I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Sunday, March 20, 2016

Welcome Spring! And Pokeberry is Done!


Yay, Pokeberry! 




But first things first, Happy Spring to everyone.




We are expecting snow here at the beach. Love the Alert's commentary:

The Equinoxes often bring stormy weather, and snow in late March is unfortunate but commonplace. One last chance to make hot chocolate and snuggle under the covers while the snow flies. I enjoy winter so I don't mind.
This week I finished my Pokeberry Quilt! Yay! Here's a link to my very first post about Pokeberry, back in June: click here  with credits and explanations, because as my friend Lisa pointed out, not everyone who visits here is a quilter!

















I had to piece the backing. I inserted a strip of the  robin's egg sawtooth fabric. The solid is a soft flannel, a very pretty violet/blue/grey. Nicer than the photos look.


The label will go under the line of sawtooths.



This is a label someone gave me, I've been saving it. It looks very Pokeberry-ish, I think.


I learned a new to me trick making this quilt. I love learning new skills, and never having taken a class I sometimes am not clued in to what everyone else knows. Like: how to make large amounts of sawtooths! My previous method was to piece long bias strips of the two colors then laboriously cut each HST [half square triangle, my non-quilter friends] with a template. Time consuming but very accurate. Not fun if you need about 150 hst's for a big border. Thank you, Jan Patek!



One last press and it's off to the quilter in the morning, depending on the snow accumulation, of course. I asked for allover Baptist Fans and I am sending black batting. My quilter agreed with  me that black batting was a good idea for this quilt. It's Hobb's Heirloom 80/20. I could not find 100% cotton batting in black. I'm petty excited that this project is done! And I still love the funny weeds, the pokeberries.



Next I went back to poor neglected Summertime. I quickly pieced the Four Patch /Nine Patch cornerstones. I had to sub yellow on some of the corners so that there was not pink on pink making an odd visual.



Because of this I suddenly last night realized these blocks are directional in an odd way. The navy squares slant off parallel instead of pointing to the center. I'm pretty sure I did the earlier cornerstones wrong! Oh well.


I hope the colors come together. They're not as ugly as the pix seem but a bit sad. My idea was "blueberries/ raspberries/ lemonade", very summery. Looks like a drought to me though.
The applique border will have brilliant rose red yoyo flowers and blue and yellow birds, on green stems and leaves. Perk things up?

I also remade my second block for Westering Women. I couldn't bear to use more of my beloved hoarded turquoise, so I subbed. The new block, on the right, is the correct size but to me it lacks the snap of version one.


...
Yesterday was Mo's birthday! He is two. Happy Birthday, Mo!





Have a great week.



love

lizzy

gone to the beach...





I love the sun rays here,
like a child's drawing




10 comments:

  1. Pokeberry looks awesome, I can't wait to see it quilted! I think you're going to love it for a long time.

    I'm not so sure about Summertime...I'll have to wait and see. It may come out a lot better when it's done, sometimes I can't picture the blocks going together!

    Oh, Happy Birthday to Mo! He sure has grown, LOL. I know I've enjoyed his adventures (and misadventures!) on your blog!

    The tulips are gorgeous, too. Love how delicate they look. While I was waiting for a friend at Wal-Mart a few days ago I sat and looked across at the cut flowers and was really tempted...but they probably wouldn't have looked very good after the trip home and the kitties got into them. Cats and cut flowers don't mix very well. Maybe when I can find a place they can't reach but I can still see them...

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  2. Your Pokeberry looks great and I love the border fabric and much as I like Baptiste Fan quilting. Mo looks such a big boy now. We had a sudden drop of temperatures, Autumn is definitely on it's way. Two days of 18C felt like Winter after the heat we've been having.
    I bought some bulbs for planting, yours always look so good.

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  3. There is so much to love about this folky quilt! It is so pretty and interesting. The colors, the mix of wool and cotton, that vintage ribbon for the stems - such a special quilt! All over baptist fans will be perfect!

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  4. Your Pokeberry is absolutely wonderful!! Congratulations on the finish!! I changed my 4 patch/9 patch blocks on Summertime. I think I've changed a few things on the quilt actually. I finally just finished my monster Dresden Plate quilt so I will be starting back up on Summertime. And Happy Birthday sweet Mo!! Only 2? He's still a baby!

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  5. Happy spring! I've brought out my winter hat and gloves! No snow here but plenty of cold weather!!
    Congratulations on the finishing of the Pokeberry quilt! I love it! The fans will look great.
    Love your other blocks too!!

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  6. Congratulations on your Pokeberry! What a lot of work!!! You should be very proud.

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  7. I'm with you. One last winter hurrah sounds like fun, hot chocolate included!

    PokeBerry looks great. It's fun to really take some time to study it and see everything you incorporated. Good for you!

    Oooooh, nice beach/sky pics. Really pretty.

    Kel

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    1. Thanks, Kelley! The snow didn t stick, but we had hot chocolate anyway! That March wind is frigid.

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  8. Gorgeous work on the Pokeberry! I am looking forward to following more of your adventures!

    Mo looks gorgeous, so glad his birthday is celebrated!

    Lisa

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  9. Love, love, love your version of Pokeberry. What a great accomplishment to get it all finished up! I don't think I've ever seen a version like yours with the black background. Wonderful!

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