April Arrives - Looking back at March Quilts and other Projects

Happy Friday, welcome April. Looking at March and the winter gone by, it has not been my most productive winter.  I did complete my goal for work on Winter Marsh [name keeps changing!]. 

The goal, small goal, was to prep the blackbird blocks that will be subbed for the embroidered lyric blocks on Jan P's Morning Has Broken. 

Three are wool, two are linen. 

Over the past couple years I have collected a number of crow and blackbird designs for inspiration, 

I love this one, even though the birds appear to be mourning doves, the bane of my kids when they were babies, as the doves moaned outside every morning at dawn, terrifying them---haunts! ghosts!

...but in the end I kept the original shaggy blackbird/crow, only perhaps eliminating the starry eye that is a trademark of Jan's work. My marsh has many redwinged blackbirds, starlings, and ospreys [who are checkered brown and cream, not black], much more rare are real crows, usually the small fish crow if seen. (Just now, as Mo and I had deck playtime, we watched a newly arrived Osprey as it soared slowly over the dunes, on the hunt for dinner.)

I can already see the black is going to be a pug fuzz magnet. 

I also finished appliqueing the February Moon blocks.

Machine stitched, this is an anything goes project.

And I made a Man in the Moon who may fit in somewhere. 

For April I want to make some Flying Geese blocks--will this wonderful fabric fit in, in small bits? Both the dunes and marsh verges have mushrooms though usually in the Fall, not winter.

And I'll work on the crow appliques. Not looking forward to doing the giant stars, mostly bec I made them once already, in a disastrous colorway.

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I also am almost finished with HQ Antique block challenge! Two more borders to sew. Which fabric will it be?

I was so tempted to keep adding border blocks, but it will be about 30" as is. I don't want it to grow and grow into a not-useful size, like Sajou, our HQ French inspired project we did a few years ago.

But it's already too big to be hand quilted, so off to the quilter as soon as the backing arrives.

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I'm reading this 1980s design book, found when I looked for books to donate to Lori's missionary fundraiser. Fun to revisit---a book my mom so loved, even though my dad wanted primitive/ colonial style. I was surprised so much of the photography is in black and white. In its day, it was a hugely influential design book, a look that has long since gone out of style but lingers here at the beach cottage.

And I had this on the donate stack:

I figured I'll never make this big quilt! But when I looked through it it has many wonderful smaller projects---aren't the prairie flowers/weeds delightful!, so I'll keep it for now.

The rest of the books were packed, and I hope to send them soon, but the bundle is so heavy, my poor shoulder joints are so painful and  I can't wrestle it onto the scale to get it in the mail.

[another fail, sadly].

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And a new little diversion, an amusing challenge, an IG site that posts a challenge each week, a room to paint or draw or otherwise render in a creative way.  @roomportraitclub  https://www.instagram.com/roomportraitclub/ I have chosen to just paint excerpts not the entire rooms.

You can see I am not very good at the moment. My idea was not to allow redos but the chair is so ghastly, I may make an exception. The organizer was kind enough to acknowledge my post, but not impressed enough to add it to the ''reel'', LOL.

Tiny, size of a credit card.

Once upon a time I painted much more competently, but like many skills it needs constant practice. Perhaps I will improve, or lose interest?

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Walkies with Mo: it has been dreadfully, painfully cold!

Here Mo is eke-ing out the last winter sun's warmth as best he can. 

This week's storm blew hard off the ocean. My windows are clogged with salt spray. 

May try to wash them tomorrow, but it's very cold and the gale is still blowing. Plus those pesky shoulder issues, sigh.

Have a great weekend! 

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....[or not! brrr]

Latest weird Lizzy collection is growing, so to speak. Seaglass bottles, filled with tattered silk, paper, and plastic spring flowers I pick up on our daily walks. Faux as can be!

But I love them.