Christmas Quilts or Not?

 

Good evening! Happy Christmas Sunday, Happy holidays to all.

I worked so hard today cleaning and tidying for the holiday, even though it will be very reduced, with only immediate family on Christmas Day. Having my house all spick and span makes me happy, omigosh those ceiling fans were---I have no words, you do not want to know. Tomorrow--grocery shop/ meet friends; Tuesday --bake; Wednesday: dust/ prep food/ relax/ Thursday, all done!

On FB a woman was proudly showing off all her Christmas quilts. And yes they were so sweet. I don't really own any large Christmas quilts, just my antique red and white quilts---

and a few green and red.

I have not yet finished Shirley's Christmas Quilt. I got myself Season 1 of the BBC Vera detective series; I plan to sew Shirley's binding as I watch it. 

 And so, for December. instead of my usual choices---it was so cold, even snowy---I decided to use the Pokeberry quilt instead of my usual picks. It is flannel and velvet with wool and cotton applique, quite suitable for winter.

And it's a calendar quilt of sorts, starting with a snowy cottage, spanning the year with Valentine's day, spring birds, summer roses.

Fourth of July!

And ends with early autumn's black-eyed susans and blue chicory.

Many of the motifs are so similar to my Pennsylvania tin primitive cooky cutters:

The little girl---

the birds--

and this copper modern Heart in Hand cutter.

I love this scissors cooky cutter. I think I may add a wool scissors applique to PB, for winter again. 

Add flannels sheets and Oh so cozy!

Yesterday I switched out, though, just for this holiday week:

A vintage [early 1900s] red and white quilt, and La Grande Sajou [by me] with its warm European colors and charm used as a topper.

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As you know, we had snow. It then froze into glaciers that I think could last to spring.

Mo was very happy that his "ugly" Christmas sweater still fits nicely. I think it's very cute, but then I made my kids wear Christmas sweaters too when they were very little. And they weren't at all as amenable as Baby Mo. 

Best wishes to you all! I expect to be back with an All Around the House post on Wednesday, unless the incredibly opaque, incomprehensible photo systems in this new computer defeat me. 

As for the holiday--white Christmas? We'll see.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach......

At the height of the blizzard on???[I've lost track], almost dark, at sunset--I looked out and saw a guy toting his surfboard down to the beach! All in black winter wetsuit, very ninja style, It was so cold! 50 mph winds. I can't show you the private FB page but looks like the surfers had an awesome day. Night?

Catching Up ~ Little Quilts Big Quilts a Storm and A Crow

Good evening. I am back but limping along with a damaged photoshop program tonight. Frustration is mounting, Mounting , MOUNTING!

My internet and phones went out last Wednesday, with intermittent returns until it died entirely on Thursday or Friday. Besides the usual panic of no communication, there was the frustration of not being able to easily follow the election results. 

TV was off then returned--but I for one do not ever sit and watch TV. With current events unfolding, I want to  turn on my phone and see what is happening, at yes, 3 AM, 4 AM, noon and midnight. Landline phone, retained for emergency use was, of course, out of service. 

A repairman arrived late Sunday as the early darkness fell. I waited from 8 AM, no shower for me, no real walks for Mo, we were desperate. My friend came from the beach to help oversee the repair which in the end we were told was not due to the windstorm on Monday, but was due to old faulty poorly designed wiring. The entire system needed to be repaired. [In my defense---the provider did the wiring, after H Sandy. If poorly done it was their fault, not mine.] He opened very closet, moved very piece of furniture. Dust bunnies everywhere, i was mortified. And a bit of a mess was left behind. My fabric bins all set in wobbling towers, my project boxes strewn across the sewing room floor. Old wires and modem boxes left hanging.

 Life just sucks sometimes.

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Being all tense and worried about our nation's future is not conducive to properly calm and pleasant sewing.

 I fiddled with some labels...You know I'm not a fan of labels! Baby Pineapples was delivered to the family with only a tiny almost invisible label: for XXXX * 2020. Fused, not sewed, in case the mom wishes to remove it. I had the lovely quotations printed fabrics, Amelia Earhart, Walt Whitman, planned for the that quilt, but in the end, sanity prevailed.

 My friend L kindly embroidered some labels for me, inspired by labels being created on my Cheri Payne quilting group on FB.

This is Tiny Baskets' label. I may add my name in Sharpie pen.

 And Julierose put a commemorative Halloween Blue Moon, very elegant, on her equally elegant chic Starry-eyed Jack! Mine is less art, more cartoon. But a memory.

 

As a break after finishing the two big summer project quilts, I worked on this small funky quilt.

 

The main Watermelon quilt came to me not quite finished in a box of scraps from a swap. Again this is a Cheri Payne design, Made by my swap friend MA. I loved the little quilt and actually emailed her, thinking she included it by mistake! But no, she said, All yours, have fun with it. I hope she is okay with what I did.

 

The watermelons should seem summery., but MA's dark prim palette made me think of Fall. And crows!

 

I also wanted to try a popular new to me way of applique for primitive quilts: a quilt is pieced and quilted, washed and crumpled, maybe coffee dyed to age it. And when all that is done, the wool appliqué is added. Huh. Fun?

 

I used a paper sew thru template for the cable quilting. Prob should hand quilt but this is supposed to be fun, I reminded myself. Removing paper templates? =Not Fun.

MA's darling doll dress style fabric for binding, tiny calico flowers, precious scraps from the same swap.

 

Additional cornerstones from  a gift package from Penny in SA!

Here is Crow audition One. It's the crow and Flag from another Cheri Payne Group sew along, done this October. 

 

But Jan Patek's Starry Eyed Crow with Flag, choice number two, won out. The sitting crow, # 1, looked so sad, I thought.

We don't see many crows here at the beach. Only in the fall, near the tideline, a small crow that is locally called a fish crow. They are only here in the autumn, I don't know where they really live.

 

The Flag she holds will remind me always of this election week.

Sneak peek: Shirley's Christmas quilt is ready for binding!

This plaid, ordered last winter, awaited through months of covid slowdown.

 

And I hung A Year in the front corner of my living room, just for a few weeks. It's the only free wall I had. Visual clutter--- hidden by the open door. I do love this quilt so much

Sending love and care to everyone, please be safe---the virus is bigger than ever. What a nightmare our world, our lives have become. Pray for hope and better days ahead. Love you all! 

 

lizzy

gone to the beach........

 The windstorm destroyed the kindness/hope shell installation. 

Obliterated.

I put out my last two shells on Halloween Eve. Perhaps this is one of them?

Even the Par Duck gaggle is half buried.

Mr Mockingbird, looking very fluffy and handsome, singing away in the ugly locust tree. Returned from his nesting area in the dunes.

Autumn blue sky above. And a classic Autumn sunset sky.