Yesterday Don and I went to Perth for some groceries and I took advantage of being in a good-sized town to visit a fabric shop. I was able to find a sample sheer curtain panel that was exactly what I was looking for for my art nouveau lady. So here she is. You may recall that the fabric I bought in Edinburgh was just too sheer. I needed something that would read as a white overlay so that when I embroider some indications of hair and clothing, it will show up. Taking a tip from Floris Flam, an art quilter friend with more tips and tricks in her kit bag than anyone I know, I sprayed the back of the cut-out overlay with a temporary quilt basting spray which helped greatly in getting her to "lie down" on my quilt top. It helped that this fabric was comparably sturdier than the previous sheer or that trick wouldn't have worked.
I even created the signature Mackintosh Glasgow Rose for her right hand. I will eventually outline it with silver or gold so that it shows up better. Imagine my surprise when I went to get some batting out so I could start sewing the lady down and found my cupboard bare! How could I run out of batting? Fortunately, I think the woman in the village who runs The Fabric Studio for decorator fabrics carries a product much like Warm and Natural (the batting I use) for lining drapes as insulation against the cold (for those drafty old houses, don't you know?).
Meanwhile, I also finished putting together the second log cabin quilt which is just waiting for me to be able to add surface design elements to the quilt top and then do the quilting. I figured out how I'm going to embellish this one. I'll add a little house with a chimney in the middle of each block and then, using Libby Lehman's Threadplay technique, emboider smoke coming out of the chimneys and going out into the quilt's borders. At least, that's the plan.
Did you get to see the total eclipse of the moon last night? From about 10:15 our time we began checking to see the progress. Bit by bit the half covered moon became a three-quarter covered moon and then there was just a sliver showing and then there was none. But at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning when I got up, it had obviously gotten back to normal because the full moon was shining through the bathroom window and straight into the hallway with such luminescence that it looked as though someone was in the bathroom shining a flashlight into the hallway.
The moon was so bright because yesterday was a totally gorgeous day from start to finish. It was crisp and cold but sunny and almost crystal clear. The sky was the most wondrous colour of blue with lots of puffy white clouds which, over here, tend to be mostly horizontal rather than big and round. We had gorgeous views of the countryside as we drove to and from Perth. The back road takes us through hilly farmland but the hills can be seen off in the distance. Many crops are beginning to come up now so they are bright green against the black earth they were planted in. Other fields looked as though they had just been ploughed.
Today, however, wasn't quite so nice. It was overcast and very cold. Don said he had to wear gloves on both hands through the entire 18 holes with Gordon this morning. Gordon hadn't dressed warmly enough and was pretty miserable the whole time. (What? Why didn't they quit and go home to get warm? Surely you jest!) Fortunately, the rain held off until this afternoon but it's rained pretty steadily nearly all afternoon. According to the forecast, we're in for quite a bit of rain this week.
I've lost another couple of pounds for a total of 17 pounds lost so far. Why, at this rate, pretty soon I'm going to need suspenders to keep my girdle up!
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