April Arrives - Looking back at March Quilts and other Projects

Happy Friday, welcome April. Looking at March and the winter gone by, it has not been my most productive winter.  I did complete my goal for work on Winter Marsh [name keeps changing!]. 

The goal, small goal, was to prep the blackbird blocks that will be subbed for the embroidered lyric blocks on Jan P's Morning Has Broken. 

Three are wool, two are linen. 

Over the past couple years I have collected a number of crow and blackbird designs for inspiration, 

I love this one, even though the birds appear to be mourning doves, the bane of my kids when they were babies, as the doves moaned outside every morning at dawn, terrifying them---haunts! ghosts!

...but in the end I kept the original shaggy blackbird/crow, only perhaps eliminating the starry eye that is a trademark of Jan's work. My marsh has many redwinged blackbirds, starlings, and ospreys [who are checkered brown and cream, not black], much more rare are real crows, usually the small fish crow if seen. (Just now, as Mo and I had deck playtime, we watched a newly arrived Osprey as it soared slowly over the dunes, on the hunt for dinner.)

I can already see the black is going to be a pug fuzz magnet. 

I also finished appliqueing the February Moon blocks.

Machine stitched, this is an anything goes project.

And I made a Man in the Moon who may fit in somewhere. 

For April I want to make some Flying Geese blocks--will this wonderful fabric fit in, in small bits? Both the dunes and marsh verges have mushrooms though usually in the Fall, not winter.

And I'll work on the crow appliques. Not looking forward to doing the giant stars, mostly bec I made them once already, in a disastrous colorway.

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I also am almost finished with HQ Antique block challenge! Two more borders to sew. Which fabric will it be?

I was so tempted to keep adding border blocks, but it will be about 30" as is. I don't want it to grow and grow into a not-useful size, like Sajou, our HQ French inspired project we did a few years ago.

But it's already too big to be hand quilted, so off to the quilter as soon as the backing arrives.

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I'm reading this 1980s design book, found when I looked for books to donate to Lori's missionary fundraiser. Fun to revisit---a book my mom so loved, even though my dad wanted primitive/ colonial style. I was surprised so much of the photography is in black and white. In its day, it was a hugely influential design book, a look that has long since gone out of style but lingers here at the beach cottage.

And I had this on the donate stack:

I figured I'll never make this big quilt! But when I looked through it it has many wonderful smaller projects---aren't the prairie flowers/weeds delightful!, so I'll keep it for now.

The rest of the books were packed, and I hope to send them soon, but the bundle is so heavy, my poor shoulder joints are so painful and  I can't wrestle it onto the scale to get it in the mail.

[another fail, sadly].

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And a new little diversion, an amusing challenge, an IG site that posts a challenge each week, a room to paint or draw or otherwise render in a creative way.  @roomportraitclub  https://www.instagram.com/roomportraitclub/ I have chosen to just paint excerpts not the entire rooms.

You can see I am not very good at the moment. My idea was not to allow redos but the chair is so ghastly, I may make an exception. The organizer was kind enough to acknowledge my post, but not impressed enough to add it to the ''reel'', LOL.

Tiny, size of a credit card.

Once upon a time I painted much more competently, but like many skills it needs constant practice. Perhaps I will improve, or lose interest?

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Walkies with Mo: it has been dreadfully, painfully cold!

Here Mo is eke-ing out the last winter sun's warmth as best he can. 

This week's storm blew hard off the ocean. My windows are clogged with salt spray. 

May try to wash them tomorrow, but it's very cold and the gale is still blowing. Plus those pesky shoulder issues, sigh.

Have a great weekend! 

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....[or not! brrr]

Latest weird Lizzy collection is growing, so to speak. Seaglass bottles, filled with tattered silk, paper, and plastic spring flowers I pick up on our daily walks. Faux as can be!

But I love them.

Spring Flower Show

 

Hi, everyone!  I have a post-pandemic treat t o share with you all today. 

This year the big spring flower show has resumed after two years of Covid. This is the big nursery about 45 minutes away on the ''North Shore", made famous by writer Nelson deMille in his thriller/ bestseller "Gold Coast". [bad guy cute-meets good guy buying lawn fertilizer, lol.] I went with friends, a special spring tradition for us all

I'll mostly just let you walk through the  displays, photo heavy post. This year's theme was Summer Gardens in NYC and surrounding areas. "Manhattan to Montauk"

The Brooklyn roof or courtyard garden was beautiful!

Tropicals and succulents as you enter:

Rooms/ deck design. This is my dream furniture.

So comfy yet chic for sewing hour, for me and Mo!

The various boroughs and suburbs' gardens:

Hamptons?

Suffolk

Montauk. Blue flowers are so rare.

Goreous yellow azalea, not forsythia. Wow.

Part of Brooklyn display, a roof garden pool and fountain water feature.

Tempting seed selection, huge choice:

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I always love the water features and ponds:

This was interesting, though I never found out what the petals are that create the obelisk. This is the water tower/ lighthouse/ obelisk that is located on one of the great large public beaches here. A 1930s WPA project. I actually made it as a quilt block for my sporadically sewed on Lighthouses quilt project.

Note the realistic seagulls.

Driving north to head east it's the landmark of the rotary to go to the big flea, or thrift shops, biggest malls, etc. In the Google images you can see my  bridges I often mention, winding off to  the ocean's shoreline.

Easter and spring have their own big greenhouse display:

My neighbor has this display for her front doorway, hers has pansies at the moment. She replants seasonally. So sweet!

I loved this little mossy pot. $18.00/ long lines to pay, so no. Also love the sweet pug above.

The photos don't really show it but the venue was very crowded, a bit disorienting as I have not been out much in recent years. Some masks, some not. This wonderful show is FREE!

I hope you enjoyed our outing!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

back home, are those forsythia buds I see?