I finished the first column of dino toes for the Walk Like a Dinosaur quilt. But, what you can’t tell from this picture is that there’s a problem… a BIG problem.

I’ve told you before that I often make quilts by the seat of my pants. I don’t worry too much about  block size and measurements… quilts end up the size they end up. I focus more on esthetics. And that’s fine… when you don’t already have your backing fabric picked out.

I showed you the lovely dino flannel had for the back the other week.  But I only have about 2 yards of it. It’s enough for  the back of a baby quilt.

But that column of toes on the left is already 54 inches long. And there’s going to be three of them, which means without sashing (or borders), this quilt is already going to be at least 54 inches square. If I add sashing (which I really want to) and borders, it’s well passed baby blanket, and into lap blanket territory. That’s not a bad thing, but it means the dino flannel is out… unless I can find something to go with it, and make a pieced back.

I don’t think I have anything in the stash, and I don’t think Mom does either. That means buying something online or waiting until Lens can open again.

But that’s fine, I’ve got time. I still have 12 sets of toes to make!

 

Happy Easter everyone!

I know for a lot of you, this COVID season has you missing time with your family.  We haven’t done a big to-do about Easter for a while, so a quiet day at home is par for the course for us. I do have a nice Prime Rib roast to cook today, and I’m looking forward to that.

You may recall that one of my favourite thing about Easter is my Easter dresses. Despite despite my commitment to not spending, I did do a little online shopping and got myself a new one. (Thanks Old Navy!)

It didn’t actually show up in time for Easter (COVID has understandably slowed their fulfillment process), but that’s ok. It will still be a nice pick-me-up when it does arrive.

Another little bit of Easter cheer came from Mom. She stopped by briefly to pick up some sewing supplies ( all appropriate distancing measures were observed), and she exchanged them for a beautiful Easter Lily. (Don’t worry, it’s well out of reach of the kitties)

And some gorgeously bright and cheerful Gerberas.

Sadly, COVID has left many of the local growers without a place to sell their Easter flowers. Instead of dumping them all in landfills or compost piles, many of the Greenhouses have been putting skids out on the side of the road, and offering them for free. So Mom picked a couple up to brighten my week.

Despite the current situation, I hope your Easter is full of cheer and hope. We will get through this, in the end!

 

 

It’s the weekend, and I couldn’t be more happy! Despite COVID, work has been surprisingly hectic, so I’ve been using my lunch hours to get out and get some sun and recharge. I’ve cleaned most of the winter crud (old leaves, dead stems, etc) out of all the gardens and there’s not too much more I can do at this point.

I’m not sure how/if the lock down will affect our usual planting in mid-May. I should still be able to get soil to top all the gardens up, but you never know. Plants are another matter – it’s hard to say how the garden centres will manage if things stretch on.

I’ve got more than enough in the gardens, but as you may recall, I usually buy annuals for the random assortment of pots and baskets I have. That may not happen this year. But hey… I’ve got seeds!

I have a bad habit of buying random packets of seeds throughout the winter and I’ve got a real assortment of things in here.

There were a few empty pots from last year that still had soil, so I filled them all with a few exciting things from the tin.

 

It’s technically a little early to be planting seeds outside, but the place I have the pots is sheltered, and gets a lot of warming sun. I also didn’t plant the whole pack, so if they don’t take, I can try again in a few weeks. I still have more pots to fill,  but it will have to wait until I can get some more soil.

When it comes to fresh strawberries this year, we won’t be relying on the supermarket. I bought a lovely hanging pot of them last year, whenever it put out runners, I’d cut them off and pop them in the soil. They are already coming back and looking nice – I’ve got about four separate plants around the garden. Quite a few also ended up in my pretty green glazed strawberry pot. I brought it in for the winter to keep it from cracking. I remembered to keep it watered every so often, and as soon as the days got longer, green sprouts started emerging.

It’s back outside now and looking fine! And that hanging pot. I left it outside all winter, but in a bit of a sheltered spot. It must have done the trick because look:

It’s now hanging back on its hanger, and I’m looking forward to fresh juicy berries in a few months.

In other kitchen news. I mentioned a few posts back that some of my herbs were coming back. This was a big surprise for me – I don’t have a lot of experience with herbs, and I thought they were annuals

 

The basil didn’t make it (I have more seeds so no biggie), but the parsley (left) is sprouting up, and the oregano (right)… well just look at it! When I cleaned out all the old dead stems, all I could smell was pizza!

I’m debating on if I should get some vegetable seeds. I always grow tomatoes for Dave, but COVID definitely has me looking at food security a little differently. I wish we had more room – I’d love to grow squash!. Maybe I’ll try a potato planter bag.

Now that everything is tidy, there’s not much I can do until I get more soil. But that’s okay,  the spring bulbs are about to put on their show and will keep me nice and entertained for the next few weeks

 

I hope your garden is springing nicely!

The picture quality isn’t great – I had to take it through the glass so I wouldn’t disturb him…

But doesn’t he just look so content? Now that the weather’s finally a little nicer, it’s not unusual to find him on my garden cart.  He doesn’t want to hang out in the house, and is happy to sleep outside when it’s sunny.

We haven’t put the patio chairs out yet, or that’s where he’d be sleeping. He’s going to have to give up that spot next month, because that’s where my house plants spend the summer!

With Woodland Walk off the needles, I needed a new pair of socks on them.

Natalie’s not sure if she’s going to be able to hold her open house this year, so I’ve put making stuff for it on hold until we have a better idea of how the summer is going to play out. So I’ve turned my attention to gift knitting for the interim.

Rowan’s birthday is fast approaching at the start of June. As we likely won’t be able to go see them (they live three hours away). I’d like to have her present done in time to mail it if I have to.

I’ve got a few things planned for her, but one of them was a pair of socks. The Yinyang Kitty Ankle socks to be exact.

And they pretty much fell off the needles, as you can see! I used leftover Alley Cat in Strawberry Yogurt, and leftover Barn Cat in Canary.  I made a few mods:

1. I knit them top down instead of toe up, That’s just a personal preference thing.
2. I am not great at intarsia, so the ears, eyes and nose were all done after thev fact
3. For the ears, I pick up stitches, knit a triangle, and then cast off. I stitched the two sides of the triangle to the sock, and it gives a bit of a 3D look.

Eyes and nose were duplicate stitch, which I’m not fabulous at. But I managed. Yellow kitty has a slightly different nose because I counted wrong, but it works!This is a pattern I’ve wanted to knit for a long time, and I’m so glad I finally have! It’s such a cute result that took no time at all!

And now I need yet another pair of socks on the needles!

Well, here’s one more Calico Star for the pile…

Now I know what you’re thinking…. “But Valerie, I thought you said you make these blocks two at a time? Where’s the other one?”

You’re right, I said that. And I do, because these are made using the eight-at-a-time HST method, which gives you enough for two blocks.

Because it’s a lot of HSTs at once (72 in total), I break the making up over two sessions. In the first session, I make all the HSTS – sew, cut and iron. In the second, I trim, and then sew the blocks together.

So this round of blocks started out as usual… I sewed all my 10″ squares with big double Xs. My machine was being fussy (tension issues), so it took a little longer than normal. Burton was also being a pain… getting in the way left and right. But I got through it, and piled my squares up for cutting. I worked through them all with no issues, until the last one… I don’t know if I got complacent, was day-dreaming, or what happened – but the ruler slipped and…

I didn’t cut through the stitching, but it still wasn’t going to be enough seam allowance – one good tug and that seam would split right open. And I couldn’t resew it. The eight-at-a-time method leaves very little room for error.

I was already in a foul mood from the earlier issues, so I threw my rotary cutter up in the air (don’t worry, I retracted the blade first), and stormed out (after I unplugged the iron). If there’s one thing my mama taught me, it’s know when to walk away.

I let the HSTs sit in a time out for a few days, as I mulled what to do. I could cut another 10″ square of a different fabric, and sub it in. But then it hit me… the quilt only has nine stars. But I was going to end up with 10, by virtue of the way I was making them. I wasn’t planning on making the 10th star, I was just going to throw the HSTs in the orphan block bucket and use them in another quilt. I wasn’t planning on making the single block until the first eight blocks were done, but there was no reason I couldn’t make it right now.

So that’s what I did. The other day, I got back in the sewing room and trimmed up the remaining 71 HSTs. I tossed 35 of them in the orphan bucket, and the other 36 got sewn into the above star.

Crisis averted! Just four more blocks to go!

 

With COVID putting a stop to what little traveling we did do, the poor Woodland Walk socks were being terribly neglected.

I decided to put them into regular rotation (the only other thing on the needles is the Minerva cowl) and before I knew it, they were done.

This was a really fun pattern (and free too!) and it was surprisingly easy to memorize the lace chart. Because the lace is worked across just 16 stitches of the sock, it also goes surprisingly fast.

And it’s such an elegant result. My phone camera is really not doing it justice – the colour differences in the yarn are much more subtle and show off those leaves so well.

The only modification I made was to work the leaf pattern down the toe (re-working the decreases so they worked with the normal decreasing on the toe.

If I was smart, I would have mirrored the lace on the second sock, but still , it works well enough.

This pair is a touch too big for me, so it’s now tucked away safely in the gifting box. And I need a new pair of socks on the needles!

Happy Monday! Although I haven’t been a commuter for about a year, and not many people are driving these days, there’s still a Traffic Jam to content with!
My Leader and Ender Traffic Jam blocks are starting to coming together:

The look like a bit of a mish-mash in this picture. But the final layout will have a nice cohesive sashing, as well as coordinating cornerstones, which will help to break up all that busy-ness.

There’s eight blocks done already, and only 12 more to go. I’m going to have to start pondering a new L&E project soon.

Here’s where all my other quilts are at:

• Walk Like a Dinosaur: Still building dino toes
  
• Calico Garden: Still building giant stars
• Blockhead: Patiently awaiting Wednesday
• Dog Logs II: Building cabins, log by dog
• Leader and Ender quilt – As above, the traffic jam is building up!

Oh Relic….

Rejoice! Rejoice! At long last Winter is behind us and Spring is officially here! The first flowers have bloomed!

I actually didn’t think this crocus was going to show this year. I hadn’t seen it on any of my others checks of the gardens. But I went out on Wednesday, and suddenly there it was. By the next day, it had fully opened up.

I’ve actually planted lots of crocuses over the last couple of years, but for some reason, this is the only one that blooms. It is a stunner though.

And the mini daffies unveiled their full glory a  day later

Relic can’t wait for the rest of the garden to fill in.

And neither can I!

As fellow crafters, you’ll understand how nice it is to see your hard work appreciated. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when Wren’s momma, Krista, sent me these pictures from her third birthday last month.

Remember that dress? I made it back in 2018. I intentionally made it a little big, so she wouldn’t grow out of it too fast. But I guess I made it a little too big, because she’s only just now fitting to it.

But that’s okay. It looks like it’s still a little too wide, so with any luck, she’ll get a few years wear out of it. Krista says she’s having trouble getting it off of her to give it a wash.

And seeing those pictures has me wanting to go dive in the stash to see if I have something to make her another one!