Progress...

Hi! Hope you all had a good weekend! I stayed in and tried to get things done...a small but tedious bathroom repair, for glamorous example,lol.

**A quick bloggy business note: now Blogger allows replies within the comments. This allows more of a dialog, so if you post a comment, I'll be replying there. [I'll still email usually too, if I have your email. Just to be friendly!]***

The last few days have been both warm and very cold, then snow then ice...but uniformly winter-like. Seems like it never gets fully light out: no sunrise, no sunset...just grey and grey and dark....

I can live with everything except ice...oh I am such a sissy, I am scared of ice, both for walking and driving. Is it just me?

Anyway! My sewing machine is somewhat fixed, though I think it has a bad case of old age. By last night I was exhausted from wrestling with it, my son said I looked like I'd been working hard. (I think I was all sweaty and dishevelled! He thought I'd finally started working out at home!? uh, no.) Sadly my old Brother machine doesn't sew straight! Not a good thing when making quilt tops.
Here are the baby quilts so far....

This one was voted out of the running, "Too bright, too busy." It's a gift from all of us so I have to take my family's opinion to heart. (There would have been fairly wide horizontal sashing in the heart print, then simple borders...)

I kinda liked it a lot, so I was sad about that! (The rubber ducky prints were described as stupid by my kids!) I set it aside.


This is their fav. Not mine.
 
 

 

I am trying hard to keep it simple. I may just applique the tiny heart in the center to bring it into my personal folk art mode. In which case I'll put the child's patchwork pieced name on the back, or maybe not at all?

Perhaps it's a strong hint to get out of the baby gift thing....?

I also gave myself the treat of working on my blocks for Lori's doll quilt quilt-along, here. Wow that was fast! She is done! The blocks are small enough and fussy enough that I didn't feel I have time to "audition" lots of blocks as I normally might. For now I'll just continue and then maybe make subs later? My pinks are too pink, all I had or could find, too dark.

The red block is a definite redo, crooked, crooked [center red square]---what happened?

Here's Lori's version of the antique inspiration quilt......

Humble Quilts, used with permission. Thx, Lori!

 Back to work! Beach day tomorrow...I hope.

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach....

sunrise after Saturday's snow,
a cloud bank heading up the coast...

Dark Inspiration: Winter Sea, Beach, Storm Clouds

Hi! Snow is coming!? For you too?  This past week I finished un-decorating from Christmas...it takes me longer to put away, I think, than to get the stuff up. Maybe because I have more helpers before than after.

[and this year I hardened my heart and discarded many old ornaments...not antiques, just sentimental treasures no longer used. sigh. That was hard.]

I adore the holidays, the red and green, the pine and holly, the glitter and extravagance...but in January I am so relieved to see my home dressed in its beach clothes,  its shades of serene blue and white.

                 

                     

I've temporarily set out my indigo blue batik seashell pillows. Due to my sewing machine's ills, I did not yet make my new set of accents for winter. And began auditioning wintery fabrics...

My inspiration is my winter beach and sky....

I'm planning a palette of deep blue, black, stormy grey...added to the base white of course.

Here are my final choices...

I don't think my family will like the linen, top piece, above ...these French grain sacks/ towels are an acquired taste from blogland and eBay.

I love the black seashell toile! It's a pillow sham, quilted cotton and the only one I found at Homegoods one year. I can't decide if I should do one big statement pillow or make two, but add side panels of ticking or charcoal linen? [Thoughts?]

And this is a new Bali batik, above left and  below, It just says storm clouds to me, I love it...and also its artisanal character, not to mention smoothest soft cotton, very washable!

This grey starfish cotton is wonderful but perhaps too ditsy...it may become a table runner, for the coffee table..or even a runner backing, napkins, or?

I also add a few simple blue quilts...

and I dig out my favorite black and white transferware.

I display it with my favorite dark blues until late spring when it is replaced by all blues and white ironstrone.

This is a new pot from Goodwill...had to have it for 5 bucks! I bought it to use as a conatiner for forcing paperwhite bulbs for the dining room table, but even though I'll never use it for soup, I think it's too cute and perfect for plants, right?

The bulbs will go in my [very valuable, but what the heck] antique Staffordshire tureens instead! Tomorrow is indoor gardening day! I ll show you my  bulb planting projects soon...
Then I have my grocery store lipstick pinky-red tulips, I couldn't wait for mine to bloom! I love the red, though white is my first choice when available.
Such happy, hopeful flowers...they make me smile! You too?

love

              lizzy

gone to the beach!

in the [maybe...] snow! yay!

Spaghetti Night---Yum!

Hi! This has been a confusing January so far, hasn't it!

Last night when I went to bed the temperature was 54 degrees! The previous night it was 11*. I suppose it's better than snow, but what to wear, how to cook, etc.---confusing, right?

Today dawned beautifully cloudless and seasonably 30s, but the wind was howling again at 30, 40 MPH. And maybe that snow, or sleet will finally arrive Thursday night?  Saturday? This uncertainly leads to constant checks of the Weather Bug, lol.
So I decided to make a big pot of spaghetti sauce. Yummy and comforting and will nicely stock up my food supply Just In Case.

I think it's safe to say I have never served jarred pasta sauce here at the beach. I just really dislike store-bought sauces. I always make my own, either classic marinara, with or without meatballs...or traditional Bolognese sauce---meat sauce. My mom taught me to make these sauces when I was about ten years old and they've been good friends over the years.

Tonight, however, when I was opening the tomato paste it occurred to me that this is not an particularly economical meal now, in modern times. My little grocery  only had small cans of Contadina paste...and they are now $.95 each! I need at least six...

Here's the breakdown:

tomato paste   5.70

homemade Italian sweet sausage, 4 links,  5.53

ground sirloin 7.26 , ground chuck 4.93

lrg Vidalia onion, garlic 1.00

parm   4.50

box of white mushrooms 2.99

I won't count the seasonings...garlic, parley, basil, oregano, pepper, sugar, fennel seeds. Or the olive oil. And the pasta itself was on sale 2/1.00! Mueller's, an old favorite brand from when I lived in Ohio. (wonder if I'll still love them? Or now I'm used to Italian imported pasta?)

And I won't count the essential but leftover red wine, a mediocre red in a charming bottle/ label....

So the big pot of sauce costs $31.91 + to make!  [3 or 4 dinners for 3 people..say 10-12 servings= about $3.25, including pasta,  a serving. Okay that sounds thriftier, doesn't it.)

Hmmmm....it's worth it.

Any economical faves out there you want to share?

love

           lizzy

          gone to the beach   

  

PS I didn't put the recipe but I can if anyone wants it, very simple!)