Sunday, August 6, 2017

Sewing on Saturday

A phone call from a friend woke me up, this morning.  She was calling to ask how I was feeling and I gave her an update of my health.  She and some of her office friends have a prayer circle and they have been including me among those for whom they pray.  We made tentative plans to get together at the end of the month when my daughter comes down for Labor Day weekend, since my daughter is friends with her two daughters.  My friend has recently bought a house and this will be the first time I'll be going to her new house; I need to think of a housewarming gift for her.

Once again, I spent most of the day, today, sewing my quilt and watching/listening to the TV (Saturday morning sewing shows, afternoon cooking shows, oldies music shows, etc.).  The quilt is  taking me longer than I thought it would, but it's OK.  I enjoy the process as much as anything else.  I thought I'd give a glimpse or two of what's to come:

 
Template

I cut the template from the lid of the box of tea, I opened the other day.

Template, Again

This is the other side of the template, against the black skirt I am wearing.  I like the graphic quality of the picture.  Yes, I am easily amused.  



A Glimpse of the Quilt

I am working on the central panel of the quilt, right now.  I am using fabric from the stash.  The top is being pieced entirely from scraps leftover from other projects!  The picture above shows fabric leftover from earlier quilts!


Another Glimpse
The picture above contains a piece of floral fabric from a dress my daughter had and another piece from a plaid shirt my mother made for me, back in the early 1980s! 

It was another very hot day and humid, too (by our standards, at least).  But it cooled off in the evening and I went for a short walk.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Another day of sewing
- An abundance of scraps!
- Daughter had a fun afternoon with two friends who are visiting her
- Electricity for all the appliances I'm using
- Video chatting with my daughter, phone calls and emails from friends

And a picture of Dancer, sleeping on the sofa, clutching his catnip sock in his paws:

Holding on to his sock!


How was your Saturday?  Did you have a good day?


13 comments:

  1. Enjoy your quilt making! I know we all have our gifts, but I must have been standing behind the door when sewing love was passed out!

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    1. Anne, I absolutely hated sewing as a child! I had to learn it at school, but hated every minute of it! I think I spent more time standing outside in punishment for "forgetting" to bring my sewing with me during sewing period than inside the classroom, actually sewing! But then, when I was 16, I rediscovered the joys of sewing and have enjoyed it since!

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  2. Awww love that picture of Dancer, he's so cuuuute :)

    My Saturday was fine, I watched TV all day, pretty much! My Sunday was better as Greg and I had breakfast at our favorite breakfast place and then went on a hike. And THEN I got to watch TV :)

    Why don't you make some placemats for your friend's housewarming present? Or an apron? or pot holders?

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    1. I told Dancer that you said he's cute and he looked at me as if to say, "Yes, I know"! :D

      Sounds like you had a nice, relaxed weekend, plus you got some walking in, as well.

      Good gift suggestions, Nathalie. I made some placemats for this friend, one Christmas, but maybe I can make her a table runner. :)

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  3. The glimpse of the quilt reminded me of the quilts I grew up with. I had two of them--one for winter and one for summer. They were crazy quilts made mostly from scraps from old clothes. I still have one of them and the other one fell apart from being washed so many times.

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    1. I'm glad to hear you still have one of your childhood quilts, Live and Learn. I didn't grow up with quilts, but have been making them since 1975. For me, the part I like the best is piecing the top. :)

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  5. I don't know it it's appropriate to make a suggestion about a house warming gift but your lengths of had me wondering if your consider sewing a co ordinated set of table runner, 4 or 6 placements and similar number of cloth napkins using a 'designed'/printed fabric since they hide stains best. You might look on line at those offered by Crate & Barrel to see what I mean.

    I used to use a plain fabric for the runner embellished with a wide centre strip of lace or ribbons or luster fabric, plain linen looking fabric placemats in a coordinating color or bought bamboo match stick type sometimes stamped with their family name and patterned fabric for napkins as mentioned.

    In S Korea visitors to housewarming bring a substantial sack of rice or something made of rice to ensure 'abundance.' Sorry for ignorance, what is the typical house warming gift in Siri Lanka?

    If you still have an over abundance of lemons, I'd suggest lemon loaves as they freeze well and stand ready to serve unexpected guests who come to see the new house. It's kust so hot to bake!

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    1. Hon, the gift suggestions are most welcome! I have already given this friend a set of placemats, earlier, as a Christmas gift, but I thought a table runner would be good. But, a matched or coordinated set as you suggest would be better!

      You know, I really don't know what a typical house warming gift would be in Sri Lanka! Something for the house, I think - like a set of china or fancy glasses or a vase. My mother used to often give a statue of the Laughing Buddha, as she believed it brought good luck, but this friend is Catholic and I don't think she'll like that.

      A potted plant might be appropriate, too, I think.

      Hm, I do have lemons, but I try not to bake in the summer as it is too hot to turn on the oven!

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  6. I love that your quilt is filled with sweet memories of family. I can only imagine how it will feel to curl up under it on a cold day and see each piece of fabric and take a trip down memory lane. :)

    That Dancer, what a sweetheart. We used to have a cat that loved a certain work glove...like really loved it. I have no idea why but he thought he could mate with it. Yep, he was a strange cat. ;)

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    1. Debbie, almost all my quilts to date have fabric leftover from making other items, especially clothes. Sometimes, I'll point out the fabrics to my daughter - "That's leftover from a dress Grandmother made for you", etc. Occasionally, she'll recognize a piece and say she remembers having a dress made from that fabric.

      Ha, ha, Dancer has a scarf I knitted from that really fuzzy yarn (it used to be called eyelash yarn) that was popular several years ago, that is his love interest. Cats are too funny!

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  7. I have a single scrap quilt that used to be on our son's bed and it has some pieces of clothing incorporated in it. It is faded now but I really like it so it will stay on the unused single bed that it is at the end of our bedroom against the wall with pillows at the back.

    Lovely to see Dancer cuddling his toy, and I like the idea of the fuzzy scarf for him to own.

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    1. I like scrap quilts the best, Bushlady. Did you make your scrap quilt?

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