I've been practicing hand quilting to see if I want to forge ahead and hand quilt the wool applique that I did. My current impression: No. At least not the whole quilt. It's a slow process and I still haven't found the groove of it. My suspicion is it's something one needs to work at for years. So I will probably use the Singer treadle machine to do straight lines around each block, and perhaps do some free-motion quilting within the blocks. I purchased an embroidery foot for the machine, a silicon matt to cover the feed dogs and sewing area--the feed dogs on the 66 don't go down, so I have set the stitch length to 0 which stops them from moving, albeit they are still raised. But with the silicon matt over them, they don't interfere. I also purchased some special gloves that help grip the fabric. So far, free-motion on the treadle seems like a possibility... something that could actually be doable. There is no hurry; in the meantime I've got the top hanging in the studio room and it makes fab wall art.
This, which I'm currently sewing on my modern machine, will be an insulated casserole carrier:
I've had the pattern over a year and just got around to doing something with it yesterday. I'm making 2, the other one will be in these two fabrics:
Pretty, pretty!
I enjoyed hand stitching the wool applique quilt so much that I immediately started in on a new applique project. A bit smaller this time around; it will be a table scarf. In this picture the pieces are all laid out in place, a few pieces are stitched down. The stems will eventually be embroidered. Currently, they are just sketched in with chalk. Since I took the photo, I've made some progress on stitching. Again, no hurry. It's getting shuffled with the other projects.
Two more orchids blossomed this week! Well G-o-l-l-y-! The Lycaste which I bought last summer in bloom, put out a new bud and blossomed this week:
This flower does not last as long, as say, cattleya orchids, but it should be in bloom for at least a few weeks I think. One of my Phals also put out a new spike and is now opening it's blossoms. I love the deep color:
And, I was in the supermarket week before last and saw this Phalaenopsis amongst the others. It stood out to me immediately; I've read of these so-called peloric Phals and golly me, there was one waiting for me to pick it up! Peloric means it has a genetic mutation that, in this case, causes the upper petals to take on a shape similar to the lip. Normally, the top 2 petals are flat and wide open; on this one they, along with the lip, form a cup. How neat is that! Well! I couldn't leave it in the store, could I? No. It came home with me. :)
I'm noticing a definite color trend. Deep reds and reddish purples seem to be the couleur de jour.
Speaking of things following me home, I was in a local thrift store--one of my faves: Boomerang in downtown Plymouth last week and before I knew it, this was following me around. It ended up at my place as well:
It's an old Underwood No. 5 in working condition. Wow. I haven't spent much time at it yet, but the 5 minutes I spent testing out the 'action' immediately put all my modern digital electronics in perspective. I was amazed at the effect it had on my psyche, and it was, as I say, immediate. No plugging it in, no need for it to boot up, no need to hook up to the internet, no turning on the printer, no making sure the printer was on the wireless network, no hassle whatsoever! Feed it a sheet of paper, hit the keys and the end product is there. I love it! It feels good to be reminded that life needn't be so complicated. Having said that, I'm very grateful for the internet, what a resource! WoW!
Speaking of sewing, I made these little 'snap shut' purses a few weeks ago. I'm thinking of making more for our guild's sale table at this summer's Rumney Old Home Day. The closure is a clever bit... pieces of old carpenter's tape (the retractable, metal type). When enclosed a certain way, they cause the pouches to snap shut. Very clever indeed:
In other matters, we were spared the rather wicked storm that lashed out on the eastern seaboard last week. I woke up to about 4" of new snow the morning after and we had light, intermittent rain that day. Nothing like the high winds south of here. We did lose power, but only for about 40 minutes. Don't know why. A storm expected Wednesday night into Thursday this week, though, and it appears we will receive it.
