Cabin Fever, Winter Garden, Boardwalk Quilt.

 

Hi everyone. February round up.

                                       

I hardly know where to start---and not in a good "I'm so busy " way! The sun is shining, the snow is slowly melting. I made a plan w a friend to run to Trader Joe's for flowers and food goodies

until we realized there's still nowhere to park. Post storm snow mountains remain. Peonies are from December visit.

Quilts:  My four late 2025-early '26 quilts are packed and ready to mail to my quilter.  I still have no plan going forward, are my quilting days done? I hate waking up and having no project; there's been times when the thought of my afternoon sewing hour w Mo has been all that gets me out of bed. Yesterday I fooled around with string quilt: "Boardwalk",

My tryouts. Good to make samples. I see I need the strips to be much paler. Need to avoid blue and white and instead do greys. Otherwise the weathered wood effect is lost. And...the strips need to be about the same width, not random. The inspiration quilt is more complex than at first glance. 

Improv is not my thing. I enjoy a a pattern, a design, a goal.  It seems the kind of quilt I be thrilled to buy and use but not one I want to make.

Then there's this idea,

from.

I had planned to make it this winter, then decided not. Because who needs yet another big Fall quilt. This week I reconsidered: if making autumn quilts makes me happy, why not? Who cares. They're just for my amusement, no one will save them when I'm gone. Dumpster fodder!

Tax prep is the weekend plan  but I also may make a couple try out blocks to see what I think. (as always it is too big; I already know the second from the bottom row will be eliminated.) The Puss in the Corner is a simple block, looks suitably unchallenging.

And these two ideas are grouped on my desk, though I 'm unsure what or where they will become a project.

I'm also sad not to make a US Birthday quilt.

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Indoor bulbs:

More good news from amaryllis land! The bulbs are sprouting. I fed them, in case they were too neglected to rebloom. Maybe next year will be better. 

And!: Big Red is showing a hint of green growth. on the right.

I've had her for maybe 8 years now, so happy she survived the bricklayers' damage last summer. So brave.

On the other hand: paperwhites.

Of twenty plus bulbs, only three grew and bloomed.

Sweet but disappointing.

Most of the plain narcissus, Nazareth? grew leaves but no blooms. The Chinese narcissus I was so excited about--yellow centers!--have just laid there doing nothing.

Next year 'Ill go back to the Ziva species from Amazon.

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Mo had a vet checkup today. Mo will be 12 in a few weeks.

Better days ahead, 4-ish months til summer. 

Have a great weekend.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

2018 snow

Baby Mo in the snow, 10 months old. This is still his fave coat and it still fits!

Checking In - I've never seen so Much Snow

 

Hi!

All is well here so far.

''... [2 plus] Feet Of Snow, Hurricane-Force Winds Expected Tonight" [Sunday/ online notification]

Just a check in post. The blizzard is maybe almost over. I've never seen so much snow fall in one twenty-four hours. I have read reports of winds overnight at 80+ mph and possibly almost three feet of snow in coastal areas here.  Probably more like 18-24" but the drifts on my deck are as high as my head, my front door had a drift chest high against the glass storm door.  [a neighbor just now cleared it/ a safety issue, plus I m claustrophobic]The deck drifts are higher than the waist high railings, though that incudes snow that keeps falling from the roof.

At the height of the storm last night, 4 am, everything was in blizzard white out mode. Roads closed, no emergency services. The local plowing service worked here  thru the night. It was a comfort to know someone was nearby. 

I have the thermostat turned up to an unheard of 67*F, omygosh]

If the power holds on, I think we'll be ok.

Mo's having a lovely snow day. It's frowned upon by friends, guests, and dogwalkers, but I am glad I trained Mo to use his indoor potty station. No regrets.

And I baked very ugly Snow Day cookies.

See ya soon.

love

lizzy..................

Drawing Mr and Mrs Noah

 Hi! Cold and rainy week, snow/ blizzard/ cyclone bomb coming. A gale warning popped up on my screen as I typed this, 50+mph winds. Good to have my sewing plans, my hot tea HERE, my Baby Mo. I spent an absurd amount of time this week, designing Noah and wife for the Noah's Ark quilt.

First, last week, I removed the too dark night sky border and redid the moon and stars. 

New version

Whew, much better, plus a chance to fix this wonky seam, below. The fabric was too flimsy and odd to match the plaid lines but bowing was bothering me.

new, machine appliqued stars this time:

Next the final figures of Noah and Mrs N. I knew I wanted to base the drawings on two of my primitive cooky cutters. 

The man is so weird, does he have breasts? No I think that is a cut out for his arms and scrawny chest, hahaha. And the woman's shape, are those her elbows? 

Other inspirations gathered over the past two two years: versions of Harriet Power's [late 1800s to early 20th century folk quilter] Bible Quilt, and copies there of.  I can't wait to get these stamps, will order online. [Please don't ask me what the Bible scenes are, HP must have had a very deep knowledge of the inspiration text.]

A Jan Patek version made by blog friends Julianne and Lori/ Humble Quilts.

A Smithsonian repro sourced by Julie Silber, av in her shop online.

I also considered the Lady from Whatnots, she's tiny but so cute and animated.

I started by tracing the cooky cutters.

too ''paper doll". 

Versions emerged, came to a final shape but too large, so reduced the size on my printer copier.

Old fashioned templates, pasted on cardboard, draw around for easy needle turn. No stupid papers:

I had planned for Mrs Noah to be a bright double pink like Lady above, but too distracting. Then indigo, grey, and black sprigs were too dark, heavy. I finally decided the pale pink stripe dot was subtle enough to work. Noah got tan plaid; the considered  gray plaid was also too dark.

So here they are.

I saved the final touches for this weekend snow days. Embroidery, ugh. Sprigs of leaves for the doves, eyes for the whales. Lucky for me only a few of the creatures have  eyes. The paper doll tryouts would make such a cute child's quilt maybe, so they are tucked into the original pattern

One day I auditioned backings using stash fabrics. This was a long ago mistake I found on the blue discards shelf.

Light or dark? Hard to see in photos but the blue side/ right side looks especially ''hospital gown''; the reverse is okay. I have a stripe set aside for the binding.

I'll show everything when finished, before it goes off to Lori C--hoping the light will be better soon, it's been a lights on all day kind of week.

Mo of course supervises. For some reason he was fascinated by the metal cooky cutters???

WHAT. Is. THIS?, mommy?

He and I both wonder why I went with a boring blue colorway? This old screenshot was my years ago, original inspiration, and I also considered a red and white full sized Ark quilt for years for years. Why drab off-color blues, yawn.

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The amaryllis are showing green shoots, so thrilled. Only Big Red remains sad and crinkled brown. Still hoping though.

Have a good weekend.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach... 

PS I'm proud that I have resumed my walks post flu and snowstorms, despite the dismal weather, but the beach is still drifted with snow. Not safely accessible yet. And the hulking, scary big trucks have arrives, two weeks early. They groom the beach, you may recall. This was Monday, I think.

Smithsonian article about the H Powers quilt, including direct information explaining each block's meaning. Written down by the original purchaser who bought the quilt for $5.oo. Sadly as Ms Powers didn't want to have to part with her special work of art. HERE

There ae also YouTube vids you can search and watch. Here's one---HERE

The Jan Patek Bible Quilt; the Noah's Ark Quilt, and another Ark quilt are all available on JP's website.