Gone To The Beach

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Completed: Winter '12

Hi! Finito! Yay!

It's so nice to set that final stitch, isn't it! To wrap up the project in pretty paper and send it on its way.
This isn't all I've done this winter, but here's a few things I've finished:
The madly bright traditional baby quilt....

Beautifully quilted by a new quilter found on eBay.

The busy blocks just weren't working til I added the aqua borders to tame things down.

Moving the letters up into the body of the design helped too.

And the cutest ever not-girly backing! OMG I love it.

Guaranteed to make a tired new mom smile....

Then there is the blue baby quilt, one of my random freestyle quilts.

It was eliminated for the above recipients because of its brilliant color, but I was sad, I loved it. So...an extra row of heart blocks...

and NO rubber duckies!

... the top is finished and ready to be quilted. It can go on etsy or into my someday bin, who knows a child might someday visit and LIKE bright colors?

And this is the repro doll quilt from Lori at Humble Quilts ' quilt along.

I added the pink borders because it seemed too long and narrow, but mostly to stabilize all the bias ruffling at the edges. I can always remove the bands of pink later.

The backing is this amazing feedsack.

It just needs to be re-layered and squared up, then I will store it in my beach bag for hand quilting under my beach umbrella in June. The original was lightly quilted and also tied with pink pomopom knots, so I have pinned the pink floss to the top, so I remember. Now all it needs is a story and some long summer days....

More show and tell soon! Thses are not all, oh no...

love

lizzy

....gone to the beach

Friday, March 16, 2012

Happy St-Paddy's Day

Have fun! Enjoy that green beer!

Shamrock hearts - my esty shop

Hearts for St Paddy's Day
my etsy shop
some sold

antique Irish lace, ecru with violet
[sold, similar by special order]

beachcombed Irish soda bottle, near mint
marked DUBLIN

PS This week's slow cooker experiment will be traditional corned beef. I think I'll make the cabbage and potatoes seprate, somehow cooking them in the beef brine seems, um, ick? Any hints, ladies?
Wish me luck?

detail, lavender heart with hand enamelled
vintage green shamrock charm
my etsy shop

love

lizzy

~~~gone to the beach

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Birds Are Back!

Hi! I am so thrilled!
The shorebirds returned on Saturday---

...a whole week early, as St-Patrick's Day is their estimated day of arrival.

I think my pleasure comes from a childhood filled with nature walks and birdwatching. My mom was not one to have us sit inside after school; she got us out for long walks filled with observation , fresh air and learning. She always watched for, and carefully noted , the first robin each spring [hence one of my nicknames...]; and we watched the brown frozen garden daily for the first daffodil shoots, for the first snowdrops and crocus. And her pleasure never waned, she was as pleased by a late January witch hazel bloom at age, well, whatever---as she'd been when she was a twenty-something stay at home mom.

So....Friday when I went for my walk---not a single bird, not even a gull or two. Then Saturday:

The Oyster Catchers were flying in, in pairs and small groups of three or five.

I love these birds, they are so big and cute, with their black and white tuxedo-like plumage and the comic counterpoint of long orange bills and big pink legs.

The same pairs apparently come each year. The nests are always within a few feet of the previous years' locations...

And also on Saturday, in the high beach near the dunes were telltale little scurry-scurry footprints of the piping plovers. They too return each year and nest in exactly the same spot.

By Sunday the plovers were feeding on the beach. They are not as shy as the oyster catchers who take a few weeks to remember me and my camera. The plovers I think rely on their natural camouflage. Yes, he is here...can you find him?

A closer look, both pix he is exactly in the center of the photo. The plovers are tiny, sparrow-sized...grey and white and chubby, with big black eyes and black neck ring. They are invisible until they run---their mad dashes are an out of synch motion that attracts one's eyes.

Sadly, again, their early arrival is clashing with the sand movers. I feel so sad, because here is already a try-out nest, doomed to be plowed under early today.

and another...

I marked the nests with a driftwood fence, but I couldn't find the wildlife officers to alert them. perhaps the huge earthmover avoided the nesting area? I doubt it, but cannot quite see this section of the beach from my windows.

The oyster catchers too were nest hunting in the lower dune areas. Here are footprints, along with those of some chasing animal! The birds's footprints are at the bottom, the line at the top is something following---a fox or feral cat? A Chihuahua? Can't tell for sure....

And ironically, fallen here before the plows...

the carefully posted signs from last year, all about the plowers.

Too bad. Each year there are fewer. Once upon a time we'd have as many as 16 plover nests, last year only three pairs stayed and raised chicks. I noted at least five nests that the sand plows destroyed in early pre-egg laying stage.