Sunday, September 30, 2012

Art in the streets

 Charlie took some pictures of some of the Art Prize pieces he liked.  The family came for a walk through downtown to see what we could see.  It was pandemonium packed so it was hard to maneuver but we kept plugging along.
 These horses in the river are made of branches and twigs. 
 But this!  He was astounded by this wire strung over downtown with the sculpted man hanging by one hand. All he could keep asking was, "How did they DO that??  Grandma, how did they get that up there??"  He's a pretty good photographer.
They ran and played and wore themselves out. We wore ourselves out trying to keep track of them in those crowds!  We had a wagon and used it, but they wanted and needed to run, too. 
Charlie has a snaggle tooth.  It's his first loose tooth and he's working it.  I told him, "You are top goalie on your soccer team, you have a loose tooth, you're learning to read and you found a dime in the grass!  Your life is golden!"

 I'm taking what chances I have to get to the quilting on Ceci's cupcake quilt. I'm using #8 perle cotton for this one.  I do like working with it now that I  know which needles to use.
 But I have a problem.  I 'found' a needle that is PERFECT.  It was an orphan in the bottom of a box of safety pins and I have no idea how to know what size it is.  And it's bending.  My needles bend as I use them.  I only found this needle because I had so many things pinned for quilting that I used up all of my safety pins. And there was this lonely perfect needle left all by itself.  I looked at it and thought,  "hmmm...you look like...." and I threaded it, tried it and it's perfect. It's sturdy. Industrial.  Perfect threading with the #8 cotton, glides through the fabric, makes a hole just right for the cotton to follow through...
I want more of this needle! It's hard to find the size that's right for the perle. I know now, after friend Liz over at Broderie told me to use size 9 embroidery or chenille 22 or 24. They seem to come in packages of size 3-9 but those just don't "feel" right and I've even broken some of them mid-stitch. I use them, but still, I search.

There is another project in the works that I can't talk about.  Not yet.  It's a secret.

1 comment:

  1. That looks like lots of fun. I love sculpture and how imaginative people can be. I would also love to do quilting with perle thread. I haven't found a needle that I have been happy with either. I'd be interested if you discover the perfect needle. I have seen quilts using perle thread and love the look. I bend needles too - so mine don't have a long life. We can get 9 embroidery needles in one pack - do you think they work better than the chenille?

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