Quilts etc_ Looking Forward, Looking Back. 2024-25 PART 2

 

Okay, gang, I'm back! Time for the rest of this annual post. I did notice I do the same thing every year, but then never refer back to my plans and lists. Oh well. The funny thing is I got a spam comment this morning on last year's post---offering me a special deal on Dumpster rentals. Hint, hint, hahahaha.

To do list---as soon as Silent Night is ironed and sent to my quilter--- or even if NOT! 

(1) Put the recycled borders on Bramble Berries One. Again this is mostly  the daunting [pain, pain!] task of pressing the funky vintage top I am using, an eBay find. Some people are contemplating BB THREE! Imagine that. I love my center still, very much, but one is more than enough.

That said, I have loved following along and learning from Audrey who is so creative and prolific. I love her advice, suggestions, ideas. Thank you, Audrey!

Then--- (2)this will be fun, I hope.

My little friend who I get to be ''auntie'' with now is old enough to want us to make doll clothes. I haven't made doll clothes in years, but I love the idea. A trip to a craft store for glittery fabrics and small notions like snaps may be necessary, also fun.

Then these are the quilts up next. 

(3) The TQC string quilt should be doable as a pick up/ set aside, though it contradicts my plan to make only tiny quilts now.

I will make the large 10" bullseye blocks differently using blog friend Julierose's Ojos method. The components will be cut 6" , for a final 10.5" block.

Then (4) the Cheri Payne Whatnots small folkart quilt.

I've been stymied by the 1" finish squares. My sewing machine chews up tiny bits and spits out a wad. Not fun. But I had the bright idea: put something else. Maybe  a 2" checkerboard, or a mini log cabin, inspired by this TQC project that I love, or?

I even considered Baskets. or Chinese coins. The applique borders, probably a mix of wool and raw edge cottons, will be perfect for outside sewing if and when spring arrives. At which time I'll also pick up Noah's Ark again

(5, 6) Noah's Ark needs 5 - 7 more animals, 3 whales, dove, Ark, the sky. I estimate  as of now the needleturn/ prepped edge applique work is maybe half done.

And if time permits, or a snow day, start on the Jacks' faces.

So this all seems hopeful and not too daunting. I get nervous and freeze if too many projects loom. Though as I set the winter's plan out, I realize it's far too ambitious. I'll be thrilled if I finish Bramble Berries top, I guess.

I'm still finishing December in my perpetual notebooks. Recent work is very poor, I don't draw or paint well if feeling anxious or unwell, it is for me a happy endeavor usually. . [that's my excuse, lol].

Off for Mo's walkies, sunny and 40*, though a south wind gale is due tonight, followed by the Polar Vortex. [cool picture book for kids!]

I made matzo ball soup, found the dumplings box during pantry rotation. Monday is both Martin Luther King Day and the second Trump inauguration. I wonder what MLK would have thought about Mr Trump's agendas and the state of our country all these years later.

Time to plant the winter bulb garden, next post. This was a Christmas gift from me to me. Love the tiny daffs, but the white amaryllis is just a nubbin still. More to come.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

late summer, a few years ago, summer days to savor!

Quilts etc_ Looking Forward, Looking Back. 2024-25

 

Hello, hello! Time for the annual quilt retrospective. I mentioned on Nancy's blog that I too have no finishes, or so I thought. On scrolling through photo files I see perhaps a better output than I realised.

First up is a BIG finish! Winter Marsh has been showing up on my blog for years, definitely pre-covid 2020, but that was it's moment, when our world shut down and loneliness prevailed.

The words are from the Beatles song. Here Comes the Sun, as I am an ever hopeful type of person. This is the Sun.

Yet the words still make me cry.

I finished the binding right at New Years. I was very un-thrilled with the Kaffee Fassett woven stripe I used. Thin, flimsy, ugly, expensive, invisible. Any black or dark blue would have worked better.

I forgot to take a pic but the back is a midnight blue and soft grey white print of mason jars with fleeing fireflies. I won't repeat the design's meaning, but it is filled with imagery and symbols of winter in the saltmarsh, winter in one's world, in life. Based on a pattern by Jan Patek, Morning Has Broken.

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Then another Jan Patek small quilt, ''just for fun''.

I loved the humor in the Fourth of July Pumpkin reference. Some people crazy rush each season and holiday. But after the recent election, I rather do not want to ever see another patriotic piece; I am, months later, still in shock that our country is so divided. [No political comments please, btw.]

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and last Parsonsfield,

a little quilt designed by Lori D of Humble Quilts. Her 2023 sewalong. The challenge for me was to use the pale, ''low volume'' palette. I think it is successfully done, if not a "Lizzy Quilt" in its style. Even the camera struggled to capture the subtle vanilla ice cream tones of the fabrics. I see neither of the small quilts has binding in the pics. I'll try to get better photos  after clinic .

                                                              "Try, learn, grow."

All three quilts were beautifully longarm quilted by Lori C of Quilters Imagination. She does such beautiful work and is such a lovely person to work with. [bulbs-- not yet!]

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Top completed "Silent Night'', again a pattern by Jan Patek,

though her name is different, Midnight Clear. I was determined to finish this, because finishes are a big deal to me. I truly hated every minute of making this, lol. It has put me off sewing and quilting almost irrevocably, I'm sad to say. I still have to iron it and send it off.  Blog friend Juliann sent me lovely wool pieces for the to-be-added [after quilting] children's snow suits and sled.

I do still like the design! Just hated the sewing and some choices I made before I understood the construction.

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Must stop now to walk Mo. Perhaps part 2, Looking Ahead should be a second post?/// Okay back....After cold and gale winds, today is lovely. Great walk!

It was so nice Mo sked to have his playtime outside while I prepared food to tide me over during IV recuperation week. I always make ham salad and Mo adores ham, but he loves a sunny sit out even mre.

Note above sunset time, then view from my windows at 5.20! Yes steamers of color still at five thirty now. Hopeful. Seven months til summer.

I do apologize for not responding to comments this past week. I will do my best! It was just a sort of miserable week, w pre-procedure lab work and other stuff. And Mo finally has a new groomer. Our beloved groomer in her spa van has retired. What a shock, she looks barely late thirties. The new groomer was very successful though, so that is okay. [I didn't sleep all week, worrying. For almost eleven years, Mo has only been bathed and pampered by dearest Sherry. Miss her but send the very best wishes.].

And then the high winds! On the day w 50+mph gusts, first the platters and white ironstone pitchers all jiggled and toppled  off the sideboard. So scary. Nothing broke this time though. Old pic here but you get the gist.

And then I saw that the high shelf in the utility closet had fallen.

Onto the pipes of the hot water heater and other plumbing, including pipes to the washing machine and second bathroom. And the pipe for the dryer vent feeds through it. It's high up, dusty, ugly, like my miniature attic. I was horrified. My friend came a few days later and fixed it all, plus he helped me with major declutter disposal. Next week he says he will install a new TV, a cell booster/ modem?, and new light fixtures in the bathroom and vanity areas. The buildout and sliding doors that will allow access to this utility space [so I can clean/ dust, yikes!] is a much bigger job, maybe for this spring or summer. I am so blessed to have such a friend. We also made a plan to start selling my collections, because of course he knows some dealers who may be interested. Hah! I'd pay them to take stuff away, who knewwwww!?! 

Anyway, my mental chaos w these events and various other things kept me from writing Christmas thank yous  and blog replies. My apologies, I so love each and every comment.

On a lighter note---this is so --hilarious/ awful. A friend sent it to me after I was so excited about the QM2 ship. Omigosh. I'm seasick. This was filmed on the actual voyage I saw last week leaving NY Harbor. Winter Cruise QM2

Part Two of Quilts etc_ Looking Forward, Looking Back. 2024-25 posted soon!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....

no beach, bec---that wind! Instead clouds and sunset for Nancy who likes clouds and you all.

Transitions

Hi everyone, welcome to January and the new year. The holidays went by too fast, but though small , were spent with loved ones, good memories made. Now we face the long darkness of winter, seven months til summer, except for lucky readers in the southern hemi. Below, a Brambly Hedge drawing from IG, books my mother and I loved even as adults [maybe more as adults!]. Don't we just want to snuggle in and hibernate!

Mo votes a big Yes! Zzzzzz

I didn't decorate much so everything Christmassy is more or less put away. I love the look of red and white and was thinking of doing a month or two of "vintage Swedish winter" in the style of artist Carl Larsson here [not hygge/ chippy barren white!]. 

edit switched to lbue today, w bright touches. Can't wait to put down my new indigo rag rug in a few minutes. It is also a
gift and from the Springfield flea.

For some reason I just adore this red and white Snowman checks tablecloth! I'd probably love it in July. [from my mom]. It's so cute because it's Italian restaurant/ pizzeria red checks---but not.

But then the red sofa pillows are a Santa toile, sooooo--out came the blues.

Here showcasing the adorable feedsack animals from my brother and SIL. I had seen these soft sculptures on IG, a maker at the Springfield OH flea markets, and my B & SIL kindly sent these to me. I love them so much

Then I pulled colorful random quilts, just for fun. Another Mushroom print too.

Sometimes non-seasonal, non specific quilts get overlooked and unused. This is their chance to shine.

The wooden bowl has pine cones and ancient dried pomanders, oranges and lemons studded with cloves. 

I found vintage ticking on eBay for hearts and small pillows production, though very expensive. Any interest? Lavender filling optional.

The pine bench is in transition, and soon will be the growing space for my winter bulbs.

And so---January!

All about new calendars, so I added my Sara Sporrer Months in the Country quilt. I'll hang it when I clear its space of Amazon boxes destined to be recycled. It's the only quilt I ever hang on my walls.

Spaking of calendars, a fun January chore is always setting up the new calendars after writing in all pertinent dates. Of course I use my phone calendar but I still love a real wall calendar too. Helps me plan the months, orient the days etc.

The Pugs, a gift, is for pretty, hung in the kitchen; the freebie town calendar is hung in inside a cabinet , used to scrawl on and also has info like taxes due and trash collection dates. Town phone numbers too. Last year I got this beautiful small agenda from the now-defunct French Quiltmania publisher; not available this year. [It has so many pics of beautiful inspiring quilts, a different look from American quilts, lighter, brighter, less serious. Lots of charm. A keeper.] In it I write things like dogwalkers' schedules, who was where and when. It stays in my table basket with my checkbook, pens, Rxs on the breakfast table.

This year I ordered the Marjolein Bastin agenda. It's lovely but much too big and cumbersome. Still searching for a small pretty agenda, not readily available, it seems.

 It's been very windy here and still so dark. We do have 20 more minutes of sunlight so that is hopeful. I have had to keep Mo in because the blowing sand has hurt his eyes and he is struggling with chronic eye and ear infections. He is puzzled when we only do indoor playtimes. though as he likes to wear a little sweater and sit out on the frigid but sunny deck late mornings. edit: the wind dropped to 13 mph, wind chill 11; I bundled us both up and we had the most delightful afternoon walk. Such fresh air and sunshine. I was smiling. It's all about dressing warm and walking briskly.

The other night I looked up from my computer desk and looking back through the living room, I noticed brilliant lights out at sea. 

It was the ocean liner Queen Mary 2. So beautiful and exciting to see it. 

It is much bigger than it may look, being designed to harken back to the golden era of Art Deco ocean liners. It is almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall. Apparently it leaves NYC Harbor with the tides to fit safely under the Verrazano Bridge---and I am imagining the guests all so excited to get underway. But then it waits here, ''on the roads''--shipping lanes, til dawn before setting off for England. 

Remember this ship is 8 to ten miles out to sea. It was quite spectacular. To the left is a cargo ship and a trawler. Lights are very different, though trawlers too use brilliant white spotlights sometimes.

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Yesterday I made corn chowder with leeks and diced potatoes. One issue with stocking up emergency supplies is that they must be rotated into use or they go past their expiration dates and must be discarded. Usually I don't use canned goods as a regular ingredient. So my soup was very make do/ canned goods: can of chicken broth, can of Niblets corn, can of generic diced potatoes, half a bag of dried potatoes. For the leeks I used scallions instead, two big bunches including 6 " of the green tops. Sauteed in butter, then add water and potatoes, cook a bit til the potatoes [1/4"diced/ can] are soft. Add everything else plus some half and half r milk, whatevr. Lots of black pepper, tarragon, parsley. Maybe more water as it simmers. I had it for dinner with a slice of buttered ciabatta bread. Oh so warm in one's tummy. Froze half of leftovers, some for tonight.

I'll be back soon with some quilting content: what got made, if anything! in 2024. What's next, etc. Also catching up on my nature drawings. Watercolor is so slow, no wonder I see reels of people using hairdryers to move things along, lol.

Have a wonderful week.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach................