The Eye Doctor's Quilt ~ and other Things of Small Note

Hello on a cold and windy Monday! We woke up to a very dark day, looked like November. 

Mo hoped I wouldn't find him in his warm nest.

The other day I had a very nerve wracking appointment to get my eyes checked. I’ve been having blurred vision and eye strain. What could it be? The optometrists are social friends and could not have been nicer, balancing  friendship with brisk professionalism. 

Nothing was wrong.  Just one eye had become farsighted, the other nearsighted. Need glasses to rectify when driving and a different pair for close work. What a relief. My friend Dr M is not a quilter or collector but she loves quilts. This was on the wall of her private office. Framed sections of a late Victorian silk Log Cabin/ Straight Furrows variation quilt.

Framing the best sections was a way to save a lovely silk quilt that had in places deteriorated beyond hope. I think it’s beautiful and modern in effect.

I has inspected this quilt years ago; it's one of only two or three quilts Dr M owns. It dates from c. 1885-1920s, I believe. The piece had already then deteriorated far beyond the resources of any traditional conservation techniques, as many of the dark silks had turned to powder and dust. Not shreds that I could cover, but dust. And to replace the silks wasn't an option because about 75% would need to be hand sewed in replacement, and while handled and worked on the rest would, I thought, simply fall apart.  I said no, and she sadly put it away.

Years later we got to talking on the beach---my ex husband also has a silk quilt in need of repair, and he had mentioned it to her---and Dr M told me how she had the intact sections of her silk quilt framed. [His quilt is beautiful but just has a rip in one block, not anything crucial; I just do not at present have the right silks for the repair.]

I think her idea was inspired, the result so beautiful!

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Indoor Spring Bulb update: The paperwhites after three weeks. 

The last little daffs and hyacinth.

And at my friend's house yesterday I saw her tulips! Costco, 10.oo! Wow, gotta have.

The tulips are lovely, though when I asked if they were red she cringed a little. But the wonderful part is the glass forcing vase with its high sides and  reservoir for the roots to grow.

Also---no pebbles needed. Love it.

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Found objects...

You may recall a few posts ago I sadly said I hadn't found any washers that week? Well the very next day I went to beach to see what the heck the guys were doing, building this enormous and so ugly bridge, one of perhaps 10! How is this allowed, such destruction of natural beauty and views?

.And as I skirted the backside of the dunes , look what I found! This was a wash through area until the construction. One windy day had exposed lots of strange treasure and a few coins. The S hooks are big and very heavy. They were connected with a shred of nylon webbed belting.

I spied the yellow flowered branch, just tiny...was it real and had traveled here from a warm place where forsythia is in bloom? Well, no. But it's sweet and bright. I brought it  it home, gave it a good wash.

Later I found yet one more washer in Kohl's parking lot? Where do these all come from?
As for coins, I found two quarters and a dime.

My hardware notions ''hoard''.

And see this dark growth of winter bayberry below the monstrous bridge? It is, perhaps, the copse where the ancient ship's beam lies. Maybe they left it? I can't get close enough to see. But I am hopeful.

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Mo had a bath this afternoon. Odd how dark his coat is now in deep winter. Usually he is all white and fluffy after a bath, but no. 

Have a good week!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....