7/22/12

Sewing on Sunday

The plan for today was to whack back the overgrown culinary herb garden, but the weather was drizzly and cold.  I decided to wait for some nicer weather, although I could have done it today.  If I'm going to be working outside however, I'd just as soon do it when it's warm rather than having to bundle up in July.  Sheesh.

Instead, I started on the July block for the Promises and Borders quilt.


I procrastinated tracing this design onto the fabric because this is a strip 7 x 34 inches (I think).  I've made long embroidered strips before.  It's kind of a hassle to get everything straight and pinned down so that it doesn't shift while you're tracing it.  As is usually the case, it wasn't nearly as dreadful a task as all the dread I'd put into it would indicate.  It was a perfectly awful waste of dread if you ask me.  (Did you ask me?)  I only allot myself a certain amount of dread each month, and now I've almost used it up with a whole week and a few days to go.  What will I do?

Also, I finished the top-stitching for the July Hello Sun BOM.  These blocks are so much fun to work on.


I like how the fish turned out.  Here are all the blocks I have completed so far.  I'm curious to see how we'll be instructed to sew these together.


Then I started on a NewFO.  My Doors of Ireland quilt was also a NewFO, but this White Birches quilt is the one I had planned to start at the beginning of the NewFO Challenge.  This pattern was featured in a previous issue of Quilter's World magazine.


These are the fabrics I'm using.


I decided to use the same gray polka dot fabric for the gray trees and the inner border because my stash is light on grays, I'm realizing.  What a great excuse to go on a fabric-buying spree . . . because I need lots of grays, don't you think?

Tomorrow I need to trek to the grocery store.  I have my menu planned and my list made, which is half the battle in my book.  If I get out of here early enough, I can go to the Golden Arches and have my beloved Egg McMuffin.  If I have to go grocery shopping, I figure I deserve a treat.


Now here's something:  Did you know that in 1995 a marketing firm called Sponsorship Research International conducted a survey of 7,000 people in the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, India, and Japan.  Their survey found that of those 7,000 people surveyed, 88% could identify the Golden Arches, while just 54% could identify the Christian cross.  This was in a note in the appendix of the book, Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser.  It's a very good book, by the way.  In the way that some books can cause you to laugh out loud, this one can cause you to say "Ewww" out loud.  I know because I said it out loud in a crowded waiting room while reading the book once.


But here's something else you should know about the Golden Arches.  I read this somewhere once (I think in the same book), and then just now found it again on the BBC World Service website:
The M stands for McDonald’s, but the rounded m represents mummy’s mammaries, acccording the design consultant and psychologist Louis Cheskin. In the 1960's McDonald's was prepared to abandon this logo, but Cheskin successfully urged the company to maintain this branding with its Freudian symbolism of a pair of nourishing breasts. 
You can put that in the "useless information I learned at Cat Patches" category.


Okay, now I've gotten completely far afield from my post about sewing, but that's how my mind works.  Yes, one mention of something unrelated and I go off on all sorts of tangents.  That should give you some idea how confusing it is to talk to me in person.  One minute I'm talking about sewing, the next I'm talking about mammary glands.  It can be embarrassing.  I think I'll just stop right here before I go saying something I'll regret.


I'll be linking this post to:




15 comments:

Lynette said...

Wow - Those Hello Suns look fantastic in a group. Really bring a smile. :)

WoolenSails said...

You have some beautiful projects started. I was lazy today, did some work on my hexagons, but they are not lining up properly, so it will be a bumpy quilt;)

Debbie

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Your work is lovely as always. I've managed only 2 suns, but they are so much fun! It's like coloring outside of the lines.

Kate said...

Your Hello Sun blocks are so fun. They look like little cartoons.

I will never look at the McDonald's in quite the same way again!

Wren said...

I am planning on doing the Promises & Borders BOM too, but I seem to be about a year behind on these online BOM's.

Debbie said...

I so love the birches wall hanging...may need to find mine and give it a try. Thanks for the reminder.

Teresa in Music City said...

Wow - mummy mammary glands? Really? Not just any old mammary glands, but mummy mammary glands! I wonder what makes the mammary glands of mummies so special? People amaze me with the things they think! Why would the designer think that " special" touch was needed? LOL!!! Your Hello Suns are just down-right stinking cute! I haven't traced off July's P&B block yet - I'm running really behind on those.

greelyrita said...

Have a peach smoothie too while you're getting the Egg McMuffin. So good!! I don't go there much anymore since my daughter educated me on their sins but I think I'd walk on hot coals for a peach smoothie. Hmmm. Why don't I make one??

KatieQ said...

I love the way the sun blocks look all together. The whole Freudian McDonald's symbolism is lost on me. They always reminded me of bunny ears. Maybe that's because I wasn't breast fed.

Needled Mom said...

I feel so educated now!!!!

Love the birches and cardinals. The little happy blocks are awfully cute too.

make.share.give said...

Love the birch trees and the sunnyshines. Trying to remove the new information about McDonald's logo from my brain...

Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm said...

I love that birch and cardinal quilt, I saw one at the Wichita show and feel in love with it there. Yours will be gorgeous. Now I do not get Quilter World Mag, how long ago did the issue come out with it. Can't wait to see your completed.

Anonymous said...

That M definition made me go EWWW. But speaking of going off on tangents, I do that all the time, and my husband is always trying to get me back on track. The problem is that if I don't tell him when I think of "it", "it" may be gone forever. By now he's used to keeping track of three or four subjects of conversation at a time, but I think it gets worse the older I get. Looking forward to seeing your birches quilt. It is very striking. Sharon-ssauser@dishmail.net

Anonymous said...

Love the Birches design!

I have to tell you that I have never ONCE in all the millions of years I've been eating at McDonald's (almost since its beginnings) looked at that M or the arches signs and EVER thought of mammary glands or any other thing than M means McDonald's! LOL However, I do recognize the Christian cross and know what it stands for. =)

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

The sun blocks are so cute!
"M" ??? Strange, isn't it. You would have though a "W", maybe mummies are more fit.