Wisteria is so beautiful in the spring. It can and does escape confinement in formal plantings (where it makes a nice shrub or vine on some part of a house or trellis)–and when it does escape, it decorates the woods in the spring.
Here it is along the walk I take every day. This particular vine is just one among three or four that are running through the woods and are blooming now.
Here’s more of the wisteria in the woods.
There are at least three types of vines here that can get loose in the woods that I know about. One is the Yellow Jasmine, which is the South Carolina state flower. While beautiful and so cheerful in the spring, every part of this vine is poisonous and can cause skin irritation if touched.
Here’s some information on Carolina Jasmine from Clemson University.
The other vine is Kudzu, which in my mind is like “the little shop of horrors” plants. It can take over whole woods and totally cover whole swaths of trees.
Here’s some information and pictures on Kudzu–from an article entitled “Kudzu: The Invasive Vine that Ate the South.”
Cobblestone Quilters Guild is the regional in my area here in South Carolina–I live within the greater Charleston County. Right now I belong to Cobblestone, to one of its “splinter” groups named Patchwork Gals, and the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild (which is separate from Cobblestone and is tied to the Modern Quilt Guild).
Cobblestone has a quilt show every two years, and this was the year. About 200 quilts were displayed, and the show was very sweet. I so enjoyed it. Some of the quilts shown were made by members of the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild.
I took some pictures–but only those that particularly called to me. There is no rhyme or reason really to these pictures I took–it really was just whatever moved me at the moment.
Here is “Fractured Color Wheel” by Cathy Beemer, who is a member of the modern quilt group and whose two quilts I have shown you recently. One hung at Houston recently (2023?), and the other hung at QuiltCon 2024 in Raleigh, NC, in February.
I took this picture for my Maine friend Lynn V, who has made several animal quilts for her grandchildren. This one is “Zoo Family Portrait” by Jennifer McFadden.
I’ve never met a house quilt I didn’t like. And I really, really loved this one, with its neutral background and quiet strips of diagonal grey blocks (look closely) and it’s Bishop Fan quilting and its red binding. It’s “I Live in a Red House” by Katy Sheehy.
ANOTHER house quilt that I liked. It’s “Duck’s Quilting Group of Summerville at PPQ” (which is the People, Places, and Quilts quilt store in Summerville, SC).
How colorful and fun is this quilt? How could we NOT use irons in quilting. This quilt is “Irony,” by the modern group member Susan Brandt. I love the name too.
This “eyes” are the result of a challenge. And how fun is that? I love this idea.
I’ve been intrigued by “house top” backs for a while now. And look at the use of lines of small scraps in the quilt and in the binding. This quilt is part of the series challenge some in the modern group did. This one is by Hope Reed and is the number 2 quilt in her series of three.
I loved this quilting–there is so much energy and movement. I didn’t take a picture of this quilt’s name, who made it, or who quilted it. Bad!!
Here is another quilt by Cathy Beemer. Cathy writes that this quilt is the first in her SECOND series of three quilts. This one, for me, is a real inspiration as I’ve been drawn to these small crosses for some time. A leader ender project with solid strips? Probably that will happen.
And that’s it, folks.
I can’t wait for the next show, and I’ll do more to help next time, now that I have a better “lay of the quilty land” in my new adventure.
I’ve finished two of the quilts in the 1920-1930 reproduction series–two of four in the series.
You all are probably tired of seeing pics of this quilt, but it is finally totally done. I called it “Vintage Feed Sack Wedding Rings.” I am intrigued that these vintage reproduction fabrics lend themselves to modern-looking quilts.
I used a pattern called “Modern Vintage” that I saw in vol. 16 of a Better Homes and Gardens book called Quilt Lovers Favorites (pages 86-89). The pattern may be available elsewhere by the designers Camille Roskelley and Bonnie Olaveson. Also, this block is actually a traditional single wedding ring block and is easy to find online.
Expert longarm quilter Wendy Currie recommended the pantograph “Garden Frills Too,” among others, and I loved the texture.
You can see the wonderful texture on the back as well.
For the second quilt in the series, I used the round part of the wedding ring block and the squares. I called this quilt “Bubbles,” as I wanted to see bubbles rising upwards on the diagonal. It’s 48 by 48, so a perfect baby quilt size.
I used the pantograph “Circle of Life” by Patricia Ritter.
I like how this pantograph turned out as well.
Meanwhile, I had a timing issue on my Innova, so I had to wait for the nearest repairman to come help me, and that happened Thursday. Jimmy Hernandez and his friend came from Greenville, NC, which is 3.5 hours away and where Jimmy and his wife Dale own the Carolina Quilt Studio. Jimmy was AWESOME. He fixed Innova’s timing, which was off (remember when I sewed my finger?) and replaced a part that needed replacing, and was so helpful and fixed some other issues.
So, this week I will put the third quilt on Innova and finish the 4th top. And then, I promise, whatever fabric is left will go into the stash!!!
This shrub/small tree is new to me. On my walk, it lines the highway along both sides for long stretches. Along highway 17, it is trimmed back to the size of trimmed boxwoods–forming neat rectangles that line the sides of the highway and glow pink. In my neighborhood, it is a common planting beside and in front of the houses.
I finally slowed down to see what it was–deciding it was not an azalea form.
The feathery blooms are different–and pretty.
See?
As near as I can tell, this plant blooms for rather a long time.
Wikipedia says this plant is in the witch hazel family.
“The Ruby Loropetalum is a great shrub for screening and adding rich, red color to the landscape. If you’re looking for a shrub that’s hard to kill, this one’s for you! The Ruby Loropetalum is the most popular Loropetalum! This Ruby Loropetalum produces bright, pink flowers in the spring and pushes out new growth. As the new growth hardens off, it turns from red to ruby. Loropetalums are evergreen! They hold their leaves throughout the winter months still adding ruby color to your otherwise barren landscape. The Ruby prefers full sun. The more sun it gets, the more color you will have.
This loropetalum will reach 6 feet tall and about 6 feet wide. In the landscape, this Loropetalum is great for hedges, natural areas, small privacy screenings, and berm plantings. They break up all the green and function well. Use this loropetalum in the back of the landscape. They get large in size, so close to your house is not a good idea. We suggest planting out in the yard or in natural area where they can grow.”
This plant can handle full or partial sun. It attracts birds, bees, and butterflies. It is drought tolerant when established. And the flowers are FRAGRANT.
What’s not to like?
The redbuds have been blooming for some weeks now:
And the azaleas are in full bloom. I’ll have to drive some neighborhoods to get some pictures. Or, visit one of the plantation gardens where azaleas will be featured.
But I’m sewing on the binding now. But I’m really happy with how this quilt came out. The panto longarm quilter Wendie Currie suggested is just providing awesome texture–the muslin back is so, so pretty.
The pantograph is “Garden Frills Too.”
It’s hard to get consistent light in this room where the longarm lives. I have great light on the quilt when it is on the machine–from a light bar–but not in the rest of the room
I had a very busy weekend–which included the Cobblestone quilt show that they do every 2 years. I took random pics, and will show those soon.
The last block in the Tara Faughnan online class “Blocks” is called “Wheels.” I made 4, and the last one is this little guy below. This block draws on other blocks we explored: the curves in Serpentine, the lines in Lines, and the 6-minute inset method of Squircles.
Here are the other three “Wheels” blocks. The aqua and red “Wheels” used the inset method, and I hand appliquéd the lavender block as I was a little afraid to try on of the big blocks with the inset method first. I do prefer the inset method, having tried both, and it proved to be quite easy.
Here’s where my design wall is now. I only had one triangle block that didn’t want to play here–and it can become a big table-top hot pad gift for someone’s kitchen I think.
Is this arrangement going to be an improv quilt, or shall I break it up? When I chose what colors to use in a new block, I often did that while thinking where the new block would go in an improv quilt and what it would be near.
I have a light grey Kona in my stash–so maybe I’ll start to link up the blocks on the upper top left using it and just see how that goes.
This class was–and is–so much fun. I have really enjoyed the time for play and creativity–and an improv quilt would capture this 6 months of my life.
Meanwhile, I bought a whole cabbage and cut big slices out of it and roasted them in the oven. There were some beautiful dark green outer leaves, so I blanched those and cut them into thin strips. And with the smaller ends of the cabbage, after cutting the thick slices, I made a fresh salad–by pounding the finely cut pieces with a bit of salt to melt out the juice.
A grilled flank steak, some refrigerator “asset” roasted peppers and carrots, and some potatoes smashed with raw butter rounded out this delicious meal. I did, however, overcook the flank steak. I do like it much more rare. It’s hard to tell sometimes with flank steak just how done it is–and they do have thick and thin areas.
Well, the tops are all done. Now I have to longarm quilt them.
To back up, I’ve been on a mission to use up fabrics in my stash. So, some months back. I pulled out a collection of 1920-1930 reproduction “feed sack” prints I bought when a local store in Maine went out of business over 20 years ago. Along my quilty way, I moved more to the modern side of quilting, so I never used those fabrics.
Of course, LOL, I had to buy a few more prints to round out the color families I had. That’s the way this “using fabric issue” goes, right.
Anyway, I started with a pattern I saw called “Modern Vintage,” by Camille Roskelley and Bonnie Olaveson, which I saw in Vol. 16 of Quilt Lover’s Favorites (Better Homes and Gardens)–which used a traditional 10-inch block called “Single Wedding Ring.” (Thank you Joan Herrick for that information.)
Then while attending my local Charleston Modern Quilt Guild, I saw the “series” quilt challenge that some members did and showed–a series of three quilts that riffed off of the first original quilt they had made. And I was inspired–especially as I still had MORE of this fabrics.
“Bubbles” happened next, at about 48 inches square:
Yesterday I finished the “Pinwheels” top–it’s about 60 inches square. And Lordy Mercy! All those half-square triangles–but I have wanted to make a quilt with the intense use of lined-up half-square triangles for some time. Breaking up the lines in the center seemed a fun thing to do.
I still have some fabric–probably enough for a small baby quilt.
I don’t know…
Maybe I’ll donate it or play with a few blocks with the leftover half-square triangles or cut squares.
Meanwhile, the last block of the online Tara Faughnan “block” class is here, so I’ll take a break from the reproduction fabrics regardless.
Well, I do have to start longarm quilting them–and with longarm quilter Wendy Currie’s suggestions, will try out a few new pantographs.
It is a rainy Saturday morning, and today I will finish the final top of my series of 3 tops made with the 1920-30’s reproduction fabrics. So, pics tomorrow most likely.
AND, the new and final block, the 6th, of my online class with Tara Faughnan dropped yesterday. It’s called “Wheels,” and I can’t wait to try to make it. My improv project with the other blocks on the design wall could use some round blocks. I have so enjoyed this class. Friend Betsy in Vermont is already at her sewing machine this morning as she sets out to start this new block.
Camellias bloom in South Carolina in the winter months. Son Bryan and DIL Corinne have the prettiest white one in the front of their house, and this year it is loaded with blooms. It is backed by a pink one that is also blooming this year, but there wasn’t an open bloom when I took this picture.
These plants are so pretty with their glossy green leaves.
I have one spot on the shady side of my house. I could put a camellia plant there. Hmmmm…
I listen to books upstairs when I sew. And my little iPod that fits into my Bose speaker started to come apart at the seams. The humidity? I don’t know. Anyway, I thought it worth a try to try to glue it, so off to Home Depot I went and came home with a Gorilla glue gel that would work with plastics.
With paper towels and plastic gloves, I glued around the edges and clamped them shut. YEAH!! It did work and the iPod will keep going for a while now.
With that success I thought to try to glue the top of my cheap sunglasses back to the frame. Clamps wouldn’t work, so I tried a rubber band.
Yep. That worked too. Only somehow I got glue on the lens–probably from the gloves–those baggy thin clear ones painters use–and when I cut the rubber bands off I scratched the lens. Ugh!
Still, the glue did work fine. The glasses were fixed except for the glue and the scratch.
New glasses from the drug store are now back in the car. I do need sunglasses here with the rich sunlight and my cataract/lens eyes.
Now, on to that quilt top upstairs. Then I have to quilt all 3 of them on the longarm and sew down the binding. The hand quilting project on “Happy” is coming along. That will take some time though.
I spent Saturday morning with some of the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild members at their monthly Sit and Sew at the very fun fabric store Five-Eighth Seams (quilt fabrics and much more) over in North Charleston.
Cathy Beemer started teaching us how to make an incredible scrappy block that she is also making. Cathy is a MASTER piecer and quilter. This block is 30 inches square, and she will be making a quilt that is 90 by 90 with her scrappy blocks. Each block quarter piece will be scrappy and different.
Here’s an alternative center she showed us.
And a purple “lollipop” pattern.
More strip pattern ideas here–I could have taken more and more pics as Cathy showed us how to start off.
Cathy loves quilter Maria Shell’s work, of course. But she very much does her “own thing” too.
This quilt hung at Houston–I think she told me. And she has at least one quilt in this year’s QuiltCon, going on right now in Raleigh, NC.
I came home to the rest of my seafood chowder–cooked in the oven and made the day before.
And I keep meaning to show this picture of roasted veggies, just because they are so pretty. And, were delicious.
I’ve already color sorted my solid fabric strips and have cut out pieces for my first center. I’m going for the pinwheel!
But first, first…the last 1920-30’s reproduction quilt in the series of 3. It’s coming along.
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