reasonably priced. This one came with two different size charts, which made it nice and easy to read while stitching.
This past weekend I was headed to Mom’s for some quality time with the long arm. But before I got there, I made a short detour to my old stomping grounds and had a little visit with Neighbour Krista and Miss Wren.
Miss Wren turn five at the end of the month, so I wanted to make sure she got her present in plenty of time.
We had a wonderful visit, and I also got to give ol’ Bowie a snuggle.
Though he was more interested snuggling himself. Still – I think he’s the prettiest snake ever.
And I got to visit with Krista’s newest family members.
She created the most beautiful terrarium for three of these little guys (poison dart frogs). Sadly, I neglected to take any pictures of their home, but I got some great shots of this little guy when she brougt him out for inspection.
Sadly, I couldn’t stay long. I was getting late, and I still had a 30 minute drive to Mom’s. But the next day Krista sent me this.
As you can see, I did get the strawberry dress to go with her bolero, and both are a perfect fit!
There hasn’t been a lot of action at my office window feeder. They pop around in the Maple, but none are really brave enough to come get food lately.
However, the other day, I noticed something fly down and land on the branches just out of my sitting view (blocked by the awning over the window).
I grabbed my camera, and placed it against the bottom of the window, and angled it until I could get the visitor in view.
they aren’t great pics because they are zoomed in. But its good enough that you can see it’s a hawk! I’m 95% sure that it’s a Sharp-shinned Hawk (5% chance that it’s a Cooper’s Hawk, but I don’t think so based on the shape of the head and tail)
He sat there for about five minutes and calmly flew off – probably in search of a snack. This place is Raptor heaven. On the 25 minute drive to Strathroy, it’s not unusual to see more than a dozen Raptors on telephone poles, signs, fence posts, whatever. Most are small hawks, like Sharpies and Coopers, or Red Tails, but we have see a couple juvenile Bald Eagles, and one Osprey. I also had barn owl swoop right down in front of the truck coming home from groceries one night.
It really makes me want to get my digital SLR fixed and get a telephoto lens!
A short while ago, Samantha commissioned me for another quilt. She wanted a motorcyle quilt for her husband, Michael. But NOT a Harley motorcycle quilt… and not sport bikes, but Yamaha blue if I could manage it.
It took some doing, but I found some fabric with generic, classic-style motorcycles. Samantha approved.
I love commissions from her because she’s generally easy to please. I suggested a dissapearing nine-patch for the pattern, showed her some examples and she said go for it.
The other day, I finally got around to cutting up all the fabrics, and decided I had time to put just one block together. Of course, it’s starts with a plain-ole nine patch”
The D9P can look very different, depending on how you place your fabric. My favourite way to do it is as you see here. A big print in the corners, a neutral or solid (where I have the white), and a simple, or small print for the centre.
Once the nine-patch is together, it’s time to cut.
Just a simple slice, up the middle, both ways. Then you turn two of the blocks around:
And sew it all back together
Easy peasy. Of course, there are more blocks to come, but I’ll chain piece them one day when I have a chunk of time to sew.
Wandering Cat Studio 