I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Sunday, January 9, 2022

Quilts ~ Looking Forward Looking Back



Hi everyone! What would  Quilt blogging be without the traditional yearly round up. My successes are quite meagre---I never really recovered momentum after my Nobody Loves Me/ My Quilts in May  HERE, exacerbated by poor vision and the shocking return of Covid.  My dream of doing a big Thanksgiving failed, then Christmas, New Years followed behind. And while the rest of the country seems fine, the NYC area is hard hit by both Delta and omicron , and friend after friend has become very ill. [You may recall I am immune suppressed, so it is an issue to consider, despite vaccines and boosters.]


I made/ completed only one  full sized quilt: Blue Pineapples. Machine pieced, machine appliqued, machine quilted [by Lori C.]



Some small quilts:

Brown doll quilt, using a postage stamp remnant of a 19th century quilt block. I dyed the binding to include it in my Lucky Series of small make do quilts.



Next an exchange with a friend who is far far away: "One for you, One for me.'' The plan was we'd each make two quilts from the TQC mini a month postcards of 2021, exchange them at Christmas.



I chose this bright cutie. I think its asymmetry creates a textile that could be useful, under a candle or bowl, for displays. Her quilt is at the top, somehow I lost all my photos.


 My friend wasn't totally on board, though I may challenge her again this year! She sent me and Mo a beautiful flannel lap quilt in prim Autumn into Winter colors instead of a TQC mini. We love it!


My Christmas mini treat project was inspired by Fun with Barb's IG and blog posts about the mini tree pattern from a few years ago. I loved the Swedish or Nordic Marimekko vibe of her colorway, and shamelessly copied for my little version. Tiny Trees


Isn't the backing darling! Fairy toadstools.


Teeny Tiny, the mini-est of minis 3" square:


Also, barely-there micro quilts, gifts for friends. 








Ongoing:

I spent a lot of summer deck time working on my Welcome Pineapple wall quilt, then set it aside unfinished as Fall arrived, too soon. "The pleasant summer was a fading memory as September dragged us to Autumn." [you know I collect quotes: this is from a J M Dalgliesh book I'm reading, see below]

Pattern photo, NOT my work.

          

Deck time sewing.





Worked on and finally banished Silent Night. Really struggled with the dark wool applique, due to my vision difficulty. I need a bunch of boring pieced Stars, just can't face them right now.



Lori [Humble Quilts]'s antique block challenge: Madder Anvils [madder is the rust-red dye]


I keep changing my mind.

Two antique quilt tops are still in work. Cartwheels needs its borders.


And Watermelon Wine needs a good press and check for loose seams,


then I need to piece the green backing before it all goes off to be quilted. I needed 5 yards of green backing and was very happy to find the green at Keepsake Quilts catalog sale for only 5.95 a yard. It is Annette Plog's line for Marcus Brothers called, I think, Petite Perennials. [sold out now, sorry]  Check out the sale if you expect to need some yardage soon. SALE


This was the double pink from the same fabric line. Cute but too much pink.


And last I sewed these wool herb pillows. They were fun and fast and easier to see to hand sew.



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Not quilt related but I spent a delightful if imaginary summer and fall in Venice Italy, reading the entire Donna Leon / Inspector Brunetti police crime fiction series.  here 

Now I'm reading a rather gory detective series by J M Dalgleish/ DI Nathaniel Caslin, set in the city of York in northern UK. here

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 Upcoming, I have a special order to sew, then will get on with projects, hopefully finishing Cartwheels and beginning my winter version of When the Wild Geese Fly. Unless I have eye surgery I hope to start that project February 1st, I am basing it on Jan Patek's Morning has Broken, if anyone else wishes to make it with me. My version will be very low key, a personal utility quilt. Nothing fancy and OMG no embroidery! First blocks are the Crescent Moons. My colors are of winter, blue, grey, white, black. HERE

Book on Jan's website:


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My dog walker has Covid and is out indefinitely, so Mo and I are on our own. I suppose the extra exercise is good for me, lol. Truth is, I only love winter if I am inside looking out, or rambling on the beach in many layers of warm clothes. The third winter of Covid has begun.


love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

Fog sunset










7 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, that Sunset! If you only had one full size finish for the year the blue and white pineapple quilt is The One!love that quilt. You have a lot of other fun projects in the works for later and I think Morning has Broken will be a fun make. I hope you're able to have your eye surgery soon, so many of the hospitals in this end of the state are canceling all elective and non-emergency surgeries or other procedures since omicron has hit hard here too. Stay safe, stay warm!

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  2. I was lucky to have my eye surgeries before covid got serious, and I know how important vision is, so I hope you can get your eyes done soon and safely! You may still have to wait and put up with old glasses for a while, but hopefully spring will see a drop in covid cases and let us get a few things handled.

    Sorry to hear your dog-walker got it. Several friends here have gotten it, too, but so far everyone I know has recovered well.

    You may not have made a ton of quilts last year but the ones you did make are beautiful. I especially love the tiny ones, they came out very pretty! Don't get hung up on numbers, just enjoy yourself!

    The pictures of the sunset are gorgeous! Especially that first photo - incredible!

    Thank you for sharing, stay healthy, warm, and safe!

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  3. You may not have had a lot of big finishes but you sure worked on a lot of quilts, Lizzy, and it looks like you made good progress. I can't even think about looking back at 2021. (The sciatica is in good shape but now I have Covid.) With very little physical or mental energy I'm just beginning to think about my ufo list for this year.
    I hope your walks with Mo aren't too cold. I haven't been keeping up with the weather.
    Beautiful sunset photos.

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  4. I love how your version of Welcome Pineapple is coming together--just beautiful... And of course your blue/white pineapple is just luscious...such a nice piece of work.

    I hope you can have your eye surgeries as after I had mine, my vision was just so much better--unbelievably so!

    Lovely sunsets you've captured...and sorry your dog walker has gotten sick; here in CT cases are flying up again..we are still isolating, wearing masks out, and being super careful..
    And it goes on...

    I hope you and Mo are enjoying your beach walks...take care and stay safe hugs, Julierose

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  5. It looks like you had a quality quilty year!
    A friend got me the temecula postcards this year! Such a cute idea!

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  6. Oh Wow! That sunset is just incredible! Can't wait to see Carwheels finished up. The colors just do it for me I suppose. Love seeing your Welcome Pineapple version. The colors are lovely.:)

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  7. I love seeing Blue Pineapples again! it really is special. The lemon micro-quilt is very cute.

    Sorry to hear Mo's walker is out sick. I feel like it's going to be difficult to avoid contracting omicron :( Wishing your dog walker and your friends well.

    Take care.

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Hi! I'm allowing comments from everyone, even anonymous for awhile, to see what happens. With comments moderation. Hopefully the awful porn spammer has gone elsewhere. Or you can always email me! I love to hear from everyone.