I shouldn't...but I do

I am a rule follower. Just ask Sydney. I am a rule follower. That's what the rules are there for.

Except when I need to bend the rules a bit.

When you make a quilt for Project Linus, you aren't supposed to sign it. And, I sorta don't. But, I do put this cool embroidery of kokopeli dancers in each of my Linus quilts. Unobtrusive, not overbearing, not drawing attention to myself, not giving the receiver a way to contact me. But, they're there. In a way that I doubt that even Project Linus could object to. My mark. Not an X like people used to sign with, but a mark, nonetheless. This is an embroidery pattern that's programmed into my Pfaff, so just load a colorful thread, add a stabilizer and let her rip.

I've started stitching on the February quilt. I'm joining all the smaller pieces into 9 1/2 inch blocks. Most of the smaller pieces are assembled. I did it the other day, when I didn't have anything else easy to sew and I didn't want to start anything new and complex. Now that they're together, I've piled them in my Linus basket with three other quilts that are started for Linus and all the other 9 1/2" blocks so that I can lay them out and put them together quickly. Because I have so much going on this month, I want to piece the quilt one weekend and then quilt it another, maybe even leaving the binding until a third weekend. I just need it finished sometime this month. These are some of the pieced blocks. The fish fabric near the left is my focus fabric.

See the ball of yarn in a couple of these pics? That is me darning a handmade sock. A sock that the dadgummed dog chewed a hole in. She's gotten to two pair of my hand made socks. She doesn't like the cheap white ones. She goes for the handmade wool or wool/cotton blends. Dratted dog. And, the spool of thread on the opposite side of the oil bottle is what's left of a thread that she got into and chewed the outside layers off of. She's a very anxious dog and will chew on anything. The more I don't want her to, the more likely she is to give it a try. I caught her headed out of the sewing room last night with a brand new ball of sock yarn in her mouth because no one was paying attention to her. Poor thing. You remember that pic a few days back of me rubbing her belly. Poor thing.

This picture is of Sydney's fabrics that she is cutting for her quilt. She has refused to do the math to figure out how big it will be, preferring to cut blocks and then lay them out until she's finished. I let that work for her until last night when she was ready to cut the borders and I told her that she had to figure out the size before she could cut the borders. "Whhhhyyyyyyy?" Fortunately, this was at bedtime and I didn't have to explain. But, tonight, we'll be working it out. Should I give her a calculator or make her do it on paper? Goodness knows she could use the practice. And, it would be so mean.....Mwaaahaaahaaaa

And, this is my progress in the men's shirt sew along. I got the button placket in the left front side and got the pocket attached. I used what I've learned in applique to shape the curves and they were really easy for me. I noticed that Peter did something similar using cardboard instead of freezer paper and he clipped his curves instead of pleating them over like we do in applique. But, I'm thinking they look pretty good. This is the muslin, so I wasn't interested in whether the strips matched, so of course, when I finished, I saw that they were close enough to make it look like an accident. But, it wasn't. Or, maybe it's an accident that I got so close when I wasn't trying. Of course, if I had been trying, I would have been more like a half inch off than an eighth. ;-)

Okay, that's it for me. The elevated project I'm working on is having some issues...a bit of a sluggish start. Yesterday was a day fraught with opportunities for me to make a mistake; sort of like walking in a minefield. I woke up this morning, way before the alarm, very stressed. So, I got up and went to the sewing room and started working and clearing off and giving myself a good talking to about how this isn't my fault and my success lies in my ability to roll with the punches WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE. Gradually, I relaxed and by the time that Rob left, I was feeling better and by the time that I woke Sydney, my shoulders had relaxed and by the time I left for work, I was whistling. So, I guess all's well that ends well.

Take care and have a great Thursday. I've pulled my smile out of my pocket and pasted it on...I remind myself of Melanie Hamilton, always smiling and graceful, even during war.

Crap! I'm more like Melanie Hamilton during the burning of Atlanta...needy and weak and prone to faint.

Lane