A Little Yarn On The Side

She who is smug is about to get her arse kicked by a project. In today's sad little tale, we begin with the Christmas quilt.  Finished, quilted, the binding on....all that was left was to wash the obligatory cat hair off of it and iron it.  Which is when we discovered: a glass head pin that had been sewn INTO the quilt.  This picture was taken during the removal process--right before the small hole was created that allowed the head of the pin to make it out. Chastened--and somewhat encouraged by having finished two more sets of pillowcases, I thought I'd tackle the 5th and final set......and get a bit more creative. which is when the embroidery machine decided to get a bit more creative as well..... Yep--that's how the design came out.  Sometimes it is possible to bump the machine or do something that will affect the design, but this wasn't one of those times.  So, either the design is really poorly done (a strong possibility since it was a freebie) OR t...

Yep--you read that right.  25 projects done.  Completed.  Finished.  Now, some of you may be thinking that I have spent the weekend making a desperate push to finish short, quick projects in a pathetic attempt to get back on track, and to that I say......Well, duh.   First, we have the April Project of the Month.  Taking the half-yard of fleece that was tucked away in the project bag, rounded off the corners (which requires the latest in high-tech equipment as you can see), then did a narrow hem along the border using some decorative stitching which doesn't need to be done as fleece cannot ravel, but I like the look better than a raw edge.  The timing is perfect because some friends just had a baby last week, so..... It looks a bit funny because the clear water-soluble stabilizer is still there.  This is my first time using this plastic-looking stuff and it's a bit strange to work with.  It's nice that it's clear, but it also has ...

Yesterday was Finishing Friday and I only had the binding left to do on the quilt, so my sidekick and I got up early and headed for the sewing room.  Theo helped cut out the binding and in his "most helpful" mode, he kept moving around to take over any available space I found to work in..... but I did eventually get it cut out, sewn together, and ironed even WITH his assistance. I decided to do the binding as a single strip as I've only done that once before and thought it looked nice, but could use a bit more practice.  Of course, I had to redo each corner once--having made a big whopper of a mistake--but finally I was ready to start hand stitching the binding to the back... --which Theo LOVED. My little sidekick stayed with me for most of the stitching marathon, and last night we finally had a quilt! Complete with non-wonky corners, threads that still need to be cut, a heck of a lot of cat hair, and...... no puckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How did I manage this ...

*  Take the label off a ball of merino wool and tell everyone you spun it from your husband's chest hair which you shaved off at night while he was sleeping *   Go to your local Stitch 'n' Bitch and declare that circular needles are stupid *  Send anonymous threatening letters to the local quilting guild, telling them they're stepping on your crafting turf and they have 48 hours to get out of town *  Find a new employee at a large craft store and ask them if they can special order left-handed knitting needles for you *  Walk up to someone wearing a Fun Fur scarf and demand if they know how many "Funs" had to be killed to make that scarf *  Take your knitting out in public, and if anyone compliments you on your knitting, tell them it's a new type of knitting called "crochet."  See who gets it

So in spite of Theo's help, the quilt is progressing and the decorative stitching is almost done!!!!! I don't know if you can see this, but there are only two rows of solid blocks still needing decorative stitching--and they aren't even the longest ones!  Whoo hoo!  And since I've found a way to get Theo off of the quilt while I'm trying to sew I really could finish it this week!!!!!!!!! (Unless Theo catches on to my strategy first, that is......)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7069612/Prince-of-Wales-leading-wool-fashion-comeback.html Unless the drop in the English wool market really did start 2 1/2 years ago...........like when I stopped buying wool......................................

All the actual quilting has been finished without a single swear word.   Now normally I would know better than to provoke the Quilting Gods by uttering such an obvious boast, but I've already been flattened by them this morning, so I have been properly chastised already.  Now I'm doing the decorative stitching on the red & green squares, and just did one in the wrong direction and had to pick the entire thing out, so the Toni-Quilting equilibrium has been reestablished.  Still--there could be a finished quilt THIS WEEK!  I thought I should prepare you, just in case the shock might be too much for anyone.... There is a calendar hanging in my sewing room, which I see every day, and finally it occurred to me that March is almost over.  (I'm quick with these things....).  In December, I started a sweater for Andy's birthday--which is in July. In one of my deeper, more insightful moments, I have just realized........ The sweater will only be finis...