A Finish!

Good morning, my friends. It's a sunny day. The promise of a warmer week seems to be coming to fruition. I was out early yesterday morning. The birds had emptied their feeders...again...and I needed to check on the seedlings in the greenhouse. (Both things are new additions to my morning routine.) While I was out, I checked on the flowers. (Checking on the flowers is also part of my morning routine.) I'd hoped the Coral Sunset peony would have bloomed, but it was still hiding itself. Nevertheless, the other peonies were putting on a show.

Also, this single flower on the Edda clematis is nearly open. Lots more flowers are coming. I figure they send out a scout flower to reconnoiter before they'll commit to blooming.

Back inside, my first priority in the sewing world was to finish the binding for the Merry, Merry Snowmen. And how could I not finish it when I had the help of my loyal stitching cat?

We spent about 45 minutes on the hand-stitching, and my quilt was finished. I started on the Merry, Merry Snowmen on July 29, 2024. Now, it is boxed up and ready to go to its forever home in southern California.

Here's a little peek at the back.

Quilting and binding the Merry, Merry Snowmen was my goal for May's

I'll link up there when the party starts next week.

With that finished, I was ready to quilt another row of blocks for the Homestead quilt. This is the "Schoolhouse" block. I wasn't really sure what to do here, and so I quilted it lightly. I might decide to do more on this.

Here's how it's looking from the back.

The next block is called "Lincoln's Platform."

Here's how that looks from the back. 

Finally, the "Nebraska Pinwheel." This block is also known as the "Dempster Windmill."

Here's how that's looking from the back.

It was afternoon by then. When the weather warms up and the sun shines, the peonies will show themselves. I decided to check on the Coral Sunset peony one more time. I found Sadie on her catio, scanning the landscape for any furry mammals.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear? There it is! About half opened.

Here's another one!

I expect these will open all the way today. Then, I can start obsessing over the two that have not bloomed yet. 

Today is a grocery shopping day. Other than that, there's nothing else on the to-do list. We have a relatively short list today, and then I can get back to my sewing. When I came upstairs just now, I found Smitty catching some rays on his kitty pole. It's his favorite time of the year when the morning sun shines in his window.

There was no progress made on the Stair Steps quilt. I swear I'm going to do something with that today. However, I've come to the conclusion that there's not enough time/energy in any given day to work on more than two projects. Now that the quilt binding is finished, I'll have the time/energy to devote to my list of WIPs. As things are going, I probably have at least three days before I'll finish the quilting for the Homestead quilt. When I start on that quilt binding, it'll be my second project in a day. 

Next up for quilting will be "The Story of My Day." Already I have some ideas about how to do this.

Okay, so Mike is ready to go, and I'm still sitting here in my pajamas. Probably, I should be on my way. Good chat this morning, my friends! Have a good day today!