Lighter days mean more sewing and growing

I am continuing to sew my Rose Stars and have now finished number 5 and still can't decide is this is a throw, pillows or some thing else. I have been auditing colours for the background but nothing I have feels right. Guess that means some more internet fabric browsing for me.

 I like them against the dark slate of our table.

I bought the backing for my Siblings Together row quilt but have made no more progress with that. However I also bought a small fat quarter and a little bit more of Carrie Bloomston of Such Designs Collage Collection. I love the bright colour palette and the grungy arty feel. I also loved the way Eclectic Elements fold their fabric. I was itching to use some, despite the fact I have numerous projects needing finished, so decided to try Jo Avery's pattern from Love Quilting issue 9.  The pattern was easy to follow and all went well apart from one bit of unpicking due to my tiredness. I quilted using echo quilting, as Jo had done, backed it with some more of the Collage fabric and thought it could be for my daughter's new flat. Lens Guy has other ideas, he really likes it and wants me to make more. I have also found an arrow tutorial I would like to try so there may be more feather cushions in the pipeline.

The back is a simple envelope back with more collage.

Today is Father's Day and  inevitably my thoughts turn to my own wonderful father who is no longer here and my brother as I think about his children managing without their dad. It is now 9 years since my dad died and 6 years since my brother's death and I can now remember more of the fun times and smile when I think of them both but this was not always the case. I strongly believe in taking each day as it comes and trying to find the positive in every day and most days I do this but there will inevitably be some days that are a little darker. Today was not one, it has been a day of good friends, laughter and precious time with those we love. We had a lovely afternoon sitting in the garden over a very extended lunch and barbecue that was delicious after Lens Guy spent a considerable time with matches, fire lighters and the wrong type of charcoal that did not want to light but the pyrotechnics did die down to a gentle glow so we could cook - mushrooms wrapped in bacon are always my barbecue favourite.

The garden continues to amaze us as new flowers burst into bloom every day. I feel so lucky to have a beautiful garden but can really take no real credit for it as all we have done so far is add the greenhouse and more plants.

This peony is simply stunning.

 We have several different Acers and the pink flowers against the dark leaves is gorgeous.

I love these flowers but don't know what they are called.

I leave you with an image of Lens Guy who will always go to extremes to get the rightphotograph...

I