sewing in the dark
2008
There were grand plans for today but they disappeared into … aimless pottering. Don’t get me wrong, lovely moments were had – chitter-chat on the back porch with Carolann (whilst she pinned her four-patch blocks – SHE wasn’t suffering from inertia!), and a trip to the markets after school with Abigail that included a cherry-coconut gelato, complimentary latte at Merlos and yummilicious marinated salmon tails from the fishmonger.
Thus, when it finally dawned on me that the sun was about to set and NOTHING had been achieved on the creative front, I gathered up my Christmas fabrics and scraps, headed out to the back porch and set to making my first of Nanette’s ever-so-sweet Christmas Cottages as part of her lovely swap. (Actually, this is my first ever quilting bee/swap thingy – both online and local! What fun!)
Sewing in the gathering dark wasn’t too difficult – the sewing machine’s light is truly effective. Cutting was challenging – ‘specially the dark green for the door! But filling the bobbin and re-threading the machine was downright difficult. I did consider capitulation at that stage. It’s so infuriating when you sew a whole long seam only to realise that the bobbinn ran out two stitches in but I refuse to be defeated by a bobbin!
We need to make 12 cottage blocks- 11 to send to Nanette, and 1 to keep to add to the 11 unique blocks that Nanette will send back. I am going to use a fairly consistent colour combination for each of the blocks – I figure that way they will look like Lily’s! :-) And I am making two of each combination – one for the swap and one for me to keep. I’ll use them in Christmas gifts – table runners, Christmas “cards”, small wall hangings. And cutting and stitching two at once is almost no extra effort.
The forecast for heavy snow in the morning is almost certain, so by tomorrow evening I anticipate the rosy roofs will be dripping with pretty icicles!
But time to down tools and cook those salmon tails for the dear little person who has been cheerfully sitting under her desk in her latest cubbyhouse, waiting for mummy to finish …
p.s. in case you were wondering why I am sewing on the back porch in the dark – my dining room table position has been overrun by this gorgeous jigsaw – we’ve finished all the easily-identifiable bits (I’m the hunter, Abigail’s the piecer) – the rest if SOOOOO difficult. It could take weeks …
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I love the pincushion on your sewing machine! It brings back childhood memories of the one that my mother had. Sadly her’s was lost in a fire a few years ago.
Are these types of pincushions still available for purchase? Or are they now considered collectibles?
thanks,
christine
I’m going on a campaign against aimless pottering. Or something. It is such a morale buster for me. The latte must have worked its magic for you. Your cottages are turning out nicely…I’ve been resisting their siren call from blogland. I do love a good cottage/house block though. So cheery.
The puzzle looks fun but those blocks – wowie. I love the windows. How darling! Lily they are beautiful. And to think you made them in the dark. You are so fun.
Your cottage blocks are great! Greetings from Tilda course, where I attended this evening! We learnt to embroider angels, sew angels and to make Christmas decorations. What a nice puzzle you have! Good “snack” while sewing!
The cottages are lovely.
Your cottages are lovely! I love seeing those cottages all over blogland.
What a fun jigsaw! We like to get them out around Christmas, spread them all over the coffee table, and then creatively deter the cats from batting vital pieces under the sofa.
ROFL! I was wondering why you were sewing on the porch instead of inside! So glad it was not just some strange experiment. LOL! The puzzle looks really hard, but such a beautiful design! I love it that you have divided the hunting and piecing tasks between between the two of you!
I have childhood memories of that pincushion too. My grandmother had one :) I have seen them in Spotlight.
Your blocks are lovely. Quilting in a very new thing for me, though there are some avid quilters in my family. I hope to one day be confident enough to design my own blocks.
I love the cottage block project – especially your blocks … thank you for introducing me to Freda’s Hive ;-)
Love the cottages – more polka dot goodness, I see :-) I really need to pull myself together and spend some time with my sewing machine – I see that I can’t use those dark evenings as an excuse!
What a fun project those cottages are for creatively combining fabrics and trims. The rick-rack is so cute!