Flea Market Blues

Hi everyone!
This past Sunday was the first winter weekend without a flea market! I woke up with---gasp!---nothing [fun and exciting] to do!

Well you know, not nothing-nothing...lots of in-house Christmas disassembling and cleaning to do, a gorgeous beach for walking...but No Flea Market! I was sad. In fact I am so enthralled by the weekly hunt that I drove by the train station just in case some vendors were out taking advantage of the glorious spring-like day. But no. All so rule abiding, I guess.

But then! I remembered my blog friend Michelle told me her Goodwill thrift shop is open on Sundays...hmmm, I pondered. I've never been a thrift shop shopper except in Cape Cod where the shops [and even the Dump!] have wonderful treasures and are fairly clean, lol. But in early December my friend B visited me and we went on a little road trip to find this bead shop which had moved. I had never been there yet, the new premises is in a busy spot on a highway full of strip malls. I needed my friend to look for the shop while I fought the traffic. Nope, no bead shop...but we did find a Goodwill store! My friend said, Oh, let's go in, let's just take a look.
So we did! And it's a really fun big thrift store, quite clean (my big bugaboo: cooties!). And...great treasures! I'll show you a few in a minute.
So anyway, back to this Sunday...Goodwill is just the next highway over from the flea market at the train station, maybe 1/4 mile! And yes! Open, though not as well stocked as on  weekday afternoons. I found some sweaters to felt, for a project seen on Purl Bee ....a felted wool, or cashmere throw: here
my colors! The bottom one is really a citrus-y pale chartreuese, not yellow]...

My first foray into re-purposing via felting. Isn't this amazing!

The striped t-shirt is a normal adult size, and similar to the sweaters' "before" dimensions. Look how tiny they shrunk to! Not much fabric yield per sweater....I'm pretty sure I could buy a cashmere throw for what this is gonna cost me to "thrift"!

The woolens got kinda thick and tough; the two cashmeres [top two] got smaller but are still soft. If I decide to make the Purl Bee throw I'll have fun checking back often for more sweaters...and other finds, won't I!

Other goodies too, mostly inspirations for my crafty etsy stuff. Things like very useful S hooks for crsytal ornaments....

A fun wooden display box for my lavender  hearts:

A vintage sheet, an experiment for a possibly cost effective quilt backing. [I just love the pansies, so sweet!]

Some household things too...a new olive oil decanter, for when I buy the mammoth gallon jug at Costco...

Etched! So pretty....

Great white serving pieces...a shell! stars!

and a wonderful monogrammed platter! Limoges! c.1910-20s? Wow! Love it.

And this interesting lantern...

As soon as I saw it I knew it was a perfect container for a snow baby vignette. I made this little lady right away!

After she dries a bit she'll get an outfit made from vintage lace and linen scraps, and a sparkly coating of vintage snow-glitter.
The etched stars just said Snow scene to me...but this would be great on my deck with a candle, or filled with precious sea glass...

There's more! For another time...
I think Goodwill is going to be a fun new inspirations source! How about you, where do you find inspiration and new fun ideas...?

love

               lizzy

gone to the beach

Chowder Weather

Hi everyone! Time for a recipe of sorts....Soup!

The other morning the temperature was 11 degrees! With a twenty MPH wind and wind chills  around the zero mark. Brrr!

Now I like cold brisk weather just as much as the next guy, but it's a bit of a shock when the day before was a balmy 62*. Anyway, I quickly got out [again] my best fluffy flannel sheets and did the bed up all all yummy and cozy....

And I planned to make soup. Corn Chowder, to be exact. It's a full meal, maybe with some crusty bread and a green salad?...and toasty warm/good on a frigid day.

I decided to try a new version! From artist Susan Branch's lovely blog. here
I figured if it was yummy on The Vineyard in December it would be perfect for January at The Beach.

Hmmm....probably I didn't follow the directions quite right. Way too much onion, way too much milk and cream, even diluted by me with chicken broth. The carrots didn't cook at all in the simmering time I allotted them either.

 The red pepper flakes were a mistake, too. Fire extinguisher, anyone?

Looks really pretty though!

Again, I am pretty sure it was my fault, but that batch went in the bin, sad to say. And since I wasn't in the mood anymore I faked it! A can of Olde  Cape Cod corn chowder, skim milk, chicken broth, a bag of frozen corn, some carrots (cooked this time), a microwave-boiled potato, diced. Not bad. Not great. Probably would have been better if I'd not run out of bacon.

Next time I'll use my mom's recipe...

Dillingham Chowder

large bag of frozen corn niblets
2 C. leftover mashed potatoes
2 carrots, diced, pre-cooked, in microwave
Fat free half and half cream or any milk, as long as it's milk, not soy stuff
Chicken broth
a bunch of green onions, including green tops, minced.
6 pieces of bacon, cooked, crumbled [optional]

.in your biggest le Creuset pot ( or any heavy pot), saute the green onions in  at least 1 T. of butter, until softened. [Butter. Not olive oil. Please.]

.Add the mashed potatoes, thin to 'chowder consistancy' with 1-2 cups of fat-free half and half and/ or fat-free milk. Equal amount of chicken broth. [use whatever you have around, okay?]

.Stir gently til smooth, add the carrots and the frozen corn, salt* and black pepper to taste. Simmer carefully on medium, maybe half an hour. Don't let it scorch.

Serve with optional crumbled bacon on top. [*if you plan to add bacon, go easy on the salt when you season it earlier]. Again, nice with a crispy romaine salad and crusty bread.

[You can also somehow add clams, maybe a drained can or two? to make New England clam chowder, but I don't eat seafood and I am not totally sure about that part. Just in case you feel adventurous...lol.)

Enjoy!

love

       lizzy

gone to the beach

A New Quilt

What a fun way to begin the New Year, and to welcome the lovely quiet months of winter! A new quilt to make---for a new baby! Such joy...

Ah if only...my sewing machine hadn't died the other day. I'm pretty upset about that, I just paid half its admittedly meagre value to repair the darn thing! But break down and die it did. Off to the sewing machine doctor,  again.
Anyway, back to the quilt...
for a new baby girl.
You may recall these funny random blocks I made awhile ago.

I decided they could be a perfect modern quilt for a baby beach baby, redundancy intended.

I know I am supposed to make the baby things "new'' colors..., oh so chic! What is it again? mole grey, monkey brown, fog, sage, mud, dirt? I'm sorry! I just couldn't....

But I thought this was modern. In its way?

To tie everything together I chose these batiks for the outermost "logs", to unify the  blocks...

And these are for the baby's name blocks. I always piece the new baby's name into the border, if it is being made for someone specific....[need high contrast, hence the pastels.]

And then! borders, maybe---yellow rubber ducky prints, in both pink and blue. Who could resist!

But THEN!--- in my stash I also had a batch of traditional baby girl pinks mixed in with reds and some aquas. Most are toiles with seashore motifs, etc...but dainty. Old-fashioned. I pondered, I dithered. I put the girly stuff back and cut another couple blue seashore strippy blocks. But every time I opened my fabric closet the pink and red and turquoise called to me. So one day during the hols I sat down and cut a few light/ dark pinwheel blocks. Like this....

I figured I'd make both tops and then decide which suited the new parents and their little one the best...

I can always sell the second one on etsy, right?
Too bad my sewing machine  is dead...

Another fun January challenge: a doll quilt quilt-along with Lori at Humble Quilts. A dear little prim and shabby quilt for us to make with Lori's directions. You can see more details and ongoing instructions here

I love, love. love these colors! (Could this not be, if clean? and enlarged somewhat, an adorable baby quilt? Is that absurd to even contemplate? Maybe for my grandma-someday hope chest?)
I had fun gathering fabrics to  ''audition" even if I can't sew yet. This is the only time I've ever made a quilt according to someone else's plans---it's so fun! (My daddy taught me always to design my own stuff....)

Maybe it's all good---the broken sewing machine, I mean---I still have to undo the Christmas tree and decorations. Seems like that all was eons ago, doesn't it?

What are you guys up to? Not cleaning ,I hope!

Tomorrow or the next day we'll make soup, okay?

love


    lizzy


            gone to the beach




sanderlings...they come HERE for the winter!
To them it is warm
compared to their far arctic nesting grounds...
always so busy, chasing the waves