Amidst all the craziness in my life right now, I’m trying to take one day a week to get up to Mom’s and do some quilting. Not only do I get to spend time with her …

(she pieces while I use the longarm on the other side of the room -and Chevy keeps an eye on us both)… I also get away from the stress of the move.

This weekend, I picked the largest quilt to finish – Around the World in 256 Days.

That night, Rupert helped me with the binding, and by morning….

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It finished up at 72″ square, so it’s perfect for a small bed, or a couch snuggle. Since I made it as a Leader/Ender quilt, it almost feels like it came together from thin air.

The pattern is called Around the World, and it’s a great pattern for scraps.

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You can use a pile of disparate fabrics, and it’s not until you step back that you see the pattern emerge between the colours and the neutrals

I had this beautiful dark olive green floral for the back, and I’m happy to say I’ve got quite a bit left. It will defitely feature in another quilt.

But for now… this one is in the shop and ready for a new home!

With the closing date on the looming, I feel like I’ve barely had to time stop to breathe. There have been emails to answers, calls to make, and never-ending papers to sign. When I cast on for the caiman socks, I didn’t think I’d get very far on them.

But then I had an hour or so waiting for a new exhaust to be put on old Dory

Thankfully it was a lovely day, because with everything still in lock down, I couldn’t wait in their waiting area (it was already full). I found a nice patch of grass under their sign and stitched away.

Then I had an hour wait at the hospital to see a specialist.

(Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious, just an ongoing issue that is being managed). Because of the lockdown, you text/call when you get there to let them know you’ve arrived. Then they text/call you to let you know when the doctor is actually ready to see you, so they don’t have a pile of people in the waiting room, all breathing the same air.

Then a few nights of stitching here and there and….

A finished first sock! And I absolutely love how it worked up. I used my favourite formula for man socks – One-one rib for the cuff for 10 rows, three-one rib for the leg, and plain stockinette for the foot.

The other one is already underway. I hope I don’t need anymore work on my car, or visits to the doctor, but with a little luck, I can finish this pair in no time!

I’m not normally a big fan of red, white, and blue colour themes, except when it comes to nautical prints.

Especially when they are as cute as this one… pirate whales???? Who could resist? I certainly couldn’t so I bought a fat eighth bundle late last year. I’ve been dying to make something with it since then!

Unsurprisingly, work and house stuff has kept me pretty busy, but the other day, I found an hour or so to throw together a couple blocks while I was waiting for a colleague to send me what I needed to finish my work.

Sea and stars – what could be better?

Sea, and stars and Burton, of course!

One of the great things about our upcoming move is the timing. We get the keys June 1 (Just eight more days!), but we keep our townhouse until July 31. (By law we have to give 60 days notice to vacate – and it’s 60 days to the term – i.e. end of month).

That means we can take our time. As soon as we knew we had the house, we started packing up stuff we wouldn’t need for a while.

In addition to packing, I’ve also been trying to organize things better BEFORE packing them, so that when we unpack, it will be easier to set things up nice and tidy right from the start.

A while back, I bought Dave a label maker. I decided to snitch it for a bit and can I just say… it’s a life changer!!!

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All my fabric drawers got reorganized, tidied and labelled!

I got some nice big totes for my chunks of yardage and backing fabric.

I wish I had bought just one more, so I’ll watch for them to come on sale again.

I also got some smaller containers to for my scraps. I used to have these in varying sizes of cardboard boxes.

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This is so much better!

And before I go – we did our final walk-through on the house. We found a few more things to add to our to-do list, but it’s an old house so that’s not surprising. I did want to share some better pics of some of that carpeting.

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Two of the bedrooms have this type of carpet. It’s a shame it’s so ugly, because it’s actually in really good condition.

There’s some very frufru wallpaper throughout.

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And talk about frufru…

My bathroom mirror has curtains!

At the start of the week, the lilac bush looked like this.

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A few days of warm sunny weather later…

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Oh how I wish you could smell through the computer. My backyard smells absolutely amazing now!

Most of the spring bulbs have faded, with the exception of these dark purple parrot tulips

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I have them throughout the gardens and they are just so pretty.

The irises are are also blooming

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Those pretty dark purple irises are mixed in with my Lily-of-the-Valley

And they are just amazing this year – look at all those little white dots

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This side of the yard smells almost as amazing as the backyard.

The Columbine doesn’t have a smell, but it’s just as pretty.

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I want to collect ALL the colours! (It comes in A LOT of colours!)

My Globe Alium is blooming, in all it’s purple glory

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And last…

I showed you my pink bleeding heart, which I’m going to give to my neighbour before we leave. But I also have this little white one. It’s not in the best spot right now, so it only puts out a few little hearts each year. I’m looking forward to giving it a better home and seeing it really flourish next year!

I’m just going to leave this right here….

Before we get the keys for the new place, I’m trying to get all the “bigger” quilts I have on the go into completed tops. Then I can temporarily store them at Mom’s while we move things from house to house and I don’t have to worry about what box they are in.

I only have two left – the scrappy pinwheel quilt, and the floral one I’m making from the leftovers of Welcome Home Jane.

I decided to tackle the floral one first.

If you recall, it’s a mix of a centre flower medallion, nine patches and some friendship stars. While it sounds complicated, I really just needed to lay it all out together and make sure everything was going in the right direction. As you can see, I had someone to double check my work.

It took a whole afternoon, but I think it was worth it.

It finished up at about 60″ square. Not bad for some leftovers with a few other fabrics thrown in. I do, however, have a few small regrets.

I wish the pink I used on the friendship stars was just a touch bolder.

Just so they stood out a little bit more. Sadly, it was the best pink I had in my stash. All the others I had were too bold (think hot pink) and just wouldn’t have worked.

Second, I wish I had more of this gorgeous border fabric.

I would have loved to make the border wider. But I only had a half yard, so a two-inch border was the best I could do.

Still. I’m pleased enough with the overall results.

As is our favourite little noble beastie.

I have enough of the gold from the centre of the flower and the stars to use for binding as well. And this pretty hibiscus print couldn’t be more perfect for the backing. Not bad for a quilt 100% from stash!

With Silla off the needles, and the move moving ever-closer, I figured it’s a good idea to be a monogamous knitter for a while. And with small simple projects. Can you guess where this is going?

Yep… socks. Good old socks!

This is a skein of Jungle Cat (Bamboo/Merino) that I dyed up over winter. I’ve been dying to see it knit up. I’ve called it Caimen, because it makes me think of those sleek little crocdilians gliding through dark swampy water.

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You may not know, but Caiman are my second-favourite reptiles. (Bearded Dragons are my first favourite).

This pair will be for Dave’s birthday in July. I suspect for the new few years, all our presents for holidays will be house-related and needed (nothing says Merry Christmas like new floors!). But at least he can always count on me for a new pair of socks!

You know we’ve long been a supporter of Natalie at Bee Meadow Farm, and all the work she does with her rescue animals.

If you follow her on Facebook, it will come as no surprise that she’s been racking up some hefty vet bills.

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She’s recently taken in a mama with a pile of nursing kittens, a little sweet calico with a hernia, and a handsome ginger named Jim, who’s having some serious skin issues.

She put the call out for donations for gift basket items, etc to help raise some funds to get these fantastic furballs back to health and into their forever homes.

With the move looming, I don’t have time to make anything, so instead, I pulled Queen of the Crossroads from the shop, and offered it up for a fundraising raffle.

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Here’s the deal (copied from the Bee Meadow Facebook post)

Draw to be held on Monday, May 24, Victoria Day!

OPEN TO CANADIANS AND AMERICANS! I will ship free to anyone in Canada or the U.S.!

All proceeds to the foster felines’ vet bills!

“Queen of the Crossroads” is a stunning double/small queen-sized quilt. A true scrap quilt, these busy blocks have been made from small squares leftover from other quilting projects. There are dozens of prints and colours to keep the eye entertained. The whole thing is wrapped up with a pretty plaid border. The backing fabric is a cheerful, textured royal purple. VALUE: $525

Size: 90″ x90″PLEASE NOTE: This quilt is not “true “queen-sized” bed quilt as it is a little shorter than the standard queen-sized comforter. However it can be used as a decorative throw or extra layer.

Materials:The top of the quilt is made with 100% cotton.The backing is 100% cotton. The batting is an 80/20 cotton/polyester blend.

Care:Machine wash and dry.

Tickets are 1 for $2, or 3 for $5, or 8 for $10 or 20 for $20, and anything over $20 is $1 per ticket. When you pay for your tickets, Natalie will send you your ticket numbers (tickets are virtual – Natalie will record your numbers with your name on an Excel spreadsheet.) On the day of the raffle, the winning ticket number will be chosen by a random number generator, and the winner will be notified by email or PM the day of the draw.

E-transfers can be sent to: info@beemeadowfarm.com Please make sure you include your email address in a message with the EFT – sometimes the e-transfers come from a bank email address that Natalie can’t reply to.

If you have any questions about the raffle, drop Natalie a line through her Facebook page, or email her at info@beemeadowfarm.com

Natalie, the rescue kitties, Burton and I thank you for your support!

Almost… because it still needs blocking, and as you can see – the ends woven in, and buttons sewn on. But the knitting is done.

Sadly… it doesn’t fit. Sometimes I forget just how busty I am. I’m also used to wearing my cropped cardigans with a little negative ease. Sadly, negative ease doesn’t work with this style – I should have gone up a size.

Still – it was an enjoyable knit. And this one won’t go to waste. There’s someone on my gift list who it should fit just perfect.

I’ll just have to make myself another one once we are in the new house and things settle down a bit.