Happy Easter!

My Favorite Sign Of Spring

Forsythia.

My favorite sign of spring!

What's yours?

Magnolia

Magnolia in spring.

Go Royals!

 Just in case the neighbors had any doubts as to

which team we will be rooting for in tonights final game of the World Series...

C'mon Boys in Blue,

Let's slay some giants!

Go Royals!!

Pure Delight

Pure delight.

Total happiness.

Big smiles.

Wild sunflowers.

One reason to love this place I call home.

Purple, Of Course

Starting up a baby afghan. (Giant granny.)

Yet another wee one about to make an appearance in the family.

Shades of blue, green, gray, cream AND purple, of course.

Using liberal doses of my niece's favorite color!

:-)

Strawberries And Ice-Cream

One scoop of ice-cream with strawberries on top.

Simple.

Perfection.

Treat yourself to something sweet this holiday weekend!




(sherbet cup-   Franciscan, Desert Rose)

Black-Eyed-Susan

A little bit of sunshine to start your weekend.

Masses of Black-Eyed-Susan 

growing in the rain garden 

at the Shawnee Indian Mission.

Ohio Quilt Barn

I stumbled across this wonderful old weathered quilt barn 

on my way to my niece's wedding. 

I haven't been able to locate this barn on the Quilt Trail map

but it was near Hillsboro, Ohio. (Brown or Highland Co?)

 This starry block is sometimes called "Milky Way".  

If you are from the southwest corner of Ohio and have more info, 

please let me know.

Watermelon And Cantaloupe Baby

Isn't this just the cutest?

A friend made this delightful fruit presentation for my daughter's baby shower. 

A cantaloupe baby in a watermelon stroller.

All you need is:

  watermelon (stroller)

 cantaloupe (baby)

 orange (wheels)

blueberries (eyes)

other berries/fruit (red grapes and strawberries shown here)

a few toothpicks

a pacifier 

and a little bit of time to carve, chop, peel, and get creative.  

:-)

Wild Roses Growing Along The Fence

I went to visit my grandfather yesterday.

The flowers in my hand could not compete with what nature had already provided;

Wild roses growing along the fence,  just steps from where he rests.

Lilac Time

Damp earth and sweetly scented garden flowers 

infuse every breeze that frolics through my open window. 

Its lilac time of year!

Remember Me

Hanging On The Line

What are you wearing for Easter?

Something pretty in pink?  Maybe green or blue?

The darling outfits hanging on the line are only about 5-6 inches high

and are part of my vintage potholder collection.

(See more of my potholders here.)

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.

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)

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!

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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If you prefer to follow me via Facebook,
click here and "Like" my page. (under the header picture)
Thanks so much!

Baby Shower

Minature Daffodils.

Little bluebirds.

Baby showers and spring colors just seem to go together.

Really looking forward to meeting this baby.

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.



* * * * *

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!