sewing by musical

WOOOOO! I just have three more sides of binding to sew on to my Meant To Finish a Year Ago quilt and it will be DONE! I sew the binding half by machine and then finish by hand, so it's going to take me a little longer (mainly because I put the sewing machine away), but the end is definitely in sight.

I spent a good part of Sunday finishing the piecing of the quilt top and watching musicals, namely Hello Dolly and Annie. I'd never seen Annie before! (this was the John Huston version with Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks and Carol Burnett as the awful drunken orphanage lady.) Sandy the dog is by far my favorite character, and also the cutest. (Also least likely to call FDR on the phone and bitch about the New Deal.)

Hello Dolly is completely ridiculous (as are many musicals when you get right down to it), but there's something comforting in its over the top unreality. I like Irene Malloy's millinery shop with its feathers and ribbons and the Harmonia Gardens with its gaudy fountains and red velvet, even though they both look prop-department fake - like you'd find on them on Main Street in Disney World (or Land). Likewise the open sided Yonkers trolley. Is it what they took to the city? I don't know. Would the white and teal striped seats be clean for more than one ride? No! does everyone look charming hopping on and off while they sing and dance? Yes!

My main takeaway from both films is don't find yourself in a musical if you're in a hurry. It takes AT LEAST two songs and 30 dancers for any service industry job to be performed! (unless you're animated like Cinderella and have the help of cartoon birds and mice, in which case it's one song and limited dancing (with some flying).)

Monday was pinning the top to the batting and backing, then tying the quilt - I watched the movie Timer, starring Emma Caulfield aka Anya from Buffy. (Halfrek also has a small supporting role!) This movie made me want to argue, which I may return to this space to do. I mostly liked it, even as it made me say "HEY! Wait just a minute, you don't make any sense." More on this later because I have to be asleep in 15 minutes or less or the rest of my week is going to be rough.