Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July and Best Wishes to all friends worldwide!

it 's been hot but not this hot!

Mo practicing his party outfit!

Mo in his light up Mardi Gras beads on Fireworks Night.

Have a fun holiday!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

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German Potato Salad 

(a 4th of July Must Have, along with Mom's decadent Pina Coladas~)

net bag of tiny red potatoes, maybe 3 Cups?

Boil or microwave til tender. 

Rinse and slice into bowl with chopped celery

and scant 1/4 C of finely minced sweet Vidalia or red onion, or to taste. 

[but not a really onion-y recipe, just a hint!].

Toss with a simple vinaigrette of cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar, tarragon, parsley.

Cover and refrigerate. 

Next day about 3 hours before the picnic, take from fridge and toss.

 Add more vinegar if not zesty enough.

Add a little cold water if the salad seems dry.

Close to serving time add 3 or 4 well chopped hardboiled eggs 

and  1/4 C of bacon bits. [made fresh, not from a jar!]. 

Toss again, serve room temp. 

Good for hot weather as the dressing won't go bad easily.

enjoy!

Spring Gardening

Hi! Is everybody all sore and cranky from doing the spring yard work this weekend?  Here at the beach I don't have a garden, one thing I always regret about my beloved little home. Instead I have very large pots on my deck which I fill with flowers and herbs, even shrubs like a hydrangea now and then. But this year I think I will have no flowers at all or only one large tub [because of Mo's destructiveness.] I want to sit out and relax, not be yelling Bad dog! No! all summer.

Last week I moved all my lilies and perennials to a friend's garden. He redid his backyard , mostly now a deck, with two flower beds that we have so far planted  with grasses and tropicals like elephant ears and caladium , and my lilies and lavender.
Perfect relationship: I point, he digs!
We put sunflower seeds along his grey back fence and today we decided I'll plant tiny petunias and,

bad photo but I love these w stripey centers

...under the cherry tree, black heucherra [sp?]. [these are red, but similar.]

Last week my other friend L and I went to the garden center to check out what we might like. She has a big yard, but it is professionally landscaped, so like me she was just looking.
We love going to this garden center because they specialize in fairy gardens or miniature gardens; also terrariums.

 They have many items and ideas for...beach fairies. Beer! Sandcastles, Teeny tiny fairy flipflops.

The items are very expensive. 9.99 for a beach chair! 11.99 for a seagull on post! Whoa. Definitely just looking.

And so adorable.

I'm not sure I want a fairy scene. I am envisioning more of a tiny scrap of woodland recreated in my glass terrarium case. I have a mushroom I made, and I treated myself to a set of red polka dot fairy mushrooms like these.

I think I'll have space for my Wardian case / terrarium in my new craft area. The room gets northern light all day but no sun. [no sun is good for terrariums].
L made one of the glass bubble hanging fairy gardens! It came out sooo perfectly.

Look at the tiny berries and cups. The little blue marble gazing ball.

Her theme is ''Come into my garden for tea." I think it's wonderful. She is now in charge of planting my terrarium, I hope.

I got myself a pot of geraniums for my back steps. Put them in the old pink butter crock. They're so cheery and hopeful on a cold spring day.

So far Mo has ignored the geraniums. But he got my egg collection on the dining room table. I found him there, oh so proud. His own Mount Everest, conquered at last.

A quilt note: The Flags quilt is back from the quilter! She did a beeee-u-tiful job. I don't mind sewing the binding but I'm not looking forward to sewing all those dozens of buttons / stars. [shudder]. How is you Flags quilt coming? All done?  [if indeed you made one...lol.] I put it in the closet for next fall.

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach

Flags of the American Revolution Top is Finished!

Yay! This project went quickly, didn't it? Lori set a fast pace and here we are six months later with a cool patriotic quilt top complete.

Here are February's assigned blocks:
I just couldn't sew the word "Death" on a quilt that someday a loved one might sleep under. I know it's inauthentic, and I am being superstitious, but too bad.

I redid this block with an antique block from a friend and , having paid close attention to other quilters' input, I redid the tiny tree in hand dyed wool.

Here's the signature block.

Many thanks to all my friends who pitched in to help sew, to Lori for the Eagle's star fabric, to H for the antique block from his mother's block collection. Mel, L, and BJ all sewed many of the appliques when my hand was so painful this fall. Thank you all, it made this a special project.

Here the top is complete! I'm relieved to find my fabrics and colors work okay.Though the Star to the left of 76 isn't so good. Redo?

I was determined to mostly use stash fabrics for this quilt. The Dark border is a navy and white star print that I overdyed with dark brown, for a less gaudy effect.

You guys know I always make a big deal over the backing! I have this red star fabric, about 3 1/3 yards, from my stash. It's not as wildly vibrant as in the second photo but it maybe could use a tea bath.

I will piece it with something else to make it big enough. Like this  from Home Sew [thanks, Mel]. Look at that great price! Or maybe I'll find the 2000 millennium Eagle fabric, khaki colored, that I have somewhere.[It's always hiding when I want it]

edit: Yay! I found the Millennium fabric:

And this nice butterscotch dot  sateen:

Also this patriotic toile, in case I need to piece the backing to make it wide enough for my quilter? I could set a section of this across the middle back. [1 1/2 yards only.

I'm so pleased to find stash options for my backing.
****
I made this quilt in honor of my dad and his handmade Cape Cod cottage flags. It would have been his birthday last week, and I was happy to finish for his special day.

I read this and laugh---my dad would have been very unimpressed! He didn't believe an ''artist'' should use a pattern made by someone else and he'd not have been too pleased that I used Jan Patek's wonderful folk art Flags. But---that's okay.

"I done my best."

Thank you, Lori, for a fun project! (Humble Quilts  http://humblequilts.blogspot.com ).

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach......


Please be sure to go to Lori's blog to see everyone else's Flags: here