Little Quilt Finishes

Hello! Show and Tell on a Monday morning....

First I have to show you the little Country Roads quilt from Lori of Humble Quilts recent sew along. [link to see everyone's quilts at the end of this post].

I got it pieced but not quilted.

Isn't it adorable.
My friend BJ kindly went shopping on her trip to KY and she sent me a package of much needed black calico.

This will be the backing.

The following quilts were made over the past couple years. I had a goal of finishing them this summer.

Winter Blues, from Lori's winter of 2014 SAL.

I hand quilted it on the beach.

Vintage dishtowel back.

Chimney Sweep doll quilt, made with the extra blocks from a rescued top. The top is also quilted, in the same Baptist Fans pattern but the binding is still waiting.

I love the tiny prints and how the maker cherished and used each tiny bit.

I found a print for the backing that is very similar to one of the calicos on the top.

This is another of Lori's sew alongs, she called it Cascadia.

I call it Peace and Plenty, for the backing fabric toile,

and because to me it looks like Indian corn.

 I used scrap binding, part pink, part dark red, and I machine quilted it.

I'm glad I did because it's done and I'm really enjoying it in my home for October.

This is a crib quilt, 36" square. A few years ago I bid on and lost by ONE DOLLAR the eBay auction to win the antique small top that inspired this quilt.original quilt top and post here

I loved the cheddar baskets, the stripes, the diagonally pieced sashing. The auction gave the measurement of 36" square so it was easy to then make a pattern.Finding this stunning, if not historically authentic, toile for the backing made me decide to go ahead and sew my own version.

Also an opportunity to try out a new quilter, someone who does custom work instead of simple allover. And such a gorgeous job she did.

I have two big quilts ready for binding, waiting patiently on my list for 2015. I'm going to have a nice list of finishes, come New Year's Day. I'm so pleased.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

Linky party here on Lori's blog, Humble Quilts. 

Be sure to go over there and see everyone's Country Roads.

Goldenrod Days

Hi everyone! October ---it never disappoints, does it?
Tonight the wind is whipping itself up into a gale, maybe blowing in the first cold snap of the season. I wore my fleece jacket to walk Mo and I'm wondering if I should have put flannel sheets on the beds this afternoon. [Thursday is clean sheets day, no clue why or how.]
The days have been glorious, each more beautiful , more pristine, more glowing than the day before. The sky is unworldly[other-worldly?] brilliant blue.

Days are warm, almost hot. Shorts and tee shirt days.

Mo doesn't yet need his little sweater.

The Montauk daisies are spectacular. [perhaps you know these autumn bloomers as Shasta daisies?]

Goldenrod fills the dunes. 

The sea grasses are turning amber. 

On the sand at its feet are tiny tracks. Birds---

Kitties or raccoons?

I'm  seeing monarch butterflies and flocks of busy little yellow rumped warblers. These migrants look like hyperactive sparrows with a  quarter sized spot of lemon yellow on their backs near their tails. And one day I saw a small flock of migrating swans or snow geese, always a special sight for me.

The poison ivy and Virginia creeper is just now showing red on the edges of the marsh.

These days go so fast, don't they?

Not only is each day shorter but each day is filled with busy-ness. Just imagine, it's almost---Christmas! Too soon....

Have a great weekend!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

PS I got the octopi pillows made today. Here they are on my sofa. They're a gift for my friends. Their sofa is a soft dove grey plush. 

Little Cutie

Hi! No, not Mo, tho he's certainly a cutie,lol.

Remember the sterling silver button hook handle I found a few weeks ago at the flea? I used it as a the stem for one of my velvet ''make do pincushions.

I've had the idea in mind for ages.

I have a stash of antique / vintage velvet and velveteen from my quilt dealer friend. His mother bought the fabrics from an old, abandoned millinery studio, in a small town in Illinois. The shop and the fabrics dated from about 1910, 1915.

It took me a week to get the pumpkin color I wanted, hand dying again and again. Velvet is hard to dye because the wet color is so different from the dry color.

I used a silk napped cotton velveteen.
The pumpkin is six leaf- or football-shaped segments. I always cut the patterns by eye, but I do make a paper pattern. I wanted a curvy Cinderella pumpkin shape.

The seams are embroidered [Mel helped me figure that out!] and beaded with tiny coppery purple glass seed beads.

Bottom half is filled with sand, then the rest is stuffed with shredded cotton batting which helps secure the stem.
Antique button on the bottom.

Frilly taffeta leaves, and silver curlicue.

I LOVE it. It looks just like I imagined.

I listed it both on eBay and etsy, I hope it sells, because I need new Mo-walking shoes.

Just to compare, look at these decorative, [admittedly much bigger] pumpkins, from, of all places, Neiman-Marcus. 125.oo each!  here  Adorable, I love the colors.
[These aren't even pieced, they're just a long rectangle of velvet gathered top and bottom.]




I have a couple other items planned. I'm working on them in between redoing the house for Fall. It's looking good, pix later in the week.

And I'm making fall throw pillows for my friends who babysit Mo for me sometimes. He'll be spending the weekend with them while I recuperate from my ongoing treatment on Friday. This is the cool fabric remnant I found for their pillows.

Isn't it fun! I love that it is classic Halloween orange but instead of pumpkins or witches---it's creepy squiggly octopi.

Have a great week, is this weather amazing or what? Enjoy.

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach....

Don' like it, mom. It's scary!