April 22, 2012
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There are seven more squares to quilt on the T-shirt quilt for #1 son, and then I’ll put on the binding. He’s out of town for the weekend at a trade show. His student job i in retail, for an outdoor goods store, and they’re having an Expo at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. I envy him his jaunt a little bit.
I hope to have his quilt ready when he gets back.
Yesterday, in addition to some quilting, I went with #1 daughter to buy plants and things for her balcony. I attach a picture of said balcony here.
We went to Tuesday Morning, one of those shops where they have stuff left over from other stores, where #1 daughter found a bunch of hanging baskets in wrought iron holders and I found these iron holders for long planters, of which I have several that my friend CD gave to me when she moved. Next year perhaps I’ll find planters of just the right size, but for the moment I’m quite happy with these.
This is my porch, which is screened from public view by a couple of big crepe myrtles, and I love to read in the rocking chair in the corner. Flowers will make it absolutely perfect. #1 daughter was looking for a particular type of planter which she didn’t find, so we went on to Home Depot, where we found much higher prices but not much selection, and plants that looked a bit stressed.
So we went on to our local nursery, where we bought not quite enough nice shade plants: double impatiens, fuschia, columbine, torenia, and some charmingly striped heliotrope for #1 daughter, who thinks she might get more sun than I do on my porch.
Not quite enough, as I say, and I think we will have to go back and buy some more pretty soon here, but we have enough to enjoy them, if not to complete all our plans.
My husband pulled out pretty much all my perennials in the course of eradicating the poison ivy which had gotten a hold in the front garden, so my front garden is as sparse as my window boxes, but I hope it will get lush pretty soon here. Or at least slightly more lush.
I think #1 daughter and I need to seek out a modestly priced source of ferns for our shady nooks.
The back garden is completely wild, I’m afraid. I have roses blooming and I bought a few herbs, but the garden soil has not yet been prepared. Perhaps when #1 son comes over for his quilt he’ll help me dig the garden. It’s getting late to plant, but since we usually plant mostly seeds we can put in plants instead and be on time. It’s a bit more expensive that way, but worth it to have plenty of herbs and tomatoes and peppers right outside the kitchen.
I also went to Joann’s to buy quilt binding, and while there I saw and succumbed to a length of polyester charmeuse. As a rule, I don’t buy polyester, but this is so perfect for the suit I’m making…
I need to back up a bit. Last fall I planned a SWAP in coffee brown and teal, which were major trendy colors at the time. I sewed up about half that SWAP before I headed off to Rome. One of the items I began was a suit in this gorgeous light weight Italian wool. I have a photo of the two fabrics in natural light below so you can get a better idea of the colors.
In any case, I got the major pieces of the jacket put together, saw that it was a good fit and basically quite nice, and stopped, because I didn’t know how to finish it properly without its looking home made rather than hand made.
I have since begun taking the online tailoring course at Craftsy, and I see that I did it all wrong. I don’t know whether it’s possible to rescue it, but I’m going to try.
Granted, by the time I finish it, it will be fall of 2012, and the colors will no longer be le dernier cri, but I love teal and dark brown is still on the fashion horizon, so I hope to continue with the planned SWAP and get it all finished anyway.Today is another glorious spring day. I have to finish up work for my Aussies and I have church, of course, and this afternoon I will be going with La Bella and La Tenora to see Cabaret.
I hope also to get those seven more squares (or at least some of them) quilted, and perhaps to do some more housework. There was a little of that going on yesterday, but not nearly as much as I had hoped to accomplish.
I have insane amounts of work to do, but I also have lots of non-work stuff I want to do, after having spent the past few years doing pretty much nothing but work, so I’m trying to be firm about taking most of my weekends off.
