December Flag Blocks

Hi! Hard to believe that December is ending, along with the year 2015.

''The days go so slow but the years go too fast..."

I want to share the Moon and Star blocks that were our December assignment for Lori's Flags of the American Revolution [J Patek] quiltalong.
I have to say I am very blessed with dear friends who have pitched in to help me sew my Flag blocks while my painful hand heals from its injury/ arthritis/ whatever.

This block is by my friend BJ.



Moultrie Flag (Liberty Moon)*

 
It is her first attempt at appliqué. Great job!

And all these blocks were sewed by my good friend here: Melody / "Mel".



Moon and Star spacer blocks



South Carolina Crescent Moons

She really has been a lifesaver and has done so much with the quiltalong blocks for me.
Most of these blacks were hand dyed by me, my stash doesn't have as much/ many black prints as I'd wish.
 

starfish Star, a little nod to the Beach

My quilt will not only be a wonderful patriotic quilt, in memory of my dad who made folk art flags---but also a friendship quilt with names and love sewed into its heart.

Thank you Mel and BJ! And dear L who heroically sewed all the thirteen star blocks, saving them for next? time.
I'll add the link for Lori's blog Liky page when she sets it up. For now her blog is:Humble Quilts

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

Kitty looking pretty on a fence

 

 

Kitty actually is sitting on a neighbor's uncovered black grill!
LOL I bet the black metal is cozy warm in the bright sun.
 

 

snow buntings in the bare bayberry trees at sunset

 

Back to the Beach

 

 

Hi everyone! I hope you all had wonderful holidays so far. Here at the beach the weather has been amazing. Almost 60* for the past four days and no wind, brilliant sunshine. Mo and I sat out on the deck! And I was able to begin hand quilting my Peace and Plenty [Cascadia] quilt.

The beach however was the big draw.

 

It called to me, Come out, come out and play!

I'm determined to find time for my daily beach walks this winter, despite walking Mo as much as 4.5 miles a day. The ocean soothes my soul and nourishes my creativity.

One day I went to the surfing beach which is about two miles west of my own beach.

I had not been back, except to walk on the shoreline, since before H Sandy, so about two years. For awhile this area was inaccessible; the boardwalk still has not been rebuilt.

It's a lovely beach, narrower than my beach. A good place to walk when I don't have the time or energy to hike all the way down to my shoreline.

Despite the darkness, these photos were taken at about 3 PM on a sunny day. Darkness comes early still.

 

Many years ago---75? 100? these giant granite boulders were brought here and formed these jetties. The rocks look black but up close are beautiful if functionless glittery bejeweled granite. They are the reason the beach is narrow here, jetties do not ''work''..but they also create the waves that angle smoothly to shore for surfing, so not a total fail, but a serendipitous result.

These are more of the manmade dunes. Maybe 20 feet high?---forming a new cliff of sorts.

This used to be a wide expanse of rolling dunes covered with sea grasses, scrub pine bayberry and bittersweet.

May 2011

 

Same view, December 2014

 

Now a wasteland. This is a narrow, low lying section of my island and here H Sandy's storm surge swept over these dunes all the way to the bay beyond, filling the schools nearby and destroying the school admin building across the street here.
So peaceful now.

Below a few Christmas pictures.

All went well...gifts were good, Santa did a good job. Both dinners were okay.

Here is Mo in his newest jacket, a Puppia parka halter combo!

And riding in his new car seat.

My premature narcissus are so pretty. In full bloom, a hint of spring.

How about you guys, was Santa good to you?


love

lizzy

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

Below: an anonymous beach drawing. What a wonderful folk art Mr. Sunshine. You guys know how much I love Mr. Sunshine images, and I was thrilled to discover this on my own beach. A favorable omen for 2015. I love it.

 

 

 

 

 

inspiration for the artist? same day.

 

 

Merry Christmas!

To all my friends here at Gone to the Beach...

 

....may your days be Merry and Bright!

 

Merry Christmas!

 

lizzy

 

     gone to the beach.....

Cascadia Doll Quilt Mystery Quilt--Times Two

 

Hi everyone! Happy Solstice, Welcome winter. The days are getting longer now. (LOL). Today I have two Cascadia mini quilts to show you. I am so excited to show you my friend BJ's version of Cascadia.
It's not put together entirely but it's wonderful.

I love her colors.

BJ makes beautiful quilts and has recently been making Civil War repro doll quilts, below, so when Lori's mystery challenge started I talked my friend into her first quiltalong. It's so fun to have a friend hooked on Lori's quiltalongs.

one of BJ's doll quilts, complete

Now my quilt---I do love it, it's adorable. But a bit of a rush job here at the end has left me with rippled borders. To rip out or quilt out? Not sure yet.

 I added the border because I did not use white or cream spacer triangles as instructed.
 No I had to use cheddar, and while I like the look the result is a trifle chaotic. I thought it needed a border to contain all the action and to keep it from looking like a fragment of a large quilt. [see end of post]****

I rummaged through my stash for a backing. My first choice, an antique cadet blue, was too small. I found this interesting large scale Lady Liberty toile.

 It's been in my stash for years; it has all the colors. (I hope I don't regret using this up.)

As I was cutting the backing I was studying the print. It is a Millennium print, dated 2000. I was thinking to myself, "Huh, funny to see the Liberty lady with bee hives and cornucopias, what's with that?...'' Then, ''Oh, it's a Peace and Plenty toile!", a post Civil War motif, I believe. Sure enough, when I looked closely at the selvedge, that's exactly what the name of the design is.
Sadly, since 2000 when it was printed peace and plenty has not been much seen in our world. But it's a lovely, comforting thought.

The pattern as I made it always reminded me of the harvest and Indian corn, so I think I'll rename my mini Peace and Plenty...and use the selvage , here, as the tag.

I can't wait to see what everyone else has done! Here is the link: Humble Quilts

Thank you, Lori, it was challenging but fun. [Those corners were just---a mystery to me. But here they are. Wonky but sewed.]

Happy Holidays to everyone!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

 

 

 

****
large strippy postage stamps, Google images. I even think I have a fragment in my bits-n-pieces collection of antique remnants, but I was too tired to dig it out.