She Sells Seashells

Hello everyone!

Seashells, Thrift shop china...two of my favorite things.

                                                                [sold]

Over the years friends and readers and buyers on my etsy and eBay shops have asked me about the bowls of seashells that appear as props on my selling photos.

The shells weren't for sale, I never listed them....

the shells are simply beach treasures stuck in a pocket and tossed onto the deck to dry.

Once in a while I'll paint the shells a nice chalk white. I arrange them in my favorite white crazed crackled chipped old bowls.

My beach tends to be very bare, just acres of plain white sand. The lovely large shells, or conchs as they are sometimes called appear only after certain storms...

usually just a few, one here, one there.

The bowl displays grow...add a sand dollar, a starfish, a fancy shell from a Caribbean snorkeling trip...maybe a bit of broken sepia china?

Never sea glass, the sea glass is segregated to the window sills, or the shelf with the ship model, the huge glass jars in the corners. The beach pebbles too have their place. (The pebbles are my secret favorites..I know each and every one, I hold them gently in the palm of my hand and  treasure their beauty....)

The shells act as paperweights, and door stops, too. Many are displayed in bowls, or on old china platters. Then I may add a lavender heart---two or three--- or maybe, in winter, an old and chippy mercury glass ball. Maybe a speckled plover egg [fake of course..]

And the bowls and shells serve as props for my photos.

If you live at the beach you don't want to bring too much home! One's gatherings become clutter or worse, beachy kitsch.

Like the shell strings I make each summer's end! And bestow on unwary friends at Christmas,lol.

Anyway. After H.Sandy, I found some lovely shells...and they're for sale on etsy, in my shop.

I added a couple bowls, platters...for tablescaping, as it is called.

Ironstone platters with beach roses, sigh! How perfect.....

Now my friends and customers can have their own displays, no beach hikes required! In fact, not even a beach...

      love

               lizzy

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

 

 

 

Making Do - Part One

When life gives you lemons [lemonade!].....When life gives you scraps [make a quilt!].

Overused homilies, of course....but oh the fun of making something wonderful out of bits, bobs, and found objects! Lucky for me, us, it is a choice we make...for artistic pleasure, for the good of the Earth, whatever.

During pioneer days, then later the Great Depression and WW2, it was a necessary part of life.

I love this patriotic encouragement!

When I was working on my HQ doll quilt, I mentioned using "shirting"...

...and a friend who wears gorgeous handmade dress shirts took note.

A week later, when he received new shirts from Hong Kong, instead of discarding his worn out shirts, he passed them onto me!

I was thrilled! The cotton fabric is so fine, so lovely! Not exactly what we as quilters mean by "shirtings" but definitely a great addition to my stash. I trimmed away the collars, cuffs and plackets, saved the real pearl buttons...

...and now I am thinking: Can I use them for my next HQ doll quilt?* Or maybe blue and white Lone Star or simple nine patch?

I know I will use them...and think of my friend.

The colors are so me! I almost kept the shirts to wear....

Tomorrow [or soon!]...Making do with rescued woolens and leftover quilt blocks. Plus a make-believe love story of sorts!

*PS: Yes I know I was cranky about my first HQ little quilt, but now I feel challenged to try another---and do a better job! Plus the fun of replenishing my antique fabric stash...again, tiny bits, saved by frugal housewives so long ago!

love

               lizzy

[gone to the beach]