This year I finally made a quilt to give my brother for Christmas. I've been thinking of doing this for a while and chose a pattern in September. The plan was to have it done by the end of November. And I was pretty much on track until my machine started to act up with skipped stitches and breaking thread. I checked everything the manual told me to do and finally took it into the shop one morning. Naturally, it sewed perfectly while we were there. It would be fair to say that I was less than amused. The tech assured me that this happens from time to time and that the machines sometimes just like to take a ride. REALLY? Apparently, this is what passes for humor in sewing machines. The thing is that the tech didn't do anything and it's been sewing perfectly ever since. I hate it when my machines mock me.
I was back on track for about 2 days when I ran out of thread and realized that the purple I was using isn't available locally. Luckily, Follow That Thread, which sells Aurofil thread online is way efficient and my thread was in the mailbox in about 3 days. I actually finished the quilt a whole week before Christmas!
Here is the quilt, finished on time.
The pattern is called "Earth Rhythms" by Jan Douglas. It went together pretty easily, which was a blessing given the time constraints. I quilted oak leaves and acorns into the block centers, simpler leaves in the purple border and maple leaves on the outside borders. Most of the fabric came from my stash, since I use these colors a lot.
It was nice to have time to whip the house into some reasonable shape before my mom, brother, and niece came to stay. I'm not quite sure why I go crazy before they come. It's not like I'm fooling my mother. This is a woman who cannot put paint to paper until her makeup is on, the dishes are done and the family room is vacuumed. She also knows perfectly well that I have no problem putting on some sweats, leaving the breakfast dishes in the sink and jumping right into a quilting project. It seems I'm a throwback to some earlier ancestor too far back for me to have met.
So now it's on to new projects (and finishing a few old ones). I started to make a list of all the things I want to make, new techniques to try and things I want to learn. There's just so much I want to do. I quit writing when the list started to look scary. At this time of year, all things seem possible. I'll just keep thinking that.
Candy
