Gone To The Beach

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Fourth of July!

love,

lizzy,

gone to the beach.......

Monday, July 1, 2019

It's July! ~ June Quilt Show and Tell

It's July! The year is half over but summer has just begun. [Finally.]

On the quilting home front, first up, Lori's Stringalong Project. I didn't get as much accomplished as I'd hoped but I am very happy with what I have so far.

Here is the pieced section on my bed, so you can see scale and layout.

I was rescued from my setting dither by blog friend Penny, who very kindly did a layout for me in Electric Quilt 7.

I was stymied because I have very limited sashing and corner fabric and could not allow myself a cutting experiment/ error. With Penny's invaluable help, I could print out diagrams and make notes for exact cutting amounts and for the always boggling diagonal piecing structure.

My stack of blocks might have sadly languished in their box without the diagrams.

Once I cut the sashings I could then cut the setting triangles. Penny also kindly included cutting measurements but I wanted the big triangles to have their long sides on straight grain, therefore needed to cut a large square into fourths, and I'd need 3 [12] of them?

I spent a somewhat fun evening [in my imagination, I don't even recall who the guys was!] thanking my old middle school geometry/ algebra? teacher for imparting the basics: a x a + b x b = c x c [''a squared plus b squared equals c squared'', my keyboard won't write this.]; so the square is cut the square root of c.---or 19"-ish. Aren't we so glad we paid attention back then! And we told our parents math was a waste of time, "I'll never use it!"

So here I am , hoping for some rainy days to continue piecing.

I still love my Baskets but in a way I feel that they are soooo simple that they in some ways evade the fun challenge of strings. I can't lift the photos from FB and Pinterest but some of the antique string quilts that Lori has featured for inspiration are fabulously creative and intricate. Something to mull over.

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Bitty is a small someday/ maybe/ future ''heirloom'' [how outdated and dumb of me] baby quilt that many of you have watched me work on for 2, 3 years now.

She was unfolded and taken to the beach yesterday. Of course my Frixion pen wouldn't work in the hot sun.

I was slightly dismayed that the project is not, as I thought, half done. Maybe 1/3 done. But I do have all summer. [The fabrics are white ground, not ivory.]

I do love the texture of the handquilting.

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Year in the Country: June / Rooster is finished.

So cute! I modeled him on a picture of a breed called Grey Lace Orpington, I love the name! But Orpingtons are usually blond, who knew? Truly he is an all-American Plymouth Rock, I think. HERE

The hollyhocks will all get yellow french knot centers after it's quilted, and button eye removed then replaced. I always have to tack on the eyes so the birds come alive!

This is the only block that did not have the name embroidered on it. So I added it, Rooster wanted recognition.. Not in the photo, he fell on the floor, lol, but I found a little orange plastic piggy on the beach. He will maybe get attached in the end too, it's a farmyard, needs a pig.

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At the church flea on Friday I found this toile valance, $2.oo.

It has really cute, sharply rendered scenes. Part of the reason Hideous was set aside is that it features a purple toile and I've used up all the scenes; what's left is repeats. I was thinking the rest of the blocks can have black toile, or if I find purple dye I may try overdying it.

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Back home: Does anyone know what this is growing in my zinnia pot? Mel? Is it an herb or a weed?

And from Kit, more tea party garden art. Kit has teacup flowers! Aren't they adorable.

Many thanks to those who have asked about Mo and his knee.

He seems fine, he likes his supplement; he is struggling with the sudden heat but that's another issue. I find he loves burbling water, he even likes me to drizzle his water from a bottle so he can lap it as it falls. He may find it hard to breathe when he drinks as his flat face makes his nose submerge at times. I plan to look for a water fountain for him, though he prefers to have ice in his drinks, not sure how that'll work, hahaha.

This was last night, I was getting ready for bed and when I came back from brushing my teeth, I found this! Look at that face, those puppy dog eyes! ''Mommy, you can sleep over there." He had NO trouble at all jumping up and making himself at home on my side of the bed, on my pillows. "Were you reading my Kindle, Mo!"

Have a wonderful July! Stay cool, but enjoy the warmth and freedom too.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach..............

Link to Lori's blog, for everyone else's string quilts: Humble Quilts

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

New Thrift Shops!

Good evening, everyone!

Monday morning I was surprised to get a text from my non-thrifting friend L, ''Do you want to go find that thrift shop I saw a few weeks ago?''
She had been stuck in traffic and as she slowly crawled along she noticed a new-looking shop, texted me the name and town. I saved the info but sort of figured I d be finding it with thrift-pal B, but it seems my friend L has a project and a mission.

Here is what she plans to make. Garden art! So adorable. [this is her inspiration photo.]

I did some googling for info, she used her car's GPS. Good thing, because the shop was not at all in the town she said it was in, or I pictured it wrong. Here we are, we found it. Parking in the rear, too!

Not such a nice neighborhood. Urban ugly.

But a stylish awning ...

and tempting window displays.

LOL I was expecting "Glory Bee" to be a young hip rocker chick, maybe with neon pink hair? Instead a very tall white-bearded man was in charge.

I loved this idea of their free library, outside on the sidewalk for passersby.

Interesting things inside the small store:

You could do a really cute summer Boho/ daisy dukes outfit, with the cutoff shorts, sweet peasant tops, and bright beads. (if you were 19 and into boho, or that Coachella hippy look?) Coachella

Good selection of shirts, 5.99 each.

A few interesting items. I especially loved this Stangl lookalike pitcher with the seed pod decoration incised, but I didn't like the swirly, mid century modern shape much.

L was looking for teapots so we ventured down to "housewares." Kind of ick, in the basement. This is not a good place to store fabrics and bed linens, ick again, even tho there were a few very sweet small cuts of chintz.

Back upstairs we tracked down Glory Bee and got him to reach into the window for the three old red tomato pincushions. $5.oo.

Yep, they came home with me.

The medium sized tomato has the most adorable tiny strawberry, like the size of your pinky fingertip.

I do hope this guy's black speckles are pin holes/ rust, not mildew. He is in quarantine til I decide.

I could have poked around this shop longer! I am sure there is a Susan Branch book there somewhere, and the beads alone deserved a longer look.
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While I was googling Glory Beeezz I noticed another store with 5-star reviews, ''only 1/3 of a mile away''! Still, even driving just two blocks and a dogleg, we got lost. We ended in a cul de sac with lovely renovated Victorian houses. Lucky for us, this is near where the old Thursday picker's flea used to be, on the lawn of an abandoned mansion built by the Kellogg family. [Cornflakes, Rice Krispies?], HERE so I knew where we were and where we should go. We found the second shop in a sad aged strip mall.

Inside:

Spacious and clean-ish.

Lots to look at and choose from.

Vintage bar soap tin, too $$ a4 4.oo. Wonderful for a prtable sewing kit. Those are my kind of flowers! Love.

Modern ironstone set, Sheraton style, Enflish. Originals would be c. late 1700s, or early 1900 repros. These look very new.

Repro English medical ware. Lettering on white ironstone. Originals are from 18th and 19th century, this is just an ''inspired by'' modern item.

More shirts, for future quilts. Good labels, Ralph Lauren etc.

Very unappealing linens.

Even furniture.

L found wonderful teapots, I was very jealous of the lavender sprigged one.

And this rosebud smaller pot.

She did not find any teacups she liked or chandelier drops to form ''water'', so when I got home I shopped my own cupboards for her.

So far she wants to keep looking, none of my cups were of use. You know how it is, when a person [or L] has one's one artistic vision.

Here is a tutorial found online, a how to: Here

I think copper pipe is a good idea for the stakes, though copper maybe too $$$, in which case wood dowels would work fine. I can't wait to see how L's versions turn out.

Little Mo is still recuperating from his annual check up and vaccines. He is quite sad and not eating since Friday! (Though this am he did nibble a scrambled egg.) The vet came to us so Mo wouldn't be stressed in a hot car, plus nowhere to park. Vet says Mo has developed a knee problem, his kneecap dislocates. He now has a supplement. Doctor G says Mo is not in pain, but this is perhaps why sometimes Mo won't climb stairs or sits during walks. Sad but glad to understand that Mo is just not poorly trained and bratty.No surgery etc needed.