Groundhog Day

Hi everyone! Happy February~

Today was the silly ''holiday'' called Groundhog Day. All in good fun, I suppose. February desperately needs fun, right? If Mo was moonlighting as The Groundhog, he'd be predicting :Spring is on its way! [as indeed it is, no matter what the weather.] At dawn we peeked through the curtains left carelessly ajar and soft fluffy flakes of snow were falling.

No sun.
Mo [and, yes, I] , went back to sleep.

Zzzzz. Pugs are perhaps even better at sleeping than at eating.

You may recall I said my just-planted paperwhite narcissus bulbs would bloom for GH Day. They tried!

One tiny bloom opened ...

They look like asparagus, don't they!

I'll add a photo in the morning. If it's sunny, there should be flowers and fragrance.
.....................
My friend and I drove over the bridges to run some errands. Mostly to just get out.

We could order online, sure...but it's nice to get out, move around, see other humans. No cutie Valentine sweaters for Mo at Target though. How sad.

See the houses out in the marsh? These are real house, or fishing camps, as they are called. I'd love to go out there to see them up close someday. They are owned by families, passed down, never bought, owned or sold. Like maritime squatters, now ''grandfathered'' into ownership.

I made a Westering Women block: Bear Paw, a classic block.

Mo helped.

Then we had our sunset walk.

Snow over the ocean to the south east.

The sky has a springtime hint of aquamarine, pale violet, and pink not seen in autumn or early winter. Teasing us to think of summer days and nights to come.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....

January's Projects

Hello, everyone. January went by so fast! I do love winter and I feel like I have not sufficiently treasured the beauty of these January days.  The good news is I have been right on schedule with my  quilting projects. I have three! quilt tops ready to be sent to the quilter this week.

Here is "July" aka Porch Quilt 2 or P2 .

It was finished for the sewalong on January 2nd, but  then I added the sawtooth side borders. I think the big sawtooths make the quilt look more cohesive/ intentional. (The random blocks of this type of quilt, while so fun to sew, can often look too scattered and random when finally sewed into a top, I think.]

Summertime, also from a pattern by Jan Patek, published in Primitive Projects magazine, is also finished and ready for the quilter to work her magic. Huge quilt, 90" square.

Its medallion format is less chaotic than Patek's primitive designs. All those borders were hell to make fit, despite my constant measuring throughout the construction.

It looks a bit bare because the deep pink buds, 3-D yoyos---about 70 of them, will be attached after quilting, as will be the birdies' eyes and other details.

Somehow a hole appeared in the upper center border! Oh no! I fussy cut and appliqued a butterfly there. I like the butterfly a lot. Not so sure about the whole quilt, mostly I hate it, poor thing.

I also finished restoring this gorgeous Sunflower quilt top, in hopes of saving it and using it.

I love the tan areas that were once red, but proved fugitive and are now tan.

 I love how the good red bits turn up now and then in the beige flowers..

I used a vintage, ugly but appropriate olive green solid  for a stabilizing border and to replace some areas that were so deteriorated they fell into dust when touched. It is beautifully hand pieced, but the circles and biases make it impossible to keep square and without bubbling.

There is some thought that tops should be cherished as is and not finished, but to me such a fragile quilt top's only hope of survival is if I repair it and strengthen it with batting and quilting.

It's  a wonderful pattern and probably one I could not afford if it was a completed quilt.
My quilter will maybe be able to do a wreath or other circular pattern. She'll advise me when she finally sees it in person. If not I hope she can sew or baste the squares of the blocks which I will then hand quilt. [Ideally this top deserves to be entirely hand quilted but again, I think it's better to save it than to insist on it being just so authentic.

I sewed the last blocks of When the Wild Geese Fly too. Pine trees. The only trees we have here are big pines, so I thought they were appropriate.

They didn't come out how I envisioned them, but I like them. [yet another Jan Patek design].

Just because I did the final blocks doesn't mean this quilt is almost done! There are 147 Wild Geese blocks in the border. So far I made 8, experimenting with two different methods of construction. They will all be the correct size when trimmed.

Here's the book cover to remind you guys of how the quilt will look. My version is blue shirting plaids with orange of all sorts.

Here is a closer look at the original's Wild Geese sashings.

I made a tiny start on Lori's [Humble Quilts]new sewalong, Fall Festival. I decided that while I love participating in her projects, this time I won't let myself get so stressed about keeping up. I'll just enjoy at my own pace. More on that next week, for Block One reveal.

Speaking of sewalongs, it seems this year has been extra bountiful and tempting , with so many sewalongs I'd love to do. It's very hard not to jump in....and find myself in way over my head. So far I'm resisting. The real temptation is here: Temecula Quilt Company. What a great antique inspiration quilt.

February's projects are Westering Women, 2 blocks not done, plus 4 more I plan to add. And progress on Dotty 365. Audrey's final linky reveal of all our versions will be May 1, though another quilter will continue to host the project during 2017.

Mo and I are now trying to take an after dinner walk each day. Not far, but something we both love. Here we are at Mo's bench.

And on sunny days Mo insists we sit out on the deck in the afternoon. I just imagine us there some snowy day,lol. Pugs adore routine. Here is Mo watching me write this blog.

He prefers to sit on my lap and we look at Doug the Pug and Pork Chop the Pug on FB.

Oh and Mo has learned a new trick! He can now dance on his hind legs and pirouette, just like the little girls on Dance Moms. [video soon]

Have a good week! Welcome February!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....