A Close Finish and The Whales of August

 

Here's a peak at Mary Tillinghast. I want to be done so bad that I dream about it at night. If you are not familiar with her, she is from the collection of the Newport Hisorical Society, Newport, Rhode Island; this is a product of Sheepish Antiques.  I am using 36 ct Lakeside vintage light examplar fabric and AVAS silks. I force myself to do one strand of algerian eyelet stitches and one strand of the over one alphabets before I can work on the regular cross stitch. If I feel the need for speed, I'll skip the over 1 and eyelets and just go for the cross stitch and work some flowers and vine; after all, it's my game, and I can make up the rules as I go, right? LOL 

 

This missy looks like she has an olive complexion or a good sun tan from sitting outside with her dogs and the gentleman should probably join her outside for a while and get some vitamin D.

 

 

 

 

 

An antique Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt that I purchased in 2013, obviously from the date on my little camera.  My favorite part of the quilt is the green walkway between the hexies. Such color inspiration here in this quilt.

After a boat load of "out of the ordinary life happenings", I slipped on my timeline of finishing the blue piney quilt. Back to it today.  If I don't stay on track I will find my self wandering aimlessly, starting new projects and letting the old ones get stale.

Happy Easter to all that celebrate.

For all of you baseball fans out there, you do know what today is? Opening Day!... GO BRAVES!!
I find a real stitching speed when baseball is on, because I can listen while I stitch and not look up. Then, if there is a flurry of activity I can back it up and watch the action.  When we watch a movie, I'm constantly looking up because if you miss the face and body movements you miss half of the movie...so stitching is a bit slower.

Which brings me to the other half of my title..."The Whales of August". 

I don't know if anyone else has seen this movie or not...I will tell you ahead of time that it does have samplers, and hand knit sweaters, and an old Singer sewing machine in the most comforting house on the shoreline in Maine, with a lighthouse in the background.

The movie came out in 1987 and we just saw it a few nights ago. Bette Davis (78), Ann Sothern (77), and Lillian Gish (93); Vincent Price (70's); all wonderful actresses and actor in their hey day. I wasn't so taken with the story line or acting, but after all, Bette had a stroke, Lillian was nearing 100, and Ann was using a cane. Lillian was a favorite silent screen star and was one of the few that made the transition into talkies.  I loved all of Ann's movies from the 30's to the 50's and Vincent Price was so handsome and suave in his earliest of films...hhmm, not so much later on when he played in horror movies. I will confess that I never liked Betty Davis except in "Now, Voyager".  BUT, I kept this movie on the tv just to go back and look at the wonderful old house they were in, the seashore and lighthouse AND the two samplers on the walls; (their sweaters and shawl were hand knit too). 

My husband complained that we would never get thru the movie because I kept stopping it to show him samplers and the old Singer sewing machine! LOL 

It is difficult taking a picture of the tv screen, obviously.  Sampler number 1, when I screeched and jumped out of my chair, scaring the dog into a barking fit.

 

Sampler number 2.

 

Here is Miss Lillian stuffing koala bears for the local charity fair.  See the Singer behind her?

A lovely hand made sweater, needed at all times with the cool breeze off the shore. The time frame was August, when the whales would appear and bring with them the change of the season.  Here she is painting out in the garden.

Miss Lillian talking to Mr. Price about joining her the next morning to watch the whales come in to the bay, wearing that gorgeous hand knit shawl.  Alas, Betty put a stop to that and Mr. Price disappeared from the movie.  Such a visual treat for me.

I felt like I was somewhere else in time while I watched the movie; I just felt as if I belonged right there, in that house, on the shore; using that Singer and making those shawls and samplers....it was all so me. Have you ever felt like you belonged somewhere else than where you are currently sitting?

Three of my favorite girls together...aren't grandkids the bees knees? Kisskisskiss....mmwaaa!

You can tell it's not really spring in Montana yet, and I'm watching it snow right now.

My favorite fella; he didn't think a thing about using his sister's pink bat...what a honey guy!

Off to the quilting this afternoon and then some sampler making tonight with the opening game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.