What's Happening in the Little Quilt Room?

 Hi! What's Happening in the Little Quilt Room? Or...More importantly what is going on with Blogger? Comments here are no longer being forwarded to my email account. Now and then one appears on my phone, but not online. Some regular emails seem to be disappearing too, so maybe it is not Blogger's fault. Please forgive me if I do not reply, our conversations are very important to me. For now I am going to try to reply here on the blog and see if those go on to my email, from whence I can send them on to you. But for a few days, we may be stuck here in Blogger Land, so please check back.
Another personal note: Hunter, we your friends are worried about you! If you read this please let us know how you are! I realise the volcano is far from you in Maui, but still...we worry, we miss you, we care about you. Hugs and love, and hopefully blue skies of Maui magic.

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This weekend was odd. Friday and Saturday were gloriously sunny and though not hot, at least warm. Saturday was a perfect [if very windy] beach day with the Navy's Blue Angels soaring right over our heads. Boy, are they loud. And so exciting.

local news feed pic

But Sunday and Monday/ Memorial Day were a bust. The airshow's second day was actually cancelled, due to flash flood warnings on the beach where most spectators gather. Plus it was just dismal, back to default---cold, dark, and rainy. I worked on the May blocks for the Schoolgirl Album quilt instead of going out.

This block is called Album block, or Chimney Sweep. It's a very common pattern, I have at least three or four antiques in this design, bought more for the color than the design.

I make the block differently from many directions. I do a simple 9-Patch then add the ''wings" , easy-peasy.

Here is the blue version, 12" ;

and notes to redraw the pattern for scissors cutting.

I was quite disappointed in the result, though. The duck egg blue is so dull here; the mixed indigos, a gift from a friend and much treasured by me, also look uninteresting. Monochromatic is not so easy.

On the other hand we also have Hideous to enjoy.

At first I was boggled by how to draft the smaller block, but the diagonals derive easily from points at 1.5". 3", 3", 1.5" = 9". Thank goodness I didn't have to do the a squared + b squared = c squared,blah blah blah. And lo and behold, the squares were exactly 2", again easy.

This version is always fun. The fabrics are so gaudy and ghastly and indeed they POP. 

Off topic, on one of my quilting groups we were asked what we enjoyed LEAST about making a quilt. Mine was removing all the threads on the back.  I only trim them immaculately if someone else will be quilting, otherwise, oh what the heck. Shoddy, I know.

I know I laughingly call this fabric group, Jamestown, ''hideous'' but I kind of love it. I am planning now to skew my TQC 1880 Sampler's colors more towards this grouping too, to keep it closer to the original. Yes--hideous, but authentic.

The toile center is the crack pipe Boy.

Probably he is smoking one of those long white Dutch clay pipes that always turn up in Manhattan excavations.  Mel and I discussed him--could it be a whistle? [no]; could it be a bubble pipe? [ no! yeesh. That's what I thought about a redwork version]. We know he is a young man because he has no beard...so it must have been okay back in the days of make-believe rural life for young teens to smoke pipes. This type of toile, often featuring lascivious peasants,  is usually called Country Life, by the way.

colonial era pipes. Google image

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Meanwhile, Saturday at the beach: it was nice but extremely windy. I'm out of practice in high wind applique and only did one pineapple body. But it was enjoyable. I love making the tiny stitches in the bright sun, so easy to see well and do it all nicely.

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Mo had the zoomies just now, pant-pant-pant.

Have a good week!

love,

lizzy

gone to the beach....

Dutch "Old Master" paintings, 1600s thru 1700s, many of woman! are quite interesting.  Almost shocking how many people used pipes and how popular and acceptable the fad was.

HERE