Hello Kitty!

Goodbye Kitty!

 

With Switcheroo off the needles, I needed a new project on. I went digging the stash and came up with another skein of Twinkle Cat – this time in Lodestone.

The shades of purple, grey and green in the yarn made me think of dragonflies, which naturally made me think of the Dragonfly sock pattern.

I’ve knit this pattern before – way back in 2012 – and it’s one that I love. So, unlike Switcheroo,  I won’t get bored with it. In fact, it’s practically flying off the needles. As you can see – I’ve already got the leg done. The first sock is going to be done in no time.

And like Switcheroo, it’s going right in the Christmas box. After this, there’s only two other gifts to make!

I wanted to sew the other day, but I wasn’t in the mood for anything too complicated. So what could be simpler than sewing the sashing on the Rainbow nine-patch quilt?

Super simple. And in no time, I had all nine rows together. Sadly, I can go no further until I get some more of the sashing fabric. This stuff was left over from Sam’s Bunnies, and butterflies, and birds quilt, and there wasn’t quite enough of it left to finish off a quilt of this size. It’s ok though, it’s from Lens and I’m pretty sure I can get some more… or at least something close to it.

And I’ve finally given it a name… Rainbow Block Party.

Here’s where it and all my other quilt projects stand:

 

• Rainbow Block Party – As you see above. As soon as I get more sashing fabric this one will be rolling.
• Happy Camper – I got my grey corner triangles cut so maybe this weekend or next I’ll assemble the top
• A Fish Called Rhonda – In the midst of making fishes and lovin it.
• Celtic Dreams – Still only one block complete, but I hope to assemble another one soon.
• Leader and Ender quilt – Nine patches are stacking up as I work on my other projects. I do so love my L&E blocks!

 

It was a long weekend here in Canada, so I took the extra time to push through and finish the Switcheroo socks.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the pattern, but for some reason I just didn’t enjoy knitting it. It does create a pretty bit of eyelet lace that works well with busy yarns.

And the yarn is pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself. It’s our Twinkle Cat (sadly you can’t see the sparkle in these pics), in a colourway I called Briar Patch. As you can see, it’s a wonderful mix of dusty rose, mauve and brown. I have another skein and I’m so glad… these socks are destined for the gift box, but I still have yarn to make something for myself!

With Honey Patch out of her box and in the to quilt pile, I was finally able to start something new.

Do you remember that ocean fabric I show a while back?

Well you may recall I was saving it for a block I wanted to try out…

A simple, but cute little fish made from HSTs and a square. I finally sat down and did the math to create these cuties from the fabric I had. It didn’t take long…

I am stupidly excited about this block….Now I’ve got to get to working whipping up a whole school of them!

Back around Dave’s Birthday, we stopped in to see his aunt and uncle. They have a spectacular garden (years of work by Dave’s aunt). Somehow, the conversation turned to colour in the garden talk of favourite colours. His aunt loves white flowers.

It would be very hard for me to have a garden with only one colour, but if I absolutely had to choose…

It would be yellow!

Why yellow? To me yellow is just the happiest colour in the world.

It’s hard not to look at yellow and smile (unless it’s a puddle of pet pee on the floor.. but hey…)

And when it comes to the garden…

So many flowers have at least one version in yellow….

… not to mention  yellow comes in an infinite number of shades!

What colour would you choose for a mono-chrome garden?

This week’s been a little quieter than normal at work, so I was able to sneak in a few extra sewing hours.

As a result, the Honey Patch top is complete!

It’s just a cute little lap quilt made from a charm pack (the little four patches), and a quilt kit I bought simply because I liked the fabrics (the pattern was too busy). The only other thing added was the sunflower fabric, which was part of one of the grab bags I bought from Missouri Star Quilt Co. a while ago.

For the binding, I have another piece of black floral from the kit… and check out that lovely gold fabric I found in the clearance bin – another perfect find for the backing.  I’m not sure how quickly I’ll get a chance to quilt this one, but hopefully I won’t have to wait too long to show you another finished quilt!

 

Beware the garden, for amidst the green, mighty cats prowl…

Or you know…

Nap….

As you know, my garden is full of plants that are “pollinator friendly”. But if you really want butterflies in your garden, all you really need are coneflowers.

Excepting the butterfly bush, there’s nothing else in my garden they seem to prefer more. And I’ve seen so many this year… Red Admirals, White Cabbages, American Ladies, Yellow Swallowtails, Sagebrush Swallowtails, and of course, Monarchs.

And though they’ve been plentiful, they’ve been darn hard to get photos of. Dave is beginning to question my sanity, because it seems like every hour or so, I’m scooping the camera off the couch, and bolting out the door whenever one goes winging through the yard.

Pretty much every time I came back in empty handed…. until last week…

Isn’t she a beauty!

And for extra credit…

A pretty red dragonfly

And a cuckoo wasp!

What a wonderful wild kingdom in my backyard

 

Earlier this year, I bought this Fat Quarter pack

With the colours and prints, I just new it had to be a quilt for Dave. I was hoping to make it for his birthday, but with everything else I had going on (mostly deadline quilts for Sam), I knew it was foolish to add in another deadline quilt.

But now with Time to Sew out of the way, I figured if I started now, I might be able to get it done for him for Christmas.

I wanted the pattern to echo the Celtic theme of the fabric, and I think I found the perfect one in this pattern.

There were no instructions, just a picture on Pinterest. But  it didn’t take me long to figure it out.

Using 3.5″ squares, it makes quite a large block – too big to work from my little ironing board. But like the Moda Love quilt, this one is easy to break down into quadrants.

Then it’s just a matter of putting the four quadrants together…

… to create one stunner of a block!  And it’s a biggie too  – 24.5″ square.

I have enough fabric to do four blocks, though I’d like this to be a a really big quilt, so I may grab a few more pieces for a couple more.