The new babi cardi design is coming along nicely. It’s just the sleeves left to go. I’m so pleased I found a good use for the Celtic Cat yarn that didn’t work for the Union socks.

I think the design is going to need a few tweaks before I publish it, but this prototype will do nicely for a fair entry.

Can you believe it’s been a year since this little black floof monster came into my life? I can’t. It feels like he’s been here forever.

He’s grown from a sweet lovable kitten to a sweet lovable cat.  I couldn’t ask for a better feline companion.

The first Union sock is done!

As you can see, I opted for a plain stockknit foot on this one, which is a bit of a departure for me. But I was just feeling the vanilla with this pair.

I think it makes that block pattern stand out that much more.

Now, I need to get moving on the second sock. I’d like to get all the socks done by the end of the summer – and I still have three designs to go!

It’s not the best picture but…

.. it perfectly sums up the relationship between this dastardly duo.

When Mom first started talking about getting a kitten, her main worry was how Jem would react. She was fine with Tibbi, but would her prey drive kick in with something smaller? Would she play too rough?

But pretty much since the beginning, Jem and Winnie have got along famously. Mini Winnie thinks she’s a big dog and is more than happy to play just as hard as Jem. It’s going to be fun watching this friendship grow.

Though the week has been hot and humid, I still take some time to get out every day to inspect and water the gardens.

They really are at their height right now. While the roses hate the smothering humidity, the rest of the plants do alright.

The daisies are in fine form. Last year the earwigs did a number on them, but this year they are looking good. I’ve got two big bunches, started from seed the first year I was here and they’ve really done well.

The orange day lilies are just starting to put on their show.  Though I love all my  other fancy lilies, I don’t think my  garden would be complete without these guys. They were such a staple of my childhood, and they are so easy to grow.

It’s going to be another stellar year in the berry department… and it won’t be long before I have fresh raspberries for breakfast every morning. Even the blackberries are looking fantastic this year.

The Tickseed has just started to bloom and is adding a nice pop of colour to the Sidewalk garden.

And I’m so happy these Burgundy Blanket Flowers came back. They got some sort of mold last year and I thought I’d lost them. But look at them now.

As you know, I have Coneflowers in many colours, but these Strawberry Mango Smoothie ones were the last to flower last year, and the first this year. The plant seems to love it’s spot and is really showing off.

This little pink Bee Balm is new this year and it’s just a riot of pink. I’m wondering if it’s going to stay small and compact like this or get tall and leggy like the purple one I have. I guess time will  tell.

New this year is are these pretty burgundy shamrocks… and just look at all those blooms.

Now if only this horrid humidity would abate, I could really get out and enjoy it all.

 

 

Mom has definitely gotten the hang of the longarm. She had the Superstar quilt back to me in no time! In fact, she had it completely quilted in one day! I did a marathon binding session over the weekend and here she is in all her glory.

I think this is my best quilt so far. Almost all the intersections match perfectly. And even the corner stones on the last border look like I planned them all along!

We’ve been extremely lucky in those clearance bin finds. On a trip a few months back, Mom and I found a huge chunk of this pretty black and grey floral. I knew instantly it would be perfect for this quilt.

Now this one will be packed away for gifting. Though I am a little tempted to keep her for myself.

I don’t know if I’ve ever told you the story of the “fair cardigan”

Way back when I was a child, and Mom was entering knitting in the fair, Mom garnered many first prize ribbons for her entries. But one first prize she could never win was for the baby cardigan category.

She knit many-a beautiful cardigans, but year after year, a cardigan knit in a particular pattern always took first place. She searched and searched for the pattern but couldn’t find it.

Years after she stopped entering the fair, she finally found it. It’s an old Beehive pattern.

I didn’t think much about, until last year when my beautiful grey baby cardi only got third prize at the fair. Can you guess which pattern won first?

So this year I borrowed the pattern from Mom and decided to give it a whirl. Only… well… I don’t really like it that much. I don’t like the garter around the yoke. I don’t really like the lace pattern on the sleeves and body. The only part I do like it the leaves… (surprise, surprise).

So… I’m using it as an inspiration, but designing my own.

What’s the point in winning first place if you don’t enjoy getting there?

With two quilting project boxes empty, it was time to get moving on something new.

When I first got bit by the quilting bug, I considered making everyone on my list a quilt for Christmas. Then I decided that was a bit ambitious, so I narrowed it down to just one person on my list. (Though the L&E quilt may end up becoming a Christmas gift if I get it done in time).

A while back, Chris at Chrisknitssews shared this pattern. It can be made with a Layer Cake, Charm Pack or Mini Charm Pack.

Back when I first started, I’d bought this charm pack thinking I could get almost a whole quilt out of it.

Obviously, I know better now. But paired with some white fabric, and the Moda Love pattern, it would make a decent centre to a quilt.

The pattern has you assemble the quilt in rows, but I found a better way, at least for me. You see, my sewing studio is very small. It also doubles as my home office, crafting supply storage, and personal library (and I have a lot of books). That means there’s no room for a design wall.

For larger project, I use the bed. But that means I can’t leave it there overnight (Dave has this weird thing against sleeping on the couch because I have the bed covered in quilt blocks….). I usually don’t sew for more than an hour or two a day, so this means having to layout and pack up repeatedly once the project gets to a certain size.

But I realized with this one, I could break the pattern up in quadrants (like the Superstar quilt) and work on one quadrant at time, using the portable ironing board that lives on my sewing table.

It fits just perfect, and allows me to piece the blocks in the right order without too much hassle. And this one is coming together quite nicely. In fact, I’ve already got it half done!

Since it’s moving along so nicely, I decided it was time to start thinking about borders

I had these two fabrics in the stash, and they are perfect. They were both bought for other projects, but never used, for one reason or another. I guess they were just waiting for this quilt!

Just like the roses, this time of the year is a wonderful time for the lilies. And I’ve got quite a collection now!

 

Despite the best efforts of our favourite floof ball…

I was also able to square away the Dragonfly Gallery top.

It was tough to get a good mix of the colours, without having any of the same centre prints side by side, but I think I managed it the best I could.

When I ordered the extra fabric for the sashing, this pretty print was on clearance. I was able to get enough for the backing. It may be a bit before this one is completely finished though, as I don’t have enough batting at the moment.

And while finishing another quilt is exciting enough, it’s also thrilling that this one left a nice pile of scraps for the Log Cabins.

And… doubly exciting….

If you’ve been keeping track, this means I now have TWO empty project boxes! Stay tuned for something new!