Searching for Spring....

Hi!  Another stormy day here at the beach. The rain must be blowing straight from the south off the beach, as it is pouring on my deck and dry in the front of the house.

Spring is not due to arrive for another week. And  if we're honest, it may not show up here for another two months at least.

I fought the 30 mph winds and got the back door open. Looked for the feral kitties, to give them their dinner. But no, the kitties want no part of this ugly wet day.

The other day I was reading an Internet debate about  ''when spring begins'' and there's a contingent out there that believes  meteorological spring, as opposed to astronomical spring [vernal equinox] begins March first! These people must live in the southern realms of the US because no spring here until May or even June. (And winter begins after Christmas, folks, not December first, when the leaves are finally changing. Yeesh!) Best to stick to the stars.


Anyway all that science stuff doesn't keep me from at least looking for spring! Are the oystercatchers back?? [not yet].

Are the snow drops in bloom?

I was thrilled that the tiny fragile bulbs survived the saltwater flooding of H. Sandy. Keep your fingers crossed for my hydrangeas!

Mostly I've been filling the house with  supermarket spring. Nothing says springtime like a Mason jar full of Cadbury eggs.

And I buy tulips, lots of tulips. How to choose each week, as I clutch my pennies metaphorically in my sweaty yearning hands. I adore parrot tulips...

These were  irresistable, creamy curly dense pearl white with green stripes.

Oooh la la!
Pennies well spent.

So special. I only see parrot tulips for a couple weeks each spring....

And who could pass up  a $1.99 pot of heavenly blue grape hyacinths?

The color is so...perfect, isn't it.

And I am not above  trotting out some absolute fakes, like this charming English porcelain find from the thrift shop.

Pansies...

I am sewing endless leaves on my Porch quilt, nursing an annoying case of the sniffles, and staying dry. I hope the rain clears soon so I can see the comet!

What are you guys up too? Enjoying the longer evenings, or hating to get up an hour early?
Any comets in your skies?

love


   lizzy

gone to the beach

 

 

 

Dithering in Quilt Land

 

 

Hi! The snow storm was a fizzle, but the high winds mostly kept me indoors the past two days. Tonight I made meatloaf, roasted brussel sprouts with chestnuts, and a new apricot/ oatmeal bar cooky recipe. The house smells delicious and is toasty warm.

On the quilting front, there is confusion if not storm clouds. I finished the America Hurrah quilt top last weekend....I like it. Not exactly what I planned but okay. That's what happens with free-style piecing, I suppose.

So anyway my new issue is...what should the back be? I think I spend as much time choosing quilt backings as I do planning the entire front. It is after all the largest single fabric purchase and the largest amount of fabric I will use and later be seeing. My friend Mel pointed out to me that choosing a special fabric is NOT in keeping with the make-do aspect of quilting tradition. She recalls her mother re-using sheets and outgrown clothes. Whatever she had available. And I love that feeling of utility, of re-purpose and reuse. Mel said:"Not much went to waste in our house when I was growing up..."

On the other hand, most of the large yardage pieces of antique fabrics that I own are recycled backings of worn out quilts. And when I am buying a quilt, an attractive backing is a huge plus, not just to me, but to the collectible value. Years ago, when I first moved to NYC, my friend M got me interested in quilts because she owned and treasured a beautiful 1930s quilt that was appliqued tulips in the unusual colors of lavender, pale blue, Nile green...but what she especially loved was that the backing was a tiny sprigged calico with teeny tiny tulips in the same shades. Obviously this quilter put a lot of thought and effort into her design! [or it was a kit?].

I was so sure I had purchased fabric for the America Hurrah quilt! The piece I found, still in its shipping baggie, was only a half yard, though. Either I never went back and got the 6 yards I needed or, worse!--- it will turn up someday in a ''special'' spot. So now what?

I used to order a few sets of 6 yard backings, to audition...but the price of cotton fabric has skyrocketed recently along with the prices of raw cotton. So I have to decide and just order one. [oh okay, maybe two?] Or find something in my closet?

I found 10 yards of tiny red and khaki stars. Sort of vintage, as it has been in my closet for at least 10 years. [And maybe it is for  the sashings and back of the intermittently worked on lighthouse quilt? I forget.]

I wanted to incorporate these modern funky wonky stars that my mom gave me. And that does work nicely into the red. But...hmmm. Maybe it is just TOO MUCH?

Here's other options [no wonky stars] :

I love this indigo large scale print. Restful, right?

And for a whole week I loved this inappropriate Nantucket preppy whales print. It does go with the ships...but is c. 1985? and looks like awful golf pants. But I do love it.

Other ideas;  a nice Americana eagles prints?

Double pink?
Advice, ideas are appreciated!

love
     lizzy

gone to the beach...

 

 

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...