I’ve mentioned before that I take most of the indoor plants outside for the summer. And they are lovin’ it this summer.

My Burgundy shamrock is looking so cute in its little watering can planter. Especially with that single pink bloom.

The green shamrocks are just as happy, thought their pot is plain.

I think my Christmas cactus is confused by all the gifts I’ve been completing, because they are definitely blooming at the wrong time. The white one you see above is in full bloom.

The pink Cactus is getting new sections, too, so it must be happy.

I’ve got several spiders plants, and a little bonsai outside that are all loving the fresh air, but the thing I’m most excited about is this…

I bought a small passionflower sprout off a lady on Facebook four years ago. And while it’s continued to grow, I’ve never been able to get blooms. Last year, I had a couple buds, but they dropped off before blooming.

This winter, while it was inside, I started to give it a little Miracle Gro. The plant REALLY beefed up. I moved it outside in spring, but other than the new  leaves, not much seemed different. Until about a month ago when it started putting up flower buds. And there are lots of them!

The flowers only last one day, but they are so pretty.  It’s definitely been worth the wait!

If this isn’t the epitome of happy cat, I don’t know what is…

I’m hoping to get the Time to Sew top together this week, so I wanted to get my only other completed top quilted and out of the way.

An afternoon at Mom’s took care of that nicely, and I can now show you a final Rooster Eggs quilt!

It’s a nice sized lap quilt that I made simply because I wanted to use up a charm pack and practice some more nine patch stars.

Dave and I made a trip to Lens and I found the most perfect backing in the clearance bin…

Seriously… what are the chances? I love that clearance bin! I have enough of it, and the fried egg fabric (a previous clerance find) to make a couple matching throw pillows.

On Monday I briefly mentioned a project called Happy Camper. You may recall that my dear friend Samantha has commissioned me to make another quilt for her trailer. Together, we picked out these fabrics.

But Sam gave me free reign on choosing a pattern. I had a couple in mind, but in the end, I decided to go with Dapper Squares. The collection of fabric has a couple of prints that are quite large, and this pattern has some nice big squares so you can see more of those big, beautiful prints.

It took a bit to get everything cut up and organized, but after I did, I couldn’t resist putting together just a few blocks.

I had to fussy cut that trailer fabric. But it’s worth it! It’s going to look so cool all laid out!

The body is complete on Wren’s Christmas cardigan – all that’s left is the sleeves.

It took me longer than I expected to get this far. But I have to keep reminding myself that’s she’s much bigger than she used to be! That little bird is growing up fast!

I’m hoping to have the sleeves done by the end of the week, but that might be pushing it. Dave’s birthday is coming up soon and we’ve got a few outings planned.

While I have completed a couple quilts, it doesn’t feel like I’ve done much sewing for the past few weeks. I didn’t get into the studio at all over vacation, and the first week was busy, as it usually is after a week away.

Still, I managed to carve out an afternoon to finish the last few blocks for Time to Sew.

The finished top will have sashing and cornerstones between the blocks, but this was the only way I could get all the blocks to fit on the design bed. Mom’s already got her top together, so I’ve got to get cutting so  I can catch up.

As I was finishing those up, I also finished the last of the Leader & Ender Nine Patches.

They will also have sashing, but I wanted to see them all together. I just love a good rainbow! Now that the blocks are completed, it moves from L&E rotation to regular rotation. It also needs a name… any suggestions?

It also means that I have to find a new L&E project. I still have a lot of 2.5 inch squares left, so I’m going to do another style of nine patch (and not colour coordinated), but I need to cut some white 2.5 inch squares before I start on it.

In fact… all my QotGs are at a cutting stage:

• Time to Sew – Need to cut sashing and cornerstones
• Happy Camper – You haven’t seen this one yet, because I’m still cutting pieces for it. But I will unveil it soon.
• Honey Patch – This too needs sashing and cornerstones cut.
• Scrappy rainbow nine patch – MORE sashing to be cut.
• Leader and Ender quilt – I’ve got about eleventy billion 2.5 inch squares to cut. Luckily, I don’t have to do them all at once.

 

It’s July and the lilies are in bloom. There’s more to come, but I’m crushing on those pretty pink ones. This is the first year they’ve bloomed  (planted last year) and they are just gorgeous!

I’m still waiting on my special purple ones, but the orange day lilies are blooming left  and right.

They just scream “summer” in my books.

Like the day lilies, nothing says summer like a daisy explosion!

The pink Bee Balm has bloomed. It’s so bright and happy – it always reminds me of fireworks!

Tickseed is another happy summer flower. It’s a beautiful pop of yellow in the sidewalk garden.

It won’t be long before Dave is munching on ripe cherry tomatoes. Ah, summer!

One of the things I love about summer is all the wonderful things with wings that come and visit my little yard…

Like these entwined White Cabbage butterflies who took a wee break on the raspberries.

The moths are welcome to stay as long as they stay out of the house and out of my yarn!

Our tree out front is a Bass Wood and it’s blooming. It’s full of these little flowers and the bees are just loving it.

There’s always a bumbler or two.

The finches are still stopping by to check in on us.

And this group of characters is always hanging about!

There’s no doubt about it, summer flies in our corner of the the world!

 

As you know, I’m the kind of person that thinks every cat is wonderful and beautiful… but even I have to admit…

Rupert is an exceptionally magnificent little beastie. I’m not sure if it’s his colouring – all warm and caramel, or if I’m just partial to gingers.

But there’s just something about this saucy little guy that’s just so striking!

We all knew it couldn’t last…. all that knitting monogamy. It came to and end on the weekend. While I could have taken Wren’s cardigan with me for travel knitting, I wanted something a little smaller.

The pattern is Switcheroo and the yarn is Twinkle Cat (colour is Briar Patch). The pattern is simple, and it creates a lovely little bit of lace.

This pair is also for Christmas, and I’m debating whether I’ll carry that lace down the foot or just leave it on the leg…. but I’ve got a few more inches before I need to decide.