Gone To The Beach: 2019/07

Monday, July 29, 2019

July. Sunday

July. Sunday.

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here at the beach---hot and sunny but with a brisk wind blowing from the west. It's the last Sunday in July, the month is almost over, it has passed too fast. Did I savor it properly, I wonder---swim enough, beachcomb enough, admire the moon and summer stars? Drink sufficient margaritas and lemonade? This will never come again, this July, as the days of summer, of wine and roses, fade off to the dog days of August and the heat and tedium of September/ October.

]]

July is one of my favorite months. It begins, literally with a bang, with a holiday and fireworks and parties then proceeds through endless days of sun and sand. A month frilled with blue hydrangeas, with orange daylilies, white queen anne's lace, and pink roses.
Endless summer.

*****************

Later I made my friend's recipe for quinoa. It is the basis for her Mediterranean diet, she has slimmed from a size 12 to an xxx small. [2?]. She eats the quinoa with a protein such as chicken or eggs, then has fruit. I have to ask if she eats any other veggies, seems not.

This was delicious for us with small steaks and beautiful asparagus.

Early evening walk with Mo. He is channeling his inner Doug the Pug, media star. Look at those Doug-like neck rolls! [yes, pugs are supposed to have rolls, especially the fawn males.]

Have a good week! Meteor shower tonight, go look!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

PS If you thought my blue stars and planets for Cheddarback was demented, but were too polite to say so [and thanks Audrey for liking!], I also got this soft faded sprig print, a find by Nancy at Joy for Grace.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Look What Came in the Mail!

Good evening! How is everyone, good? We had a couple of stormy nights and today is cooler and bright sunshine. Pushing 80* though, not exactly a frost!

The past few weeks I have been getting some wonderful treats in the mail. And it isn't even my birthday. Some things are gifts [which I treasure] and some are treats I have bought myself.

From Kelley, in California---darling, perfect---and much needed!---new flip flops. I love the colors and flower pattern. Thank you, Kel!

And from Penny, in South Africa via a friend travelling to the US, the most wonderful big envelope containing vintage Jan Patek/ Sandy Klop books----and the fabrics to go with!

The three books, c. 2002.

Some of this design teams very best most interesting work:

The three books actually function as one presentation, so I am especially thrilled to receive all three parts.

There are so incredibly many exceptional projects in these books! This one is the culmination of all three books' info. [I'd change a few things, the quail though cute is not, to me, iconic enough; I'd add bee skeps and another of the game boards maybe; get rid of that fence, yeesh]

Game boards! Maybe with wool applique?

And yes, just for me: Pineapples, Pineapples. I will make them all. 2020 and 2021 will be the years of Lizzy's pineapple fixation, how fun.

The fabrics---think how involved it must be to get these fabrics from the US to SA, then back to me! Penny has collected them and saved them all these years and so generously has now shared them with me. I am so touched. Here they are, all carefully marked as to the designer and fabric group, all long out of print, never to be seen again. Like quilters' gold, really.

They are all the fabrics needed for the Pineapple quilt[s]---do I use them or treasure them?

Keep this blue in mind, a 19th century style, c.1870?

And this eye boggling stripe, possible set aside for Cheddarback.

The chocolate brown with the black cresent moons is my favorite among many faves. The moons are nickel sized or bigger. You just do not see primitive prints like this nowadays. Maybe worth a trip to Spoonflower for a copy!

Thank you, Penny!

Then for myself, I guess bec labor intensive Bitty is heading for completion?--I finally bought the Susan Smith pattern, Chasing Zinnias. It came all the way from Australia in about one week.

See why I love it? Bunnies and zinnias!

And it has a feeling of Quilty 365, doesn't it. But now I see the included template, ugh. Gonna be really hard to make 79 tiny needle turned 2" zinnias, all those tiny scallops and innie points. Maybe a No, after all, too bad. [Too small to even do raw edge zigzag by machine!]

Another: I love little kits, I'm not sure why. Usually I want to impose my own design sense on a project but when a kit is small and cute, I'm a sucker. Little wool bowl fillers for late Fall, in a wooden bowl with tiny pumpkins. Adorable.

Another book, via Amazon used book site. I think it cost 4.oo plus free shipping. This is quite a few years old too, though I do not find a publication date.

I am considering doing the white on white wool and linen coverlet, using my inherited sheets.

But it also has darling funny stuffed fruits and lovely more colorful designs too.

But the best thing, when I opened it to read it in the car park at the flea--out fell a package of beautifully long and skinny milliners/ straw needles! Hard to find and very nuch my favorite needles. A little surprise treat, perfect for me.

And last, this delightfully funny blue fabric which is my choice for the secondary sashings on the Chedderback Quilt project. You can read about, and see the original Cheddarback HERE though the wonderful detailed photos and analysis are, as far as I can see, removed at the end of each month. The patterns remain available for a very small fee after being FREE for each month.

That antique quilt, being offered as a sewalong by Gaye at Sentimental Stitches has a few sashings of a faded Lancaster blue or Double blue. I actually have a couple Lancaster blues in my stash, but really this is so much more fun! And authentic to the quilt's time, see the other blue repro from Brannock and Patek above.

Thanks everyone! Friends---old, new, internet or unknown--- are just the Best.

*************************************

Mo and the too small bed: [Dorothy was of course, right.]

I brought in Mo's big mattress bed so he could stretch out by my desk.