Clams on the Half Shell

One more clamshell diamond was finished this month. I had hoped to finish Pink Clamshells, one of the smaller clamshell projects I’ve got on the go, this month but that just didn’t happen. Maybe next month. The pieces for the third clamshell diamond have been picked out and are ready to stitch.

I also started making a little quilt I’m calling Clams on the Half Shell with half and quarter clamshells using the Inklingo 3-inch clamshell edges collection. This little quilt will have half clamshells in the centre, a plain first border, a second border made up with quarter clamshells and finally, another plain border. The half clamshells are as much fun to put together as the full clamshells and the quarter clamshells are very quick to stitch. In the picture below there’s only one block of quarter clamshells put together so far, but a few of the half clamshells. To see some other examples of quilts that could be made with half clamshells, go to Linda’s blog post here.

Hopefully in August I’ll get both the Clams on the Half Shell and Pink Clams small quilt tops finished as well as making the third diamond.

Lester had some windowsill time on Friday.

While it was Smudge’s turn to curl up with the teddy bear.

After finishing Chintz Circles yesterday, rather than working on a project already in progress, what did I do? Started a little doll’s quilt with the new Inklingo clamshell edges collection which has all the shapes to finish the edges on a clamshell quilt made with the 3″ clamshells. This block finishes at 6″. It’s made with the side halves, but I have ideas as well for some blocks made with the top and bottom halves as well as the quarter clamshells.

The back:

These are the fabrics I’ve picked out for this little doll’s quilt, which won’t take long to put together.

After we took the photos of Chintz Circles yesterday, we went out for dinner to celebrate. On the way back home we came through the bookstore in the retail section of the complex and heard the most incredible piano playing. The bookstore is a multi-level store, which we had entered through the lower level. There’s a baby grand piano on the main floor of the store which is frequently played by a number of people. But yesterday? Yesterday was phenomenal. I was sure it had to be a professional pianist playing. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was an 11 year-old boy who was playing so beautifully I actually had tears in my eyes listening. We ended up staying in the store for quite a while just listening. After striking up a conversation with his father, we learned he has been playing for only three years and has had no classical training at all. Apparently he and some others have been playing there nightly for a while and sometimes are there until closing at 10:00 p.m. I know where we’ll be going most evenings.

It was fun watching people’s reactions. Any number of people stopped and just stood quietly drinking in the beautiful music. A little girl was standing absolutely still, mesmerized by the music. After each composition he played, there was applause. It was one of those magical moments when you come upon something totally unexpected.

Lester had some windowsill time on Tuesday.

Smudge at the toy basket. He rather exhausted himself playing with the toy we call Cappy — the orange and black striped one, and seemingly had to have a nap right there.