Quilting Round Up ~ mid-May to mid-June

Hello! Mo and I just got home from a long sunset walk, celebrating the Solstice and a glorious sunset on this first day of summer. As I move my sewing work from machine sewing to hand work only on the deck and beach, I am looking at what I have going and I'm feeling a smidge overwhelmed. First up, Temecula Quilt Company's 1880 Sampler. 4 [4 1/2"]" blocks. Here are the most recent.

Isn't my chicken wire window prop cute!

But this past week we were taxed with the assignment of making FIVE crazy blocks, each incorporating an adorable but perhaps intimidating 2" block in each. My mind skidded to a horrified halt.I really enjoy this project. I can usually get one a week done, or four or five at a time. Nine or ten? I'm not so sure and who knows what this week will bring.

These blocks were all fun to make though, so I'll dither along as best I can.
Here they are with their worksheets. I don't follow the instructions though so I only print the barest dimensions.

If we go back and look at the inspiration quilt, there is little or no blue in it, so I am moving to a Hideous [Jamestown by Nancy Gere]  palette of poison greens, yellows, reds, double pinks, instead.

I did do one blue star, because I wanted to look through my Turkey red fabrics and fell in love with the center piece here.

Here are all the blocks so far. 19. I'm not sure how many we are going to make, 52 +? or what, so this is drop in the bucket time, also discouraging in a way. I hate falling behind.

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Pattern photo, NOT my work

Here is another project that I am working on in a lackadaisical way. It's called Feathered Star and is by Jan Patek, a very old pattern that has been resurrected for a FB sewalong. I think the quilt is beautiful. But the directions and patterns are hopelessly awful. Plan  is to do only the applique bits this summer, then set it aside. Or I may just drop the project entirely. Unusual for me but I am unhappy with it.
I subbed pineapples for the clunky Tulips. The pineapples could have more color and contrast but I am trying to stay within the parameters of the black and cream original [even though it really was red/ white/ and blue, it seems, on close inspection of the marginally useful photo]. But see how the original Tulips form almost abstract tassels from the shield of the Star center. The fabrics for the PAs and my changes have negated that. Not good.

Now I am doing the Birds in Baskets blocks.

Pattern photo, not my work, below. Fabrics provided in the sewalong are beautiful but  dark and  dull, above.

pattern photo, not my work

Then there is the handles problem.

You can see that  my finished piece exactly matches the pattern, on the  original printout, right? Look at the handles. BUT pattern photo shows the handles somewhat set in, with little ears. And truly the handle should be even more. And then the side spacers are set oddly with a short seam and a cutaway. Why? I am annoyed with myself because I knew the handles looked bad and that seam looked awkward but I was following a not at all clear pattern.

pattern

It is crucial in a design like this that each block finishes exactly as intended or the whole thing won't go together. So I didn't fix the handle and with 3 1/2 birds done [think tiny, finicky], I can't see redoing it. It is the exact size, as I perceive what the exact size ought to be...but who knows, it's a Jan Patek pattern.

I always say I never have unfinished projects but this one may be UFO number one, sadly. I'm pretty upset right now. Cute though. And no saltbox house with dog, since it's early.

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Last on the sewing list is my SG Album project with Barbara Brackman. I have a few weeks before I'm behind with that one.  No pics. I guess that's on deck for the next rainy day. [October?]. I don't mind getting behind on BB projects, there's no show and tell or competitiveness in her projects.

For some reason I am struggling with my beach sewing, mostly due to the high winds. Tomorrow I plan to prep Bitty for hand quilting, leaving tiny appliques for deck  time. And I might...just might!...soon start my all applique Christmas quilt.

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Happy Solstice, Welcome summer.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

Garden Peeking

Hi! As our cold wet spring  finally evolves into the days of early summer, and the Solstice draws near, Mo and I have been enjoying our walks and peeks into gardens and yards in our neighborhood.
The final spring bulb flowers have burst into bloom, bearded iris, flags, and lily of the valley.

Flags and iris are favorites of mine. When I was a little girl we played baseball [kids of all ages, unorganized] in a field across the road from my house. Some of the biggest boys would mow the ''infield'' and we'd choose up teams,lol, like four to a side sometimes. The field was surrounded by old fence posts and rusty barbed wire, and appeared abandoned. No one ever chased us away. And in my hours spent in the outfield, I discovered old plantings---white hedge roses, floribunda?, fragrant small roses that form giant hedges. There were lilacs too, and apple trees; and in June when school let out and we played til dark at 930 PM, I'd find masses of gorgeous cultivated iris in stunning bloom.

My brother also loved [loves] iris and he helped me dig up stands of the iris and we transplanted them in our own backyard, by the old wrought iron fence with its pink climbing rose. There were a number of types of bearded iris: blues/ purples; a very hardy yellow with speckled brown petals, and an exotic  iris with pale orchid pink tops and deep puce, purple brown, lower petals. Also palest blue flags and the classic bright yellow flags.

My dad liked these too and the iris tubers moved with us on to Illinois, and then Cape Cod. As summer progressed there were also stands of yarrow, lavender, blackeyed susans, hollyhocks, Ohio daises, and pink wild roses. Looking back I am guessing there was once a farmhouse there, where we played ball, and though it had long since vanished, its garden had remained and survived.
Iris are still a flower that I love.
Such a pretty planting vignette. It cold be a Japanese print, couldn't it?

In early June the rhododendrons bloom. I like their deep pink colors and woodland aspect. And that they are evergreen but not ''pine trees'', meaning not conifers.

Roses peek back at us through the tall grey fences:

This lady has an itty bitty cocoa colored poodle who hates poor Mo. Who is only wanting a friend to play with, too bad.

And the pines bloom, covering one's car hood with bright yellow dust

The snake wort is beautiful, briefly. It's an invasive weed here. This version is a wonderful variegated blue.

Mo and I travel on each afternoon to the beach bench.

Mo does his counting trick, he can count to three!

Then we sit and think and breathe the salt air for awhile.

There's a spigot there for people to wash the sand off their feet. I'm teaching Mo to take a drink there, from my cupped hands, because even the slightest heat sets him to panting and plopping.

The local home owner association sets out pretty pots. Flags are added on holidays.

My friends who for the past three years have experimented with a tropical garden switched this year to easier and more permanent Nantucket style plantings. Hydrangeas, rugosa beach roses, pink rudbeckia, astillbe, pink spirea, with some of their collection of lilies replanted.

Inspired too by blog friend Penny's lovely roses and hydrangeas in South Africa.

They couldn't totally abandon their love of tropicals. Replanted into more easily cared for large pots,

as are their lavender and other herbs.

It will be fun to watch this garden grow, as this was the design I had originally suggested to two busy professionals who often work 6 or even 7 days a week, easily 80 or more hours, with long commutes daily to NYC. It is hoped this garden with professional drip watering will be  something they can enjoy without hours of labor.

Of course Mo and I enjoy it too. Mo has his own water bowl and his cold water always stashed in their outdoor fridge.

Back home, one of my deck pots has an intriguing ''volunteer''. Mel tracked it down, it's an herb called borage, prized for its edible blue flowers. Where did it come from? The wind? A bird? Or last summer's wildflower seed pack?

Have a wonderful week. Tell me, what is your favorite garden flower?

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

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