My favourite room in the house is my covered porch. It’s a living room, dining room, library and laundry room and solarium all rolled up into one special space. Today it’s the laundry room.
I don’t have a clothes line yet. For now, I use a laundry rack. And I dry the sheets and towels over the railing. They benefit from a bit of solar bleaching, too.
It smells really nice, sitting out here surrounded by the smell of fresh laundry drying in the sun. And it feels kind of cozy and secret, the way the sun filters through the cotton.
Sitting here on the porch swing watching the laundry dry reminds me of being a little girl. I loved walking between the lines of damp laundry on the line, my hands trailing along the lines of cool drying sheets…a secret hide-away.
Misty certainly isn’t complaining.
Do you have childhood memories of laundry drying on the line?
Today is one of those honest, old-fashioned lazy days. The kind we always wish we could have. The kind we imagine we used to have, back in the good old days, whenever those were. Of course, we can’t actually remember any specific lazy Sundays. But they must have existed, right? Because we remember them.
Maybe they don’t happen very often. Maybe that’s why they’re so special. Like today.
Outside my window the snow is falling and everything is covered in drifting white. The wind is ringing the chimes outside the front door. I have a cup of tea at my elbow and Mr. C is snoozing reading on the couch while our fur babies enjoy a group snuggle in front of the fire.
Today I did not get up with any particular agenda in mind. I may spend some time with my latest hand quilting project. This little quilt is so sweet. I’m quilting white-on-white because I want the quilt to look embossed when finished.
If you’re interested in quilting by hand, I’m using 40 weight YLI quilting thread in “natural” and John James size 10 hand quilting needles. I’m also quilting it directly in my hands instead of using a hoop or a frame. I’m also using a product called Thimble Pads on my pushing finger: little sticky leather dots. I love them.
I’m really enjoying quilting directly in my hands this way. I don’t know if I’ll go back to using a hoop after this. My stitches are a bit coarser, but they’ll improve with practice.
Other news: my critiques are all in from my little critique group. I will probably spend some time looking at them. Or maybe not.Maybe I’ll save those for tomorrow, because I know that once I open them I’m going to want to get busy with edits. I won’t be able to help myself. And that sounds like work. Not worthy for such a deliciously lazy day.
Later on my friend Cynde is coming over and we’re going to eat some of the apple cake that I made yesterday (recipe here), drink tea and watch a Craftsy class together.
Oh dear. I’m sorry I disturbed you, Sam!
Today I’m linking in with Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy’s Quilts, and at Lily’s Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet. And that’s all the work I’m going to do.
I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday as much as I am enjoying mine. Are you being lazy, too?
You’ve seen glimpses of this quilt over the last couple of years as I worked on the hand quilting.
“Little Sister”. Machine pieced & hand quilted by Nita Collins.Photo taken at the S.S. Klondike National Park Site in Whitehorse, Yukon. November 24, 2013.
The pattern is called “Chinese Coins” or “Stacked Coins”, whichever you prefer. I made it for my sister, Heidi, and named the quilt “Little Sister”.
Her favourite colour is purple ♥
The last few months I was working pretty fast because I wanted to have it finished before I left Whitehorse at the end of November.
I don’t know, it just seemed…fitting somehow. Tying up the last of the loose ends before moving.
“Little Sister”. Machine pieced & hand quilted by Nita Collins.Photo taken at the S.S. Klondike National Park Site in Whitehorse, Yukon. November 24, 2013.
I stitched in a few surprises:
Plus, I really, really, really wanted to do the photo shoot at the S. S. Klondike.
Really puts size into perspective, eh?
I had fun with my “helpers”, Heather and Tammi. They were great quilt holders on a cold day!
I used a “lemonade’ Bali Pop with Kona Cotton purple for the top. The backing is a pansy print on a yellow background. Binding is green checks from the same collection.
Every time I took the quilt out to work on it, Jade and Halia would sit and watch me stitch. They were full of questions, observations and comparisons about the quilts that I had made for them last year.
5-year old Halia wanted her picture taken with the quilt. 7-year old Jade liked to look at all of the fabrics, and also liked to walk tight-rope style on it.
Which I thought made for some interesting photographs!
Even Crook the Cat got into the action.
insert “Jaws” soundtrack here!
It took me about 2 years from start to finish, I think. Maybe not quite…I don’t remember exactly when I started it. But that sounds about right.
…Doing the very important job of keeping Heidi snug and warm during those long Montana winters.
And of course, Little Sister was tested and approved by the resident quality assurance inspector (which he had to do before the quilt was finished due to time constraints).
I didn’t depart today as planned. The weather forecast wasn’t acceptable. Tomorrow looks much better. If I had left today, I would have been driving into a storm warning. The storm will have passed by the time I leave tomorrow morning, and from the looks of the forecasts, I should have clear and cold to accompany me down. I will try my best to post every day, so stay tuned!
I spent today packing at my leisure and loading the car. What a jigsaw puzzle it was, getting everything to fit. I thought for awhile that I wouldn’t be able to make it work, but it actually came together just fine. There isn’t room for a flea, though. Honestly!
Meanwhile, Kelly has been busy getting the house ready for my arrival. He sent some before & after photos to me today. Hold onto your seats, the transformation is stunning! I can’t wait to get there and unpack all my boxes and hang up all my pictures and settle in.
…because so much cuteness simply can’t go unmentioned!
Entered into the Pets on Quilts contest under the “other” category – because there is a category for dogs and one for cats. But not one for dogs & cats together, lol!
This is Samson and Spooky snuggling together on the quilt in our master bedroom. This is an old whole cloth, machine quilted quilt that can be safely washed every time a cat barfs on it – which is often, and of which Samson chewed a corner off when he was a puppy. As long as I have pets who mainly sleep on my bed I will never be able to put an heirloom quilt on it! I don’t mind. Cat barf is a fact of life…and so are puppy needle-teeth. 🙂
I don’t have a clothes line yet. For now, I use a laundry rack. And I dry the sheets and towels over the railing. They benefit from a bit of solar bleaching, too.
It smells really nice, sitting out here surrounded by the smell of fresh laundry drying in the sun. And it feels kind of cozy and secret, the way the sun filters through the cotton.
Sitting here on the porch swing watching the laundry dry reminds me of being a little girl. I loved walking between the lines of damp laundry on the line, my hands trailing along the lines of cool drying sheets…a secret hide-away.
Misty certainly isn’t complaining.
