6/4/15

What happens when nothing happens

I ended up sick this week. 

Rob stayed home on Tuesday to take care of me.  I was that sick. 

By yesterday, I was able to hold my head up and I worked as much as I could.  It was a bad week to be sick.  It's my bosses last week before she changes jobs.  Yes, the boss that I've thrived under is moving on.  And, yes, it does make me very anxious.  I don't know who I will be working for or what responsibilities I'll have. 

I'll miss her.  And, I'm doing my best to look forward to the next set of opportunities that will come my way.

But, it still makes me anxious.

Anyway, I couldn't move around this week, so I hand quilted.  Rob had to help me load the quilt into the frame.  I finished all the blocks in my yellow Dresden Plate quilt and moved out into the border.  (yes, this is the best I can do for a picture... I've been sick...waaaaaaa)



The border has some half and quarter plates in it.  And, around them, I have envisioned feathers.  I've never hand quilted feathers. 



As you can see, they're pretty okay, right?  And, they go pretty fast.  There will be eight feathers and the first one took about three hours.  Jeez, I can machine quilt a half of a quilt in that time...

This is the heaviest quilt I've ever worked on.  It weighs a ton.  I don't know why it feels so much heavier than other bed sized quilts.  I didn't add anything in particular that would add to the weight. 

I've been quilting on it with a between needle, but the other day, I accidentally picked up a sharp.  I know it won't last long before it bends, but that sharp slides through the cotton batting like butter, while the between is like driving a nail.  I can only stack three stitches on the between, but I can stack six or seven on the sharp.  Which is why the sharp will bend...hmmmm.  Maybe I'm not thinking about this clearly.

Oh, what we go through for beauty, right?  This is my big one.  It might not be the nicest quilt I ever make, but it's going to be my hand quilting triumph.  Hand quilting takes a long time, and I've picked this one to get my best effort and my most dense quilting. 

And, one day, I'll actually get it finished. 

Maybe.

Lane

3 comments:

lw said...

Sorry to hear about your illness. It always seems to time itself for the least convenient time, doesn't it?

Needles are cheap. Use the sharps and take a new one whenever one bends.

Marei said...

Sorry to hear you've been down with the crud. Hope you're feeling better very soon. The quilting looks wonderful and I agree with Iw...needles are cheap so use the sharps and enjoy the process even more.

Kath said...

get well Lane, but don't be in a hurry. Take the time you need.
I am toying with the idea of hand quilting a Kind size quilt, I was wondering if I'd be mad to start, then I read this post and thought maybe I will!