3/24/13

Slow Sunday

Today was a lazy day from start to finish.  We got up late.  I worked on my latest stitchery for twice as long as usual.  Then I spent some time reading blogs and email.  Our plan for the day was to go to the hardware store to pick up a dowel rod for Matthew's Perfect Harmony quilt.  Also, we needed to pick up wine shipments from two local wineries where we are members.  (It's really just an excuse to visit the wineries and drink some wine.)  So, around 1:30, we took off to go do those things.  The weather wasn't great, and so the only camera I had with me was the camera on my phone.  And, let's face it.  The best camera is the one you have with you.

The daffodils are in full bloom in the valley, although ours here on the moon are still tight little buds.  I love the daffodils.  They are like little bursts of sunshine everywhere we look.  And since they are among the first flowers we see in the spring, they are always a welcome sight.


We ate lunch out.  I was missing one color of floss for my stitchery, and so we stopped at JoAnn.  Then we headed home via the scenic route through Gaston, Carlton, and Yamhill.  I really like that drive.

Matthew was due this evening to do some more work on his senior project (video to follow), and so we put off our dinner of leftovers until fairly late into the evening.  In the meantime, I worked some more on my laundry room quilt, which now has a name.  All of you who submitted names were very clever with your play on words.  In the end, I settled on my two favorites of the group and let Mike choose his favorite of those two.  He chose "Line Dance".  Thanks to Charlene S. for suggesting that name.  And thanks to all of you who suggested great names.  It made it hard to choose.

Today, I stitched down all the pieces you see, except for the sun. I'll do that later.  Then I added the clotheslines.


I went back and forth about whether to use twine or whether to embroider them.  After consulting with Mike, I finally settled on the twine.  I tied a knot in each end of each piece and then stitched it under the topstitching on the houses.  Then I used a long zigzag stitch and monofilament thread to couch the twine to the sky fabric.  I was very happy with how it turned out, and also with how well my new sewing machine performed this task without any specialized feet.  

Once I had that done, I finished topstitching the fence posts and the jagged middle grass strip.  Then I added the crossbars to the fence and stitched those down too.


So now the most difficult and time-consuming part of this quilt is finished.  All I need to do now is make the appliqued clothing to hang on the line.  Then I'll make the words "laundry room".  I'm going to use fabric glue to glue the little clothespins in place when I get to that part.  For now, I'm going to be spending a lot of time making and topstitching the applique into place.  Look at all these pieces.


I have to say that I love the thong and the bra.  Pretty funny.  I'm going to try to do some embellishing on this piece...maybe add some embroidered lace to the bras and possibly some little buttons...that sort of thing.

So to end, here is some video of the state of Matthew's senior project.  I actually shot this video last Sunday when we were together for our St. Patrick's Day dinner.  It's taken me this long to edit it for blog posting.  In this video, you see his poi ball in its casing (one of my knee high stockings), and he is swinging it as he would if he were actually dancing with it.  Pretty fun.  There are actually two poi balls.  For this video, he was just using one.


So that's it from this end.  Hope you had a good weekend too.  Next week looks free and clear, so I'm looking forward to doing lots of sewing.

10 comments:

Lynne said...

Wow! Amazing! I love watching the women with their poi, they are so elegant!

Daffodils are little burst of sunshine, aren't they?

Love the title of your laundry quilt. It's coming along nicely too!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

I like the twine idea as well. This is going to be so cute.

Brown Family said...

I can not wait to see your Laundry on teh line!

Kate said...

You fit in quite a lot for a quiet Sunday. Your Line Dance quilt is really coming along, as is Matthew's project. Very cool, both of them.

Teresa in Music City said...

Ahhh love those daffodils! Ours have already come and gone here - I actually missed them while I was at retreat last week :( So thanks for sharing yours! LOVE the new name for your quilt! Great job Charlene!!!

The video is really cool!!! It reminds me of the ones where people are wearing fluorescent clothing and gloves in the dark, and as they move they make pictures with their limbs. Always fascinating :*)

Sherry said...

Laundry Room quilt is so cute and the video is really interesting. Have a great day.

Diane Wild said...

Line Dancing is perfect. I also went to the hardware store to see what stuff costs new. Now I think I should reconsider some of my pricing of similar carpentry items in my garage. Hmmm. I'm not sure I understand the video. Looking forward to the longer version.

Anonymous said...

Still waiting on seeing the ground here, much less daffodils!! Thanks for the Spring photo! Your "Line" quilt is going to be adorable and that video was really fun! Have a great week! Hugs, Doreen

Snoodles said...

I wish my Sunday had been similar! Haha! Love your Line Dance project and Matthew's poi ball, too.

Cath said...

Hello Barbara, You took a great photo of the daffodil with your phone. They always remind me of my grandfather as he always had them in his garden. Congrats to the Engineering son, loved the video!
Cath @ Bits 'n Bobs