Remember I mentioned my Guinea Fowl Tree wool applique project yesterday? Here is a quick snapshot of it - at the state it is in right now. Eventually that tree should be filled with leaves and flowers in many colors. :) Here you can see some of the embroidery I did yesterday:
I added to the white wool leaf (the central glittery vein), made the purple and dark blue flower/seed pods in this section ...
I added to the guinea fowl's head plumes, embroidered the two round floral elements just above the bird's head and created that white mess just above his beak which will have to come out. I was working on that when I realized it was time to leave Barbara's house ... and the stitch suffered from my hurry. :)
Here, too, is the wallet that Caren made for me:
It's a trifold card wallet as you can see above - I like how she made the pockets out of contrasting fabrics so you can see each one clearly. :)
Again, here is the outside fabric and the tres chic closure button. :)
I got up late today - treated myself to a lie in to listen to my audiobook (I'm listening to Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett). Once I had eaten breakfast, I set out to do two errands.
First, I was on a mission to get Blue back into sewing condition. :) The best local sewing machine repair wizard I know is Brad at Normandy Sew & Vac in Ellicott City. I drove up there happily, despite the nasty humidity and heat outdoors.
I'm so grateful that our carport is shady (even though it ends up covered in yellow pollen every spring morning:)! Getting into a sun-heated car is extremely unpleasant - and May seems too early in the year, to me, to have to endure the partial baking I get running errands. :P
Lucky for me, the very helpful sales floor clerk at the sew and vac shop was a Featherweight owner, too (she told me she has five). She knew right away what I had done. When I took off the throat plate to clean Blue, I failed to realign the bobbin hook correctly. She showed me how to fix it in about 30 seconds. Done! Wow.
I did buy a new carry bag for Blue that is a little larger than the one she came with - a little more space to get her in and out and room for her tools. I will use the original bag to carry my supplies for retreats and such so it certainly won't go to waste. :) I also bought some new (empty!) bobbins for Blue. Never know when I will need them. :)
I was so excited to get her sewing again, I (almost) did not mind how hot my car got sitting in the parking lot. :P
After that success, I drove back south to go to BJ's to shop for household stuff. Generally my husband does the grocery shopping but this week he forgot to buy toilet paper ... and I needed to get alcohol wipes to set up my shot-taking station. :P I also discovered Flonase (which I take daily) for 35% less than my usual cost. No wipes, plenty of toilet paper ... getting my car filled up and cooled off was unpleasant.
It was sooooo nice to get back home to the air conditioning! I did stop by our mail box and extract the week's pile of (mostly) advertisements and bills. I so rarely get any 'real' mail - cards, letters, anything personal. How about you? No wonder the post office cares so much about delivering 'junk' mail. :P
After I managed to cool off and eat dinner, sort through the mail and chat with my son (about how he'd like to rearrange his room while we are working on mine, too) ... I did a very little sewing. I joined the first seven May blocks of my temperature quilt into a row. First I had to trim them to correct size (unfinished they are measuring 6" ... so 5.5" finished). I'm pleased with how this project is going.
Oh, in the pile of snail mail were the last two solid fabrics I ordered (fast service!!) so my 'legend' of color is now complete. I don't know if I will catch up with May before Monday is over, but I _should_ catch up next week sometime. Depends on how much persistence I can find. LOL.
We had a raucous thunderstorm in the late afternoon - fairly rattled the windows downstairs where I was reading. It is supposed to rain off and on all holiday weekend. I expect to stay in tomorrow and SEW.
:) Linda
PS Linking my embroidery to Slow Sunday Stitching. :) Also on Linky Tuesday at Freemotion By The River. :)
Comments