A Winter's Work ~ Spring Finishes

Hello, friends---Welcome to June.

May has seen three big quilt finishes for me . I have to say I was super-proud yesterday when I sewed the final stitch in La Grande Sajou's binding!

This was a ''little'' quilt, Humble Quilt's Fall project, inspired by the Parisienne shop known as Sajou. I think we chose that first center block in early October.

I chose a rose from a red Provencal print--it was all I had that seemed to work. That choice set the stage for my entire "French inspired'' medallion* quilt.

 I say French though maybe  that is only in my imagination,lol.

Many of the gorgeous reds I hunted down online are from American Jane. Who knew they made provencal prints as well as cutesy Americana kids' prints.

The final border is a hand blocked French border strip, found on etsy. It was added after the quilt was quilted because as we well know raw quilted edges often need a lot of straightening and squaring.

The binding also AJ, had to be attached in stages, first just to the hand-blocked border which had waves and curves due to its handmade process. The corners were carefully matched and mitered. Then the binding was sewed again through the back and batting etc. This was all somewhat time consuming.

The backing is a beautiful small tablecloth, thin batiste, that my mother cherished and gave me. Despite its pastel effect its hand blocked design was inspirational in my color choices.

The edge is a pink and white sprig, with picotage , tiny dots.

My quilter did a wonderful job of centering the tablecloth and doing a subtle holly leaf quilting as I requested.

I had worried about all the reds fading/ running.

Here is the quilt in its Retayne bath, scary!

No red showed in the water, but these are the Color Catchers, just a faint pinkness from its final wash and fluff. What a relief.

That final stage ---the wash n fluff is nerve-racking, isn't it!

*What I admire most about Lori's projects: they make me think and grow as a quilter, they inspire me to try new things. On my own I would never make a medallion quilt, don't like them! And despite my mom's influence, her love of French fabrics, using them in a quilt is not something I'd have done without this project's challenge and inspiration.This is the hallmark of a great teacher, I believe. Thank you, Lori!

Begun October 2018-finished June 1 2019.

(I was so proud yesterday. I showed my son! I got the lip curl and eye roll: "It's really, um, red, mom." )

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Another just-finished quilt: TQC 1880 Sampler.

1 block [or more] per week from January 2018 to end of September 2018, about 36 blocks; I set it side then for a winter put-together. A FB groups friend helped me with the oddball setting. Yes it's triangles, not set in rectangles.

I love it!

I wish maybe I hadn't used up my chrome yellows for the back though. What a waste, what was I thinking. It looks good to me but the fabrics can't be replaced and are unusually bright yet authentic to the 1800s date. btw The yellow backings did run, both in the Retayne bath and in the wash/ Color Catchers. I find yellow to be very unstable, worse than red sometimes.

This quilt is square, the wind blew it crooked. Really.

 As I searched for the right mottled black setting fabric, despite having ordered the one TQC suggested, more of  tan, I was surprised to find these similar vermicelli or seaweed choices in my antique fabric collection. The look must have been popular! Bet it hid a lot of dirt.

Pink borders and self-bindings, a hallmark of TQC style.

 

Begun January 2018, completed May 2019.
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And since I had leftover blocks, I made this little doll quilt.

Red lucky horseshoes and green apron backing.

Too cute, my new fave.

Begun April 2019, completed May 2019.

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> I want to mention that NONE of these quilts is a ''SCRAP" quilt. I chose each and every fabric from my stash or ordered them especially.

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Happy days for me, I feel like my winter was a success even though the two big projects I had planned [Silent Night and the two Antebellum Schoolgirl projects, Hideous and Best Friends in Blue] were entirely neglected. If we get some rainy days I will piece the final 11 stars for Silent Night, so I can applique the tiny village one the bottom border this summer. And OMG, I have to make t-shirt quilt.

I'm hoping for a busy and fun summer, aren't you? As always, my Mo supervises intently.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....


Not meaning to be insensitive to others' weather related woes, but I do love a good storm. We had some big thunder and wind last night, not so much rain. Mo is like, Yawn, but the whole house shook. Hard.

String Quilts Sewalong ~ Blue Baskets

Hello! Time for our show and tell for Lori's String quilt sewalong. Already! May has been  a mishmash for me, I feel I didn't get much done. Thank heavens I don't have a monthly get it done list, not even in my head, let alone as a blog feature. I did recover my ironing boards--that's been on my to-do list for a few months. Looks cute?

This is a brief post because I am rushing off with Mo to meet the groomer. Mo is exploding fur, his dense winter coat is shedding. The fur bunnies rolling down the hall are as big as he is,lol.

Blue Baskets: I finally realized I do need 25 basket blocks, as was my initial estimate. Four across, four down [16] then three rows of three inside. Oddly my eureka moment came while looking at the cover of this darling treat I bought myself for Mother's Day.

I had the two aquas I made early May and added two more ''normal'' blue blocks, for a total of 25.

I decided to include the aqua blocks [at least for now] because they help elevate the design from being totally farmhouse make do retro, with their bright colors and Lecien flower prints.

The lattice still has me baffled.I do like how all the white ground shirtings come together, I like that effect a lot.

I know what I want to do and I think I know how to achieve that result, but to say it, write it, create it efficiently in bulk--- Nope. So many of the blocks do not need two strips, and are they at the top, bottom or side? I suppose if I had Electric Quilt I'd be all set.

So I plan to just start sewing the diagonal strips, as I did with TQC 1880. If its a disaster, so be it.  No sashing on the edges, of course, HST instead. This is where my brain shuts off. I tell myself, Cut the triangles a bit large and trim; it will work. Stop borders, binding---to be decided next time.

My June project plan is maybe  put the strips sashing together, but that depends on my health and the beach weather.

Must run. It's bath time.

Here is the link for Humble Quilts Stringalong 

be sure to see all the pretty string projects at the end of Lori's post.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

PS Pouring rain again and cold. This past weekend I did get my bulbs and seeds planted and  few sprouts are showing, so maybe the seeds have not all been washed away. I'm a bit dismayed because somehow I lost this packet of seeds that I so loved.

I found these, State Fair, at the market. They'e cute but not the special heirloom blooms I had in mind.

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Another Summer

Hi! The rains stopped briefly and we had three gorgeous HOT summer days for the first long weekend here at the beach. It's hard to adjust, one day in a parka and heavy pants, the next day digging out last year's shorts and praying that they fit. [Yay, they do!] The nights were so hot it was hard to sleep without air conditioning, but I resisted; today is again cold grey rain, had to turn on the bathrooms' heaters for showers this AM.

Mo was super overheated and refused to walk. Poor little man in his dense fur coat. He thinks if he doesn't make eye contact with me, I won't make him walk.

Then off to the beach! I always wish I could bring Mo along, but realistically he couldn't / wouldn't walk that far on a hot day, even if permitted.
The dunes are greening up.

The roses are in bloom.

So many blooms this year! They smell so sweet, so summery.

Kit asked if there were crowds. It seemed busy, going from this:

to this:

But not really crowded. This is as busy as my beach area gets. It would take untold hundreds of thousands of beachgoers to fill the open acres of sand here--and wherever would they park?! But, look---people.

I sat and sewed. Bitty came out and her quilting recommenced. I am sadly out of practice for sewing in high winds.

I did the hand sewing on my Days in the Country too but dawdled and didn't start the embroidery.
The adult birds were out, but no babies. Too many strangers. Oystercatchers, my pair who live on my beach's western boundary:

Gully, looking very perky and handsome.

You may note the washed up unraked seaweed, the green messy line on the shore. It is left there during June for the baby birds, who learn to feed on tiny organisms.

For my walking tally I have been relying on my iPhone's step counter, but I think I'll go back to Map My Walk. The distance to the shoreline is about 3/4 of a mile or 1 1/2 mile round trip. The count here, plus three Mo walks is obviously wrong. And I certainly did not climb 13 stories or stairways yesterday,lol. Many days the count shows no stairs climbed at all, yet I have to go up one flight every time I go into the house as my home is hurricane-raised.

Speaking of flights, the airshow with the Thinderbirds was exciting. This group doesn't fly low like the Blue Angels do, so no photos to share, no jets for Mo to chase.

I hope your week is good.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

PS The red buoy was gone by Saturday AM. Never saw how it was moved, though I kept a close watch. I suppose it will be refurbished and reused, though maybe not here since there is a new channel marker set out already.

Surf beach