Thursday, March 20, 2014

Happiness


It's International Happiness Day!
What's bringing big smiles to your little part of the world?

No, we don't actually have daffodils, yet.  (The picture is from last year.)
But a warm wind is blowing and pretty flowers will soon follow.




Sunday, March 16, 2014

Parade And Garden Of Daisies #2


We went to the St Paddy's warm-up parade yesterday to watch these talented kids:
The Irish dance school that my daughter danced with for many years.
The big St Pat's parade will be downtown tomorrow, but I'll be at work

As you know, I love Irish music and dance
and have taken a few ceili classes myself,  because it's so fun! 

A few weeks ago I gave you reason number one (of three) 
for naming my blog "Garden Of Daisies".
Well, here is reason number two: It's the name of a favorite traditional Irish set dance.
I'm including a video of that dance, found online.
Be sure to wear green tomorrow and enjoy watching Garden Of Daisies.


(You can watch them all, or just skip ahead to 7:55 for Garden of Daisies)

Friday, March 14, 2014

Cotton, Flannel and Minky

Here are the last of the gifts that I made for the shower. 
A trio of baby blankets.

Cute cotton whale print backed with soft yellow minky.
Aqua cotton zig-zag backed with aqua animal flannel.
Soft green polkadot cotton backed with yellow and green alligator flannel.


With so many cute and unique fabrics available,
I don't know why anyone would buy a generic blanket from a store. 

These are soooo easy to make.
Wash and dry the fabrics to pre-shrink.
Just cut (2) a generous square or rectangle
(Size might depend on the width of the two fabrics you are using.) 
With right sides together, sew all the way around, 
leaving a small hole (about the size of your hand) to turn.  
Turn right side out and use a decorative top stitch close to the edge to 
give it a finished look and close up the hole.
Done.  


And one last look at everything together. 

I love you sweet baby and can't wait to meet you!


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so please follow this link and like my page.
Thanks so much!


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Interlocking Ripple Baby Afghan



I can finally reveal the ripple baby afghan I made
to give to my daughter at the baby shower.
 This is the first time I've made a ripple 
and I'm delighted with how well it turned out!


I used Baby Bee Sweet Delight yarn in 7 colors:
Peapod, Mint Charm, Baby Blue, Infant Teal, Surf Baby, Sunkisses, and Angel. 
I used  a 6/G/4.25mm hook.

I made ripples (hills and valleys) with sets of 14 stitches.
My initial chain was 14 sets of 14,  plus 2.
It's 80 rows long.
And has a row of single crochet all around the edges to finish it off.

I found inspiration for the interlocking ripple design at Lucy's Attic24.
And I learned how to crochet the ripple with Mikey at The Crochet Crowd.
He's a wonderful teacher.  I highly recommend his youtube videos.



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Thanks so much!


Monday, March 10, 2014

Baby Shower


Minature Daffodils.
Little bluebirds.
Baby showers and spring colors just seem to go together.
Really looking forward to meeting this baby.





Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Star Garland


I'm making star garland to hang at one of the baby showers.


I cut stars in two sizes from white, blue, green, yellow and silver card stock 
then sewed them into a long chain on the machine with a large stitch length (4). 

I doubled the large stars and gently folded them on the stitch line 
to make the garland three dimensional.

I'll tie the thread tails to paperclips for ease in hanging.



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I now have a Garden Of Daisies Facebook page
for those who prefer to follow me that way
Follow this link and click "like".
Thank you!


Saturday, March 1, 2014

Smiley


I took this picture a while ago, 
but I still grin from ear to ear every time I see it. 

Don't you just love these huge Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls? 

Hope you all are having a smiley kind of weekend.   





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Thank you!