Design Wall Monday is here again. See more Design Walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog.
We had a nice getaway for a few days to Del Mar. Leaving midweek is so much better for getting through L.A. traffic, and we took full advantage of the HOV Diamond Lane for many many miles of the 170 mile trip--less than three hours from our house to the hotel, yay!
It was lovely to sit on the beach below the bluffs one afternoon and watch the many surfers, kids playing, and families enjoying the day. The fog was hanging off the coast when we arrived...
..but rolled in pretty thick after an hour or so. It wasn't cold or windy so we stayed as long as we liked.
Nothing like Vitamin Sea to reset the stress level :) These were the first vacation days Grant has taken from work all year and he really needed them.
I waded along the shoreline and looked at shells and rocks. Lucky find of an intact sand dollar--about 2" in diameter, and many impossibly tiny shells.
I took the Greenpiece BOM wool applique blocks for evening stitching time, which mostly occurred while the World Series played. Yay Dodgers!
The apple got its seeds and the coneflower is lacking only the stitching on the leaves. I spent a good amount of time prepping more blocks once we were home, including that bottom block with the thinnest stem ever.
I'm so glad Efficient Me labeled all the freezer paper templates and the wools with colors and numbers all those years ago! I used up some more scraps for the tiny pieces, and even for some of the larger ones--just eked out the acorn cap from a black scrap.
A few dots of Elmer's glue stuck them to the background. Yesterday I also rechecked the final setting instructions for this old BOM, as I knew the blocks needed to be trimmed.
I used Washi tape to make a "preview" window for centering. It is very exciting to be getting these blocks to completion after all these years. The wool blocks get corner triangles before they are set with the pieced blocks that I completed long ago. There is a center appliqued tree and leaves yet to do as well, but I did make the pieced borders some time ago. Maybe by the end of the year I'll have a finished top? No matter, its waited all this time for completion, no rush necessary to the end!
6 comments:
I am so glad you got to go!! I have taken one vacation day...all year. Yuck! Love your applique, miss efficient...wish I were!
I remember how fog just rolls in off the ocean. In fact, I may have spent time right on that beach as my grandparents used to winter in La Jolla. I really like your wool blocks. Are you appliquéing the pieces of quilting cotton? And you use a bit of glue to hold the pieces down? I keep wanting to do some wool appliqué. I've bought wool, wool felt, books. But I have only done a little bit on one block. I do have an old regular appliqué that I need more designs to put in. I wonder if I can draw some of the ideas from yours? I'm not an artist by any means. But, I would like to finish the blocks. I'm pretty sure I decided I needed to do more blocks than the pattern called for. I'll take inspiration from wherever I can get it! Thanks for sharing.
WOW!! He hasn't had a day off til this trip? Yikes! Looks like a fun though short vacay. Love your beach finds and good to see you're making progress on your stitching. I'm currently in Death Valley--very pretty but HOT.
What a great outing! Love to see the beach and ocean so thanks for sharing. I wanted to tell you how much I liked your little 50 shades of brown piece and the pretty border fabric you used. Pretty wool applique as well. We are deep into autumn here in Ontario, Canada. Happy Stitching!
Oh, that looks like a delightful getaway. Vitamin sea--I love that. :)
I love gathering shells at the beach. An intact sand dollar is quite a find! Is that a piece of sea glass I spy in the mix?
You are reaping the benefits of your organizing skills. That would never have happened at my house. LOL
How nice to get to the beach and to find a sand dollar! What a beauty! The wool applique will be just beautiful. I have made one piece and would really like to do something with will again!
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