Quilts so Far _ Winter of 23.

 

Good evening! Mo and I just came in from our walk--a beautiful Full Moon is floating in a turquoise sky---lavender now--- filled with ''angel clouds" [puffy pastel with golden glow.] How wonderful.

In early January I quickly zapped out a simple nap quilt for a child.

Inspired by the reading quilts Julierose makes for her granddaughters, this can be a storytime quilt, a take to camp or the beach quilt, a snuggle blanket for her new play tent.

A utility quilt. 

Her parents strongly dislike patchwork so I just took a stack of sweet pink and lemon yellow batik 10" squares and set them randomly.

The best part is the Ladybug quilting, by my friend Lori C. who always brings my ideas to life.

I had planned to use wide pink  satin blankie binding.

But 1-I couldn't figure out an easy way to attach it and 2- it seemed old and crinkly, then it melted when I pressed the fold lines out. 

Pink polka dot binding instead, not sewed very well. A wasted rush as the child's birthday was canceled because she had Covid again. [how sad is that!].The backing is soft cream and white polka dot flannel. I know pink and yellow is a reach for these friends, but I just cannot make a grey play quilt, sorry not sorry. "Pink Lemonade" ~ a Summer Quilt for ****

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The Thanksgiving quilt is also finished and just waiting for deck time/ and summer for its binding.

I'm still not sure what to put in the open spaces next to the Pineapple. L *  D, my initials/ 20---23, its date? 1623 [! wow, synchronicity]  first Thanksgiving, which my family loved celebrating on the Pilgrim shores of Cape Cod.

Right now I'm not loving poor Pineapple, it has sad connotations now, of holidays uncelebrated, changing times. And---too literal, after seeing blog friend Dorothy's neutral, graphic, and beautifully made version.

Another issue: The raw edges require me to wash it, as the edges will lift and fray and add textural depth. Yet--disatser in the making? 

Note the lovely acorns and oak leaves in the quilting.

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Most afternoons, sewing hour has focused on Winter Marsh, making Flying Geese blocks for spacers and border. On sunny days I bring my trimming tools and the blocks out to sit facing the beach, pretending from my dining room table that the sun is warm and summer is on its way.

A quilt like this, so random!, really needs a designs wall. 

that I do not have,

My next two goals are to piece the setting Sun block and to piece the top's columns. I'd love to have this completed for next winter.

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 I want to share photos my friend sent me of her recent quilts she has made as they relocate yet again and wait for their new house to be built. She cheerfully calls the long wait in a rented condo, a ''staycation'' and has focused on these small projects. She does lovely work, usually handquilted.

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 Friday I made a  big stir fry w left over pork tenderloin and veggies from fridge and from Trader Joe's.

Every time I make this it seems different but fast and tasty and warm on a rainy night. Today I made many salads, plus a pasta casserole. This week is IV clinic week, and I try to prep easy meals ahead.

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Mo says Hi! He will be nine in a few weeks, imagine that.

Have a great week!

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach....

Update ~ Winter Bulb Garden

Hi! As February draws to a close, let's check the indoor forced bulbs I planted mid- to late January/ For most, this is about 5 weeks of growing, only the amaryllis was started in early January.

But she is a star! So easy, so rewarding. So beautiful. Seventh year of bloom, I think.

Blooms lasted two weeks; now she will be a leafy ''houseplant'', watered and fertilized until I can put her out on the deck for summer and fall.

The blue amaryllis planted mid January is still just a nubbin, but it does show green. It was a very small bulb [2" or less], may take a few years to flower.

below, after 6 weeks.

                                              

The Paperwhites have been another No-Fail performer. This year is best ever.

The strong scent has been reduced, through breeding?--many found the rotten diaper smell off putting. [as one does, lol]These were almost scentless. 

I love watching the daffs sprout and grow!

Another improvement--they are still standing straight and strong. Flopping over as soon as they bloomed was another negative that has been successfully addressed, it seems. 

Or this year I just got lucky?

Another great result is my blue hyacinths from my Fall garden store trip. My friend was funny when I told her that's why we go--she said she thought it was for pumpkins and baby goats. But no! This year I bought these gorgeous blues and colded them off in the dark under a bench in my unheated entryway.

Just so beautiful. Lightly scented.

The first single bulb in my hyacinth vase did well too and bloomed within a couple weeks. 

The second try was a stunted bulb from the larger vase; it rotted and was discarded finally.

I do change out the water every week for fresh cold  refill. This bulb turned the water murky immediately, a sign of mold or decay.

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Tulips: the Tulip World prechilled have grown but look pathetic.

These are supermarket tulips from last Easter. I saved and dried them, to give to friend but never saw him at planting time. Finally I planted them in one of my dumpster-found delft pots and though slow growing, they look really hopeful.

The big disappointment is the tete-a-tete tiny daffs, ordered from Tulip World and supposedly chilled for indoor forcing. They had green tips when planted.

 

now:

They all look awful. I will keep them for awhile even though the tiny daffs are here in the stores already, 3.99 for a 4-6" pot, depending. I am unhappy, I really had high hopes for these minis, my favorite daffodil.

My dad bought pots every year for my mom's birthday and Easter. After they were done blooming, he'd plant them outside under the kitchen window for my mom and him to enjoy  as the tiny hopeful little yellow daffs regrew and carpeted the woodsy yard each year. My mom thought it was all so magical, so Cape Cod where such replanting was possible. She'd send me pressed specimens in our joint journal each April.

So I'll be patient, while maybe a Trader Joe's indulgence may bring home some already blooming while I wait. And here is a lovely YouTube vid from Jane at Snapdragon Life. She does her indoor bulbs differently, an easier method. She simply repots growing plants in her array of beautiful containers. HERE  Like my dad she then replants the used bulbs in her garden. click HERE

I highly recc Jane's weekly newsletter/email and videos, talented and interesting woman.

The tulips, paperwhites, and the tete-a-tete mini daffs were from, I think, Tulip World. HERE   They still have paperwhites which as shown performed beautifully. Very much on sale.

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Off topic, this week I got my 5th Covid booster. Late bec it had to be done in a lull between IV clinic appointments; I am immune suppressed by the treatments and vaxx #5 was urged if timed carefully. The nurses were kind and friendly, always worth noting here where rude and rushed at best are the norm. I mention this to say---I had no side effects at all. Well, yes, chills---house was freezing/ high winds!/ and headache--car died again. Can't blame that on the vaccine.

Vaccine day at a local church, just walk in, no wait.

 I was so afraid to get this vaccine #5. So many people have said it made them very ill. I want you to know that may not always happen and the protection is worth the effort. Be smart!

Have a great week.

love 

lizzy 

gone to the beach.....

Speaking of Trader Joe's--- their flowers never fail to delight me. I could fill a cart with bouquets.

note that price!

scribble journal, mid to late February.