Month: May 2020

Turkey Tracks: A Georgia Memory

May 3 2020

A Georgia Memory

I love bringing spring inside the house.

The daffodils are all coming into bloom now. The intense yellow forsythia is blooming. Yesterday on the walk AC and I took through the woods, I could see that the willow leaves were emerging—like bits of green lace against the blue sky. And a butterfly rode the currents of the wild wind: I could see only for a moment s/he was black with neon green spots on the outer bits of the wings.

The rock that lives in my kitchen window is part of an old mill stone from a mill owned by Georgia Bryans way back in the day. Since inland Georgia did not start to be settled until around the 1830s, this mill stone could go way, way back.

My beloved Georgia uncle, who inherited the family farm, took me to the mill site once many, many years ago—back when I was in my late 20s or early 30s. It’s a lovely memory, and I’ve carted this rock around with me ever since. Sydney Bryan created many, many memories for me over the years.

I always try to find some pussy willow branches locally each spring as well. The soft grey bud is such a mystery for me.

The Siberian blue Scilla are naturalizing across the yard now—after many years. I try to plant more bulbs every year.

I’ll need to mow this next week some time. Recent rains jumpstarted the growth of the grass.

Enjoy every day of spring. Take time to watch how it emerges, a bit each day until all at once, the grand burst into summer appears.

Turkey Tracks: Wonderfil Glamour Thread

May 2, 2020

How did it get to be May already???

Wonderfil Glamour Thread

I’m handquilting the Galactic wall hanging quilt now with Wonderfil Glamour thread, as shown by Tara Faughnan on Instagram. The Galactic quilt is a project in Tara Faughnan’s season 2 online class hosted by Sewtopia (Amy Newbold) . Glamour is a 12-weight rayon thread with a metallic strand.

These are the thread colors I’m using for this project. The orange one was risky—it’s so hard to tell real colors from an internet picture—but it is working out well I think.

I saw a magazine ad for the Tulip sashiko needles and wondered if they would be a good idea for this heavier weight thread in a quilt. I found them online (Fat quarter shop). And, yes, I think these needles are a good idea. However, I did find I needed a learning curve to handle the needle and the fabric to get smaller stitches. This is the THIN coated needle, and you can see the bigger eye helps NOT to fray the thread.

Here, you can see that my stitches started out bigger and gradually begin to get smaller. I don’t mind as there is a certain funkiness about this quilt anyway. And I do like the way the thread shines in the quilt.

Here, you can see the progression starting to go from big stitches to smaller ones. See the bottom rows in this picture. My first rows were…BIG stitches.

Now, look how pretty. I am just keeping the quilting simple—straight lines on a diagonal.

I hand quilt at night while watching tv. Someone thinks it’s time for him to go outside to drop his britches. Afterwards, he will decide that it is time for us to go to bed—all of which involves teasing wallowing on me.