Rose Star blocks, hellebores and violets.

I've been plodding on with the Rose Star blocks - I really enjoy the hand sewing - and now   

have nearly eleven blocks completed. At the moment they're lying on the floor on the back of an old quilt as I've been dithering on what colour to use for the background. Suggestions have included  white, white with a spot, and grey,and at the moment I'm wondering about the fawn/beige in the photo as a possibility. So hard !  And should I stay with this 2-3-2-3-2 layout or change to a 3-2-3-2-3 arrangment.  As it is at the moment I will have to make six half blocks to fill in the outside spaces.

I don't do much in the garden.  It's pretty much left to look after itself as long as there's plenty of greenery and a few spots of colour. But I couldn't help noticing today that the violets are starting to flower already.  Surely ti's too early for that - it's still summer.  They've been there for donkey's years and have never flowered this early before, even if the flowers are a bit small  and insipid looking.

And then there's the hellebore, another long-time resident.    It has always flowered late winter- early Spring but lately it's been blatantly flaunting itself and it's still summer.  Perhaps it's trying to tell me something !