Star by star, the Royal star quilt is coming together. Here are two more for the pile.

There’s no rush to complete this quilt, though I would like to get it out of the box, if only to start something new. I figure if I do two blocks a week (I think there are four left), I can finish this one by the end of March. That is soon enough.

I’ve finally decided on a layout.

Just sashing and cornerstones. But there will be a twist. You’re going to love it when you see it! It’s stellar!

As I mentioned earlier this week, Wren’s Seahorse needed a friend or two… so the next night, I knit a…

Nudibranch! For those of you that don’t know, a nudibranch is just a sea slug. A colourful, fancy, poisonous sea slug. They live on coral reefs and come in a crazy amount of styles and colours.

This is another pattern by Hansi Singh, and it was definitely a fun one. Doing all those branchs (or gills) on his back was a bit of a pain…

But he’s not really a nudibranch without them (nudibranch basically means naked gills).

The only change I’d make to this one is my colour selection. I’d used something less contrasty for the last few rows on that ruffled edge. I don’t like the way it curls and shows the purl bumps. Something closer in colour (or a solid colour ruffle) would be nicer.

Now Mr. Nudibranch is hanging out with Mr. Seahorse, and I’ve got needles clicking on one last creature.

The weekend saw me finish up the Spring Blossoms quilt!

And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! (even though my poor birds are upside down in this picture!).

The block is nice and big (about 16 inches), easy to make, and you don’t need many of them to make a nice big quilt. This one is about 58″ x 76″.

I’d been collecting batik fat quarters for quite a while, and it was nice to use a few of them up. The background fabric is a batik too… a crazy deal I’d gotten on Black Friday two years ago! The birds and matching pussy willow fabric were bought ages ago with no plan, other than to make something special for myself.

I’ve got to show you the whole backing on this one too.

It was another clearance bolt that I got  an insane deal on. I sewed two lengths together along the selvedge and created this gorgeous backing that is a great compliment to the flowers on the front.

Now Relic and I are snuggling with it while we wait out the rest of winter.

I mention that once I finished the Laguna socks, I needed to focus on a birthday present for Wren. Her birthday is near the end of March, and it felt like that was creeping up fast.

I had planned to make her another cardigan, but then I remembered she’s turning three this year. That’s the age when they really start recognizing that birthdays are all about them. A cardigan is nice, but it’s really more of a present for her mom, than her.

Toy knitting has always been a favourite of mine, so I decided to go digging for something cool… something different…

something like a Seahorse!  The pattern is by Hansi Singh. I’ve done a few of her creature knits and they never cease to amaze me. This little guy is no exception.

He’s knit with Stray Cat – just some leftovers I had hanging about. That’s the beauty of toy knitting. They don’t take a lot of yarn – or time. I had this guy done in one evening.

The only modification I made was to add a couple of horns to his head.

Real  seahorses tend to have bumpy heads, and this guy’s was looking a little too smooth.

Were I to make another, I’d only make one other modification. I’d make the tail longer. You can’t tell but there’s a little piece of pipe cleaner in there to help it curl. But there’s not really enough tail to curl much.

But that’s for another time. Right now, Mr. Seahorse needs a few other sea creature friends.

They aren’t the greatest pictures, but I wanted to share with you a little visitor we had the other day.

A teeny little red-headed woodpecker! I see them off and on throughout the year (and hear them all summer-long!), but it’s mostly elsewhere in the survey. It appears they have a few favourite trees and they don’t seem to venture very far.

So it was nice to see this little guy stopping by for a little lunch on a chilly afternoon!

Relic and I are desperately awaiting spring. This is the hardest time of the year for me (and him, I think). The days are getting longer, and sunnier… but we are still a full month away from seeing anything remotely exciting in the garden, and longer to be able to dig a new garden and actually plant anything new.

I did buy some seeds to lift my spirits (just sunflowers, nasturtiums and some neat ornamental grass), but that only does so much for you.

But the other day, when I was parking my truck, I noticed something odd lying on the grass by my parking spot. Sadly, the parking lot where I park doesn’t have cameras, and people tend to just toss things. I do my part to try and keep it clean, so I went over to check it out.

Imagine my surprised when I realized it was a little garden fountain shaped like a cauldron. It was full of leaves and frozen water, and I assumed it was tossed because it wasn’t working any more. But I know a guy… and he’s pretty handy – especially with pumps. So I brought it home.

Dave rolled his eyes when I brought it in, but he immediately took it down to his lair to see if he could work his magic.

And magic he worked!

In no time, that little cauldron was bubbling with the sound of water again! And even more exciting… we found it online, and those two little compartments on either side…

…are for plants! Any thoughts on what I should plant in it this spring?

Good morning, sleepyface!

I mentioned the other day that all the geese blocks were done. And that meant it was time to sew them together into a top.

Now I’ve said before that I prefer to make big blocks. That’s not because I particularly dislike making small ones… I just don’t like sewing small ones together. Putting a top together is probably my least favourite part of making a quilt. And when you have small blocks, it take A LOT longer. The geese blocks are 8.5″ square… I knew this one was going to take a while.

And it did. I took me the entire weekend, but it was worth it!

First up was selecting a sashing fabric. The obvious choice would be to do another white on white fabric so it blends in with the background of each block. But for some reason, I was seeing these one with a coloured sashing… yellow in fact. But I was planning on using yellow for the backing, so I had to think of something else. Another somewhat obvious choice would be black… but I didn’t have anything in black with enough yardage.

I did have some navy floral though…

Although it looks more black than navy here, trust me… it is blue! I paired with with white on white cornerstones and it was just the thing to pull all those colourful blocks together.

And as you can see, I also added a yellow border all the way around

That yellow is the same fabric I’ll be using for the backing (I’ve got A LOT of it!). I know yellow is not for everyone, but I love it. And to tie everything up with a nice, neat bow (or binding…), you’ll see that navy fabric used again when this one is quilted.

And incase you’re wondering what happened to my snoopervisors…. it was a nice weekend so Relic was mostly outside. Rupert was sunning himself at the back door, and Burton…

…was squirrel watching…

Last time I was up at Mom’s Dad invited me out to the  shooting range.  Most people don’t expect it of me, but I love shooting.

My dad, grandfather, uncle and brother are all hunters, and I’ve grown up around firearms. Even though it’s not a hobby I’ve pursued, I do love an afternoon of shooting. The only downside… Dad’s club is an outside range. And it’s February. Hands get cold REALLY fast.

I dug through my stash of fingerless gloves and mitts, but everything I had was light and lacy.

Luckily, after casting off the Laguna socks, I had just enough time to whip out a pair of sturdier mitts.

The pattern is my Turner pattern. It’s nothing fancy, but they knit up quick. I had some Stray Cat in “Twilight” that was handy so that’s what I used, even though I’m not normally a blue person. (Though I quite like that particular shade… it’s a blue that really pops).

In a couple of evenings, they were complete, ends sewn in and ready to wear.

And they were perfect for keeping the chill off my hands. Not so bulky that they got in the way, but thick enough to keep me toasty.

Now… I just have to not lose them before the next time I go shooting!

Burton thinks I need to work on my accuracy….

The geese have been completed (more on that another day) and moved into regular rotation. That means I needed a new Leader/Ender project.

Luckily, I had one all lined up.

Mom folllows a lot of other quilters online and one if her favourites is Pat Sloan. Back in January, she started a sew along for a pattern she called Traffic Jam. I had to much on the go at the time, but I knew it would make a fabulous L&E project, so I tucked the idea away.

Mom started earlier and already has her top done:

Sorry I don’t have a better picture, but you can get the idea of it there.

You start by piecing 2.5″ squares into four patches. Unlike Mom (and it seems everyone else in the sew-along), I decided to do my four patches in neutrals (white/biege/light grey). I had tonnes of neutral scraps, so I cut them all up and got them ready for sewing.

Currently, I’m just pairing them up. But it won’t be long until I’m pairing those pairs into four patches. Like the geese, I have no idea how big this one is going to be. I’m just making blocks until I run out of cut fabric. Then I’ll decide!