And, as all celebrations must...

This one draws to an end. 

I took three days off work.  I've spent more of it than I intended out in the yard, deciding I could quilt inside later, when the rains start, and work in the yard now, when the conditions are perfect...and no squishy clay mud to deal with.  I'll try to get out and take some pics.  Just a lot of clean up and some moving things around.  And, I'm mapping the beds again, so I will know where things are.  I've done my best to keep my map up to date, but even so, there's a lot of stuff on that map that either isn't there anymore, or hasn't come up this year, and I'm not sure which.  But, I know, like always, the beds will be full and lush again this year.  I can tell that, just from what hasn't frozen back. 

We haven't had any hard winter.  Just some temps in the 30's.  Nothing to freeze things back and kill off all of next years pests and bugs.  We're gonna regret that. 

But, it wasn't all yard work and eating leftovers, there was lots of quilting done, too.  I'm looking at the Dresden Plate quilt, and having to start thinking about the binding.  I was talking about having to make all that binding by hand, and then attach it to both sides of the quilt by hand, and Rob asked if I couldn't just use the machine on that little bit.  But, the quilt's name is Every Stitch by Hand, and so far, every stitch has been.  And, I'm not gonna chicken out at the home stretch.  I can bind a quilt by hand.  I probably need one more full day to finish the quilting and pull some out and put it back in again.  Maybe a day and a half.  Then, the binding. 

And then, the washing...and I'm not sure what I'm most anxious about.  How will fabrics from the 50's hold up attached to a new piece of fabric?  We shall see.

LW asked where I was going to show it.  It's going to be in the Austin Area Quilt Show first, and that's this September, so I'm feeling real good about getting it done.

And, I got rows 2 and 3 finished on the DWR quilt.  That took 6 sections, or 15 melons, or 30 arcs.  And now, I'm outta arcs.  I need new freezer paper templates before I can make any more.  And, the question about how many times you can use a freezer paper template is answered...it is 6.  Then, there's just not enough sticky on it for me to keep working with it.  They don't take that long to make.

(please excuse the dog toy...)

And, I was merrily quilting away on the red and white quilt, despite the slight run in the corner. 

 

I flipped it over to trim threads.  And, holy crap red runny dyes, Batman!  I just spritzed it a little on the front to take out some blue water soluble ink.  And, it ran a drop on the front, and three corners on the back look like these...

Because of the way it was on the sofa the other day, my friend thought it was a pillow. 

I'm also thinking it's going to be a pillow. 

I've gotten very careful about how I handle it.  I shuddered the other day because of the number of times I'd tossed it on top of the Dresden Plate quilt and how disappointed I would be if that red dye ran on that piece of work. 

I'll sew a red pillow backing onto it when I bind it.  And, I'll get it sealed in a Ziploc bag until I can get it to the show committee.  I've learned to be a afraid of it.  And, you guys know, there's not much about fabric that scares me!

Everybody have a great Valentine's Day.  Rob took me out on the town last night for my birthday.  We had a wonderful time.  Then, this morning we lay in bed and drank our coffee and watched The African Queen and were just a couple, watching a romantic movie.  We are so lucky. 

Hope you are feeling it, too.

Lane