Sunday, May 22, 2022

Weekly update: wildflowers, work in progress, and a lot of reading

 



Spring Bluff is just a mile from home so I walked there and back this afternoon. 

A bumble bee on wood betony (also called Canadian lousewort).  Wild geranium, Virginia creeper (with horsetail in the background), false Solomon's Seal, golden Alexander, horsetail, fleabane.



Blanding's Turtles are an endangered species that is closely monitored. From Wikipedia:  "Blanding's turtle is of interest in longevity research, as it shows little to no common signs of aging and is physically active and capable of reproduction into eight or nine decades of life."

This one is about a foot long. There are three notches in its shell that are tags that identify it in the conservation project records.

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I have bound the birdhouse quilt and prepared the label. But a new start called to me and here's what's on the design wall.


A few weeks ago I posted a photo of a stack of blue/light CW repro four-patches. I need to make a few more!    

I had just enough (1 yard) of the dark cheddar for the sashing. I haven't begun to work out the border.

The blocks are 8-1/2" unfinished. The four-patches are 2-1/2" unfinished.

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 This is the June, 2022, selection for the P.E.O. online book group.  Eliza Lucas Pinckney was 17 in 1739 when her father left her in charge of the family plantation in South Carolina. Everyone around her (her mother, the overseer, the neighbors) expected she would merely manage at best, and likely fail. Instead she succeeded (after some harrowing challenges) in raising indigo.  

Pinckney's extensive correspondence and journals were the basis for Boyd's fictionalized retelling. (I noted several anachronisms: "Okay," twice (p. 127 and 279); "don't mess up" (p. 224); and "shenanigans" (OED says it is an Americanism....but in 1740?). More importantly, throughout the book Eliza refers to "the servants." Would she have used that euphemism?)

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88-year-old Maud is no one's fool. Don't get in her way as she metes out her version of justice! 

These are short stories, rather like snapshots from Maud's scrapbook, if Maud kept a scrapbook (which she definitely does not). 

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It's hard to realize it's been a year since I saw the Bisa Butler quilt exhibit at the Art Institute. (Here is my account of the exhibit.)

The exhibit catalog was sold out in the museum store. I looked it up many months later and got a copy online at an overstock (very discounted) price.

In addition to photos and commentary on the quilts there are several chapters analyzing and critiquing Butler's works.  It's interesting to read scholarly art criticism since that's not part of my usual vocabulary.


Linking up with Oh Scrap!   Monday Making   Design Wall Monday



7 comments:

  1. I've read both of the Helene Tursten books recently. I thought they were fun, albeit a little odd.

    Megan
    Sydney, Australia

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  2. Those turtles are so interesting. Glad you shared this info. - Sara

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  3. It's always fun to see what you see on your walks. I just finished The Indigo Girl recently, and really liked it. It's always interesting to read about a woman who defied the norms of her time and became known for something amazing! Beautiful quilt design - that that's a lot of 4 patches!

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  4. A wonderful quilt in progress on the design wall!

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  5. you have done justice to brown and blue...very nice indeed

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  6. The amount of GREEN growing things is a sight not seen for very long in dry SoCalif! Love the turtle story and the beautiful quilt with cheddar.

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  7. Love the dark cheddar with the light/dark blue 4-patches! Beautiful walk you had!!! Horray for this time of year and beautiful weather. Kathy S. -- because I can't figure out how to post as me vs. Anonymous.

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