Finishes

We had over a week of cold, wet, rainy weather. So I settled into my sewing and finished the quilt top.

 The sun came out, as I finished, so I had to take a picture. I made the backing, and dropped it with the long arm quilting lady, yesterday. The binding is made, so the end is in sight.

I also finished my happy socks. 

I tried them on, and they are a perfect fit, so I think they are going into my drawer!

The pattern is A Collection of Columns by Nancy Wheeler. You can find it here on Ravelry:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/collection-of-columns

This is my fourth pair of adult socks in 2024.

The renovations are progressing. 

The flooring is going down this week, then I think we get a break for a few weeks to figure out what we still need.

My Sweetie brought me a puzzle, yesterday.

We have these two plants in the yard, that look nearly the same, but not quite. After some research, the top one is Bugleweed (Ajura reptans). The bottom one is ground ivy or creeping Charlie.  At first glance you would think they were the same plant.

The ducks are still enjoying the neighbour's pool. I saw them again the other day. 

I have some bags I want to make. Some many things, I need to get organized. I keep telling myself, do some every day and things get done.

Another Week

This weekend was the first long weekend of the summer, and, of course, it started hot, had thunderstorms,  then turned cold, rained and was generally un-summery. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I finished my first sock, of the May socks.

 I immediately cast on the second one, to make sure they get finished.

I have been working on finishing up the blocks for a quilt the church ladies stated in 2019. I got the blocks finished and started putting the top together.

The first three rows are finished. It is currently on my "design bed" . My goal is to finish it in the next couple of days. The pattern is Hidden Pinwheel.

I continue to empty boxes and bins. I was sorting through one on the weekend, and after deciding the papers could all go to the blue bin, I was left with this.

Two antique hymn books, an Anglican Service book, and a container that was suppose to hold 4 Nirvana CD's but instead had 3 different CD's. I'm sure that is some kind of meaning to this, but I really have no idea where any of it came from.

Finally, this week, while sitting at my sewing machine, I saw this.

A pair of mallard ducks were swimming in the neighbour's pool.  

So, how was your week?

Spring

 The weather has turned warm, and sunny, finally. Today, it is 23C. The flowers are blooming everywhere in the yard.

Some are native plants. Some are bulbs we planted. It is tulip time in Ottawa. The Tulip Festival began on the weekend, and continues for the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, I have been knitting on my May socks. This yarn is from a new to me dyer, Area 51 Yarns. She is in Regina, Saskatchewan, and has some great striping yarn.

This is one of my silly googly eye heel turn pictures. Now I am on the home stretch of the first sock. 

Spring means it is time to sew purses. I started one yesterday. It is going to be a hybrid design. based on two patterns I have. We will see how it goes.

I'm using some leftovers to make my concept bag. These cats were asking to become bag, again. The cork is leftover from another bag. They look good together.

The reno continues. It always takes much longer that the 60 minutes they show on TV. 

Decisions

 I have been missing because the contractors arrived and the reno began. We are still sorting through "stuff" and deciding what should go where, and if there is a way to give stuff to people who can use it.

We have made 2 trips to drop off Ewaste, 5 bags of books have gone to the annual church book sale, fabric and patterns have gone to be freecycled, along with kitchen items, toys, and other useful things. Sadly, some of the "stuff" just has to be thrown away. No one wants old textbooks, broken plastic items, and other such treasures. Some days I feel like my head might explode from all the decisions.

When the workers get too noisy, I have been hiding, either knitting in the sunroom with the pets, or spending time organizing my sewing stuff. 

These are my very alert guardians.

I have gotten some knitting finished.

These are my April socks.

And a pair of  baby socks.

I finished one fingerless mitt, but then spring arrived. I must finish the second one.

Easter came, and I made a family favourite, Easter cupcakes. 

This year is the 100th anniversary of the forming of the United Church of Canada. The local region decided to make a quilt to commemorate the occasion, with one block for each "pastoral charge".  I don't know who is going to put the blocks together, but I was asked to make the block for our congregation. (What were they thinking?)

This is my block. It is a six inch block, and I was asked for 4 sections about the church. Just try to do four ideas as 3 inch triangles. Everyone seems happy with it, so it is off the join the rest.

While I have been organizing my sewing room, I have been rewarding myself with a few minutes of sewing. Just a small project I can work on in small bursts. Today, I finished this little bag from 2 1/2" squares of Shweshwe fabric. I discovered I had been gifted with a bag of scrap strips from someone else's quilt. I don't remember who gave it to me.

Spring is finally here, so I have some pictures of our gardens.

I saw a cute couple looking for a new home, the other day. They were checking out our backyard.

I think they decided that there were too many dogs in our block, so they have gone elsewhere.