Just squares

 During the covid years some of us purged closets and some of us got creative in their quilting.  Some of us said, "enough, already" and some of us were creative and took on huge life quilt projects. Some of us just  wanted to leave the kids a quilt instead of a pile of scraps when we died and some of us were creative and were inspired to use the time out to best artistic advantage. I wasn't one of those creatives.  Inspiration came in the form of clearing out scraps and just making something no one would be afraid to take to the beach or let the kids make a tent from.

This poor orphaned pink project came from scraps - some feed sacks, some from an apron I took apart for the color, some leftover scraps, and some greens. I had it pinned and waiting to be quilted in a basket for two years.

There was no planning, no layout, no design wall arrangements.  I just sewed squares together so the scraps would  become something. And I like it!

 That strawberry embroidery on the border fabric makes me smile.  I don't know where I got that but I remember thinking, "what are you saving it for? It's a pink quilt."   

And now there is one less quilt in the basket waiting for some attention.

Easter Eggs

 It's Easter and that means it's time for deviled eggs.

How do you like your eggs?  If you ever go out for breakfast with me you're well aware I don't like goo. No runny yolks.  No sunny side up, no poached, no scrambled, no soft boiled.  I tell the waitress to tell the cook to "step on it and if you think it's cooked, cook it some more." A hard boiled egg for me has to be just that. Hard boiled.  And eaten hot out of the pan. No cold hard boiled eggs for me.  If it goes cold I pop it in the microwave for a second or two to take the chill off.

How do you cook your hard boiled eggs?  Holy cow, it's like politics and religion, everyone has an opinion. 

So, when it's time to make  deviled eggs for Easter it's almost stressful.  I know it's best if you use "old" eggs, not the ones you just stole from the girls out in the coop. This way, they say, the egg pulls away from the shell a bit and makes them easier to peel.   If you say so.

This photo isn't foggy, that's steam coming off a freshly peeled test egg.

 Our family likes the basic, no mayonnaise but something here called Miracle Whip. It's sweeter. And yellow mustard.  None of that fussy Dijon stuff.  A splash of Tabasco sauce, a little salt and pepper, a wisp of paprika at the end.  That's it.  Don't fuss with it or no one will eat them. I did recently discover Japanese mayonnaise and while it's ridiculously expensive for mayo, it's absolutely the most delicious mayo I've ever had, even better than Duke's.  So I'm going to mix a little bit of that into a very few eggs for son-in-law to test.

  We have big deviled egg eaters in this group.  There are never enough deviled eggs.  I'm always glad to see the platter emptied, I don't want leftovers because I certainly don't eat them.

Liberty

 Four years ago PH and I went to England to meet a long lost to me relative, our dear Brian.  To say  he was a find is putting it mildly.  

During that visit I insisted on going to Liberty of London for  some fabric.  The store is huge and there is so much more there than fabric but I was laser tuned into that one department.  I've said before if I had known PH was buying that day I would have bought a whole lot more than I did!  But I didn't realize that so bought little.  

And I kept that fabric for 4 years because I didn't want to mix it with any other fabric and I didn't have a lot and I didn't want to waste a single thread.  If you've ever  touched this fabric you know it's very special.  It feels like whipped cream with form. It's hard to not just fondle it.

Than a miracle happened.  For my birthday our daughter bought five more pieces for me, shipped from Liberty. Talk about shock!

And then another miracle happened.   Amazingly, astonishingly,  JoAnn Fabrics started carrying Liberty in a few of their stores.  I was very skeptical.  Liberty  At JoAnn's? Luck meant one of the stores very near me was carrying it.  I had to check it out.  I asked a clerk a question I told her would sound rude but I didn't mean it that way.  "Why is JoAnn's carrying Liberty????  Liberty at JoAnn' s?????? What???? "    She told me that their customers were asking for higher end fabrics so they are trying this out.  Again, I said  "So you went to the very top?? Nothing in between????  LIBERTY???????" 

Then I went to retreat to ask Friend Barb what to do.  JoAnn's had no solids in Liberty.  I could NOT let the fact I can get Liberty without plane fare go.  I needed advice.  Barb is an artist and sees things differently than I do.

 

This is my almost favorite quilt now. I made it awhile ago. It's very scrappy but has a plan with the geese. Controlled chaos.  It's my go to for  naps.  I liked it so much I made another in many pinks  but it isn't quilted yet. Friends Barb and Sally are making one and were working on theirs during retreat.  The one Barb was working on is her third one.

She suggested I make one out of my Liberty fabrics since I like this one so much and it's a no waste  plan. I was convinced immediately.

So here are the fabrics I bought at JoAnn's mixed with the ones I bought in London. The JoAnn Liberty fabrics are the five from the left on top.  The larger cuts I bought in London - blues and one apricot. They were from the collection that they sell exclusively at their store, not available for mail order or other vendors. And a small fat pack.  Remember, I said I thought I was paying.

Since I bought a lot of blue there I wanted more contrast from JoAnn's so these are the ones I got.

And these are the ones daughter bought for my birthday.

I now have more than plenty and will probably do some cutting since this week's weather is  going to be cold, rainy and very unspring like.

It wasn't that I didn't want to use it, it was that I didn't want to waste it.  Cutting applique  pieces gave me lots of waste so I needed something pieced and again, I wanted to waste not one thread. The pieces from our daughter were a miracle. Being able to buy some at JoAnn's was freeing.