The Muhly Grass here has been blooming for about 2 months. I love it when the rising or setting sun lights it up.
The sun makes it glow.
I took these pics yesterday when I walk late afternoon.
The strands from this grass are used by the sweetgrass basket makers, so in some public places, the plants are seriously trimmed to supply fodder for the baskets. Stealthily, of course.
Yesterday I put protectors on the two camellia bushes as we were expecting temps in the 20s last night. Here in SC, our water heaters are OUTSIDE, attached to a house wall, and houses are either on the ground or on high supports. Either way, pipes are…exposed or on the ground. And they will freeze easily.
When I woke this morning, it was 28 degrees on my porch. It’s a good thing I dripped water upstairs and in two faucets downstairs.
I brought in the Kalancho plant, which is going to bloom again. And the geranium which is on its second year and going strong. The hibiscus on the porch took a hit. Time will tell.
It will be very cold again tonight. Cold for SC, that is.
Beloved neighbor and I saw this very interesting, very big bird while walking the other day. Neither one of us had a clue as to its identity. It was not alarmed by our presence, unlike the usually wary wading birds.
It continued to stroll slowly along the ditch, which is part of the elaborate system of flood management in the “Low Country.” Water in ditches like this one is channeled out to the coastal marshes. This bird’s strolling involved standing momentarily on its left leg while using its right foot to wiggle and scratch the botton of the ditch.
And:
Neither of us surfaced the word “stork” to identify this bird. We were more focused on heron, crane, ibis, egret, and so on. Note the bald dark head, the sturdy dark beak that turns a kind of tan at the end, the black legs, the black feathers at the tail and along the bottom of the folded wings.
It took me a little time, but I finally identified this fascinating bird. And I learned that the black on the wings is much more prominent that one might expect when they are folded.
Here’s some more info on “Wood Storks” from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
“Large, white Wood Storks wade through southeastern swamps and wetlands. Although this stork doesn’t bring babies, it is a good flier, soaring on thermals with neck and legs outstretched. This bald-headed wading bird stands just over 3 feet tall, towering above almost all other wetland birds. It slowly walks through wetlands with its long, hefty bill down in the water feeling for fish and crustaceans. This ungainly looking stork roosts and nests in colonies in trees above standing water.”
And for Cornell labs:
“Wood Storks occur only in a few areas in the United States, so to get a look at one, head to a wetland preserve or wildlife area along the coast in Florida, South Carolina, or Georgia. Wood Storks tend to be busily foraging with their head down and body held horizontally, but their large size should help them stand out amongst the other pale herons, ibises, and egrets in wetlands even if you can’t see their hefty bill. If they aren’t foraging in areas with standing water, check nearby trees for groups of roosting Wood Storks, or look up in the sky for soaring birds with black-and-white wings. They are mostly silent, but during the breeding season, sounds of begging chicks might help you find a colony.”
This Wood Stork was our gift of the day from…nature.
“Garnish” is the second month block in Tara Faughnan’s six-month Blocks3 online class.
Here’s what happened as I played with the block and with the palette Tara chose for this month. I am very partial to greens and oranges, so I was happy with this palette that was very much in one of my color comfort zones. (I love color.)
I hand quilted “Garnish” with the collection of 12-weight cotton threads I have amassed over the years of hand quilting. The center join of the “flower” made hand quilting tough in that area, but the rest was a joy.
The backing is “Spotted” by Brigitte Heitland (#1660 Moda), whose selvage came with the sweet message “Life is Art, Live Yours in Color.”
This block is a pickle quilt block form, and as usual Tara Faughnan gave us many options, like block sizes for instance, with which to play. My trial block is on the upper right of my developing improv quilt and was a 6-inch version, as I recall.
The form of this block that drew me strongly was the circle that formed as a secondary pattern. So I went on to make a stretched canvas version, which I hand quilted and hung in my quilt room. (Above a “Crosswalk” block, the first month block in Blocks3.
Like Tara Faughnan, I think a glue stick makes sewing curves so much easier. So this “Garnish” piece will need to be washed to remove the glue, which will make the piece wrinkly, of course. I don’t mind that look.
Month 3 in Blocks3 is a Star form, and I’m having fun with it now.
And MUCH has been accomplished in my quilting world.
“Under the Maple Tree” is off the longarm, trimmed, and ready for its binding. The texture is awesome for this quilt, with lot of “windy” pantograph swirls.
I may do her binding installation later today:
“Under the Maple Tree” has been (and continues to be) such a fun quilty journey. My thanks to Rachel LaBour (Stitched in Color blog) for this fall sewalong.
The third month in Tara Faughnan’s online Blocks 3 class is “Star Brite.” As usual, Tara gave us many ways to make this 10-inch block. I’ve made diamond stars before now–in an earlier Tara Faughan class with a big Lone Star block. But I’ve never made one of these blocks with an outside trimed edge. I started with this wider edge (the acid green color) form. Now I’ll try the narrower trimmed version she gave us and, maybe even, the “simple” form with no trim. AND, she gave us a scrappy version that I must try as well.
I knew I’d like to use this trial block to add to my growing improv quilt blocks. Here’s what I have now. You will find “Crosswalk” and “Garnish” blocks here as well.
I have two leader/ender projects happening. One is making 24 blocks for another donation quilt using 2-inch cut squares from that bin. I’m making Bonnie Hunter’s “Patches and Pinwheels”–a free pattern on her website. I already made one of these this fall.
The other leader/ender is also a Bonnie Hunter block: the name is something like “X-Plus,” but it was published in a magazine, and I can’t find a link to it. But I was able to figure it out. This one will be a baby quilt donation.
I put the “Garnish” piece I did on stretched canvas and hung it. So here’s “Garnish” and “Crosswalk” now hanging in my quilt room:
They are on the wall next to the design wall. “Kites 2” is ready to go on the longarm, and the backing, batting, and binding are all organized.
FINALLY, here’s the “Garnish” piece I’m hand quilting, a task that is almost finished–and then I’ll sew down the already installed binding.
I think this one will be a table decoration.
I think that is about SEVEN ongoing quilt projects. My goodness! And I have more ideas I want to start.
So, it is still overcast, and more rain is coming.
There will be more sewing today, and obviously, I’m happy with that news.
My Charleston Modern Quilt Guild issued a challenge in October to make a completed quilt using the three colors we got in an envelope. Everyone got two different colors, but we all got this Smoked Oyster color as one of the three. The challenge is due at our January 2026 meeting.
Here are the colors I found in my envelope. I spent nost of November thinking about what to make using these colors. I love all of them, but I didn’t want to make a Christmas-type quilt using just red and green. The real problem child here is that Smoked Oyster color. The challengers did say you only had to use each color ONCE, no matter how tiny a piece you used.
Eventually I found myself thinking about the kite ruler I have and a kite block. I trialed one layout idea for the improv quilt of solids that is growing on my design wall.
Could that oyster color work as a background? Maybe, but for a whole quilt? So I tried it out with this red daisy pattern. I liked the block but couldn’t see a way to make it all happen with this large a block (10 inches) with only the oyster color as a background. It shows light here, but it is actually a darker greyish tan color that is, yes, “smoky,” not clear.
The other day I used that trial block to make another hot pad for a hot dish coming out of the microwave or the oven. I made the one behind it three years ago, and I use it all the time and needed another one. The inside contains 2 layers of batting and one of Insul-Bright Thermal batting. The whole thing is super thick and a pain to sew and to bind. But…the result is so useful.
I can still see a quilt made with this layout and with a variety of neutral fabrics for the side pieces. And that will likely happen…
I eventually settled on putting the single kite block on point, as if the kites were flying in the wind. I tried making some blocks sit sideways or even upside down, especially at the edges or the bottom, as if they were turning in the wind, but that didn’t look coherent to me.
So, here’s what I have now:
The border triangles were made bigger, so today I’ll trim the sides and sew a “victory lap” seam around all the edges–as that prevents block separation when the quilt goes on the longarm.
My backdoor neighbors are a young couple who just had their first baby–a little girl. She is BEAUTIFUL. And the picture announcement they sent me shows a healthy baby.
When I realized they were expecting, I started a “girl” baby quilt, and along the way found this perfect fabric for it: Heather Ross’s “Girls in Trees” (“Studio Edit,” #409271).
The block is Bonnie Hunter’s “Four Patch Fun,” which is her 2025 leader/ender block. It is free on her blog. I used the pantograph “TwoFold Feathers” by Hermione Agee and the Signature cotton thread “Petal.” The fabrics are all from my stash, and I used the same fabric for the sashing pieces as I had enough of it–and I love the animals it includes, especially the owl. I also like the striped binding cut on the bias.
Here’s a close-up of one of the blocks, so you can see I tried to include as many interesting animal and foliage images as I could–along with other images, like the bikes.
Sheep and the owl peeking out to say hello:
I make a quilt like this one to be loved and USED, and I hope that as this little girl grows older, she will notice all the things this quilt holds for her.
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