Gone To The Beach: 02.08.2013

Friday, February 8, 2013

Winter Storm Watch

Hi! I hope everyone is home safe and warm tonight. I can't believe we are preparing for yet another ''monster storm''. There is a surreal quality to the planning---didn't we just do this?

And more than just a hint of ''blizzard, what blizzard?''. The temps are hovering in the thirties here, at times we have rain, at times some frozen, uh, crap? No snow. 30 mph winds, no storm surge.

I did all the usual stuff: Feed the ferall kitties; secure loose stuff on my deck. Dither over the still-broken back storm door...no glass in places.
Made food that does not need refrigeration or heating. Got out batteries and candles.

Winter storms are, alas, a big part of winter at the beach. And before H. Sandy, no big deal. Sure---we'd lose power for a day, maybe two; it'd get cold indoors. But now we worry...what if the power goes out again...for weeks or months? Can we bear it, the cold and dark returning?

After I do what I can, I turn to my quilting. I have lots of hand sewing, on the Porch quilt and bindings of finished quilts/ repaired quilts.
(The view from my swing table windows....below)

And I have my Fall Project to work on, a project that somehow never gets worked upon during the Fall. There is always something, isn't there. I thought last weekend I got a lot done, but now, as I look...well, darn. The fancy mixed borders still need a LOT of work and fudging-to-fit!

These are blocks I have made or collected over many years.

The Tulips [one on right] are the first quilt thing I bought when I moved to NYC after college. They came from a famous folk art dealer on Madison Avenue and were the only thing I could possibly afford.

Various stars and Sailboats are flea market finds and gifts from a quilt dealer friend. I made the Tall Ships from a Bicentennial pattern I found at flea market.They were intended to be a quilt for my parents' Cape Cod home---but were not acceptable, my mom hated the red-white-and-blue-ness, the Ye Olde New Englande look. My dad loved and studied antique ships, made intricate ship models, so I had thought they'd like the idea. But no. (Mother hated the ''subtly luxurious'' Hunter's Star silk quilt I tried next too. I did not try again.)

It's odd and ironic, the quilter's impulse to make gift quilts. All that thought, care, effort---money. And love we put into our work, and wish to share, to give. Rarely if ever are the results wanted or treasured. Now I try hard to remember: make what I like, for the artistry, for the pleasure. No Gifts!