With the geese blocks nearing completion, I needed to clear out a project box so I didn’t go over my self-imposed quilts-in-progress limit.

Looking at my list, Spring Blossoms was the one closest to becoming a top, so I decided to focus on it.

One full afternoon saw the last six flower block complete

Another afternoon a few days later saw them sashed and bordered into a completed top.

It’s not even done, and I’m just loving this quilt! And since you can’t see them well in the above picture, here’s another look at those cute little centre birds!

Love them!

I’m hoping to find time to quilt it this weekend. I’ve got the most gorgeous backing fabric for it that works so well with my “early spring” theme

And there’s enough of the pussywillow fabric for binding! Perfection!

He’s so FLUFFY!!!!!!

 

It was a holiday Monday, so I took the opportunity to sneak up to Mom’s and quilt Moon Dance and get it off the to do list!

And I am VERY happy with this one. It’s a nice size – about 64 x 78″; so great for a snuggle on the couch, but also big enough to throw on the bed for an extra bit of warmth on those cold snowy nights. Jenn and my brother live three hours north of us, so they get a lot more of those than we do. (In fact, all the snow you see there has melted … again!)

The pattern is  Quatrefoil and it’s one of my  favourite kinds… simple but looks complicated! My only tip for making this one is to make all your little four patches first. It makes assembling the blocks much more efficient. It’s definitely a pattern I will make again.

Sadly, the darker fabrics in this are not photographing well. Though you can’t see it in the above picutres, there’s a fair amount of purple in the quilt, which is why I used the fabric I did for the sashing.

I had to really mess with the exposure to give you even a hint in the top left and bottom right blocks. This is definitely one that looks much nicer in person.

I had just enough of this fabulous duck egg blue fabric for the backing. I was really keen on being able to use it because it coordinated with one ofthe fabrics I used in the four patches. The other four patch fabric (which was left over from the back of Honey Patch) was used for the binding as well, wrapping everything up with a nice, neat bow!

Now this one is tucked away from furry fiends until March when it will be gifted to the birthday girl!

First – thank you for the compliments on the poncho… I think what’s actually bugging me is the jeans… they are supposed to be “jeggings” which means ultra tight, but as you can see… they aren’t – they are wrinkly and sloppy!. Perhaps if I find the perfect pants, I’ll love it more… the quest begins!

Now, onto business…

This past weekend, Miss Pee and her boyfriend (yes… she’s old enough to have a boyfriend… I can’t really believe it either), were down this way for a concert. Since it was late when the concert ended, they spent the night at Mom’s. On the way home the next day, Mom swung by here and picked me up so she’d have some company on the long drive home from Owen Sound.

Since Mom was at the wheel, I was free to knit. I took advantage of the time to make some good headway on the Laguna socks.

It’s about three hours one way, so I got a lot done.  I finished the first sock on the way up. By the time we were headed back, I got a good start on the second, though I couldn’t knit the whole way home because I ran out of light.

Michael’s Birthday is at the end of March, so I’ve got lots of time to finish them up. But I forgot, Wren’s got a birthday coming up in March too, and I haven’t started anything for her yet.

I’m going to knit on these monogamously until they are done. Then I’ll figure out something for Wren!

The never-ending poncho has FINALLY come to an end.

And I’m not 100% in love with it. I have a tendency to fall in love with styles that look really good on tall, willowy women.

I’m not short by any means, but my curves are more than ample… I’m more gnarly stump and lithe willow. My Mom said it looks great… but Mom’s are like that.

It’s 100% cotton, so it is quite nice to wear, and has a decent drape. I’m going to wear it a few times and see if I fall more in love with it. I put a lot of time into it, so I’ve got to give it a bit of a chance.  If my feelings don’t change, I think Samantha may be getting a new poncho for trailer nights around the camp fire.

Still.. even if I don’t keep it, two good things came out of it:

1) I used up almost all of that yarn and got it out of the stash, which feels good, and

2) I bought those boots this fall specifically to wear with the poncho….

And boy do I love those boots! I’ve worn them almost every day since I bought them. I’m trying to stop myself from buy a second pair in black

There’s always a silver lining! Plus… I never have to work on that darn poncho ever again! On to better things….

Fun with the Moda blockheads continues. Week 4 was an applique block… a cute little bird house with bird.

I don’t mind doing applique, but since my vintage machine only does straight stitch, it  means I have to haul out my other machine (not terrible, but I’m lazy), or I have to do it at Mom’s.

But since not everyone enjoys applique, the designers also offered up three alternate blocks. I chose this cute little pair of tweeters:

Since my colour scheme was perfect for it, I turned mine into a mated pair of robins. Maybe it might even conjure up a little spring for us…

Here’s all six blocks I have done so far. The little house was another alternate to the applique block. And the heart was one I substituted for Week 5’s block, which was the word “Love” paper-pieced. I’m not in the mood for learning paper piecing at the moment, and I think the heart is a nice stand in.

This  is shaping up to be quite the interesting project.

When I showed you the pretty vintage radio Dave refurbished for me, I mentioned that I had purchased a little vintage RCA Nipper dog to sit atop it.

And then I waited…. and waited…. and waited….

He started his journey in Florida, and in a logical world, he would have come up the East Coast and been home in a week or so. Instead….

… he took a detour to Houston.  And instead of turning back east…. he decided to make his way to Denver. You’d think by then that he’d turn toward the rising sun, and make his way home, but nope… he kept heading west. He made it to Canada, but in Vancouver… the farthest you can be from my home and still be in the same country. Only then did he finally turn tail and head home.

This dog is already more of a world-traveler than I am! But here he is at last.

He’s not very big – just a few inches. And to be honest, I paid a stupid amount of money, for such a tiny little dog, but…

… the radio wasn’t really complete without him. Now I’m on the hunt for a tiny gramophone for him!