Thursday, November 19, 2009

All Talk...

...no writing! NaNoWriMo fell by the wayside very quickly. I got about 2500 words into my novel, realized it was really hard work, and promptly rationalized that I have other, more important things to do in my life. Any time I flirt with another hobby it fans the flames of my quilting desires, so that's what I've been focusing on.

Which brings us to the topic of the purple beast. Quilt from HE&L! I started out with beautiful feathery pinwheels in the background areas. Quilted down to the last row, and the bottom border had huge ripples. GRRR. Thought I could pick out a few blocks and ease in the fullness (this was back in August...school started, life got hectic, ripping was easy to ignore.) October rolled around and I started to get nervous messages from the customer, so I finished ripping and put the quilt back on the longarm. Darn, re-sewed that side and still had extra fabric in the border. Decided the only fix was to rip out everything and start over. Bentley helped, we worked every spare minute ripping stitches out for a whole week, and finally I was ready to sew again. I rotated the quilt 90 degrees, measured carefully, and started quilting with a pantograph. Yesterday, I got to the bottom edge and about lost my mind. STILL HUGE RIPPLES. The customer will just have to put up with a few puckers, because I have quilted the thing twice and can't make it flat. I have one spot left to quilt where my tension was off, and then it's done. I can't wait...better go check to see if there is any champagne in the pantry, LOL!

Sorry, no photos. Kendra is in a non-smiling mood these days when the camera comes out. Quite the little princess! She delights us everyday with snippets of songs from her music class and church choir. Just adorable.