A finish and a start

I finished the little 30's repro apple core quilt.  I do love this little quilt. 

It's 24x24.  The quilting is very simple, just some echo work.  I did all the quilting free-motion and attached the front of the binding on the two spool treadle machine from the late 19th century.  It took a lot of getting used to.  At some point, I was able to completely forget my feet, but they were working in perfect harmony with my hands, faster and slower, depending on what I was doing.  I was using a foot I made from a paper clip because there's no hopping foot for griest machines that I've ever seen...tho I bet I could make a small fortune if I could figure it out and mass produce them. 

I picked this quilt intentionally to practice on that particular treadle.  I wanted something I was going to love, no matter how it came out.  And, I knew I was going to feel that way about this one.  I could never make the machine quilt while moving the fabric toward me.  The hook just wouldn't engage the loop in that direction.  But, it did great moving the fabric away and to the left, and for the most part, to the right (as long as it was directionally more in a 4:30 direction than an exact 3 o'clock).  Given that directional challenge, I needed something very simple.  I put the quilting in the border, but it was a mess.  There were multiple things wrong.  I attached the binding and hand sewed it down while we watched TV on Saturday night (a horrible movie, so I was really able to focus on my sewing) and by the time I was done, I knew I wanted to re-quilt the border.  So, out came the seam ripper and before you know it, I was done pulling (and the movie was over).  Sunday morning, I gave myself the reward of re-quilting it before I started chores. 

My Mom is home from the hospital.  She is on the mend, according to her and my Dad.  She still has a long way to go, but at least the journey to healing is begun.  I plan to visit soon as I can after graduation. 

The diabetic cat is doing better.  I think we've finally found the magic amount of insulin. 

It's Mother in law minus 8 around here.  She is coming for graduation.  The house is starting to sparkle.  I have never entertained a more grateful houseguest.  Always a pleasure.

I've started something new.  Because I can't help myself. 

You may have to click on it to see the pattern.  It's second in a series of hand quilted small batik quilts.  This one has a sheaf of wheat and a very tightly filled border.  Rob had the idea of taking several of these in various sizes and joining them into a larger piece.  And, that worked perfect with what I was thinking.  I have a whole set of patterns in various sizes from 8x8 to 24x27.  While I was pulling fabric, I pulled pieces for a couple more of these, all in a gold and olive theme. 

I've run into a problem tho.  When I was quilting the Dresden Plate quilt, I gave myself tennis elbow in my right arm from pushing up with a constant pressure with my middle finger on the bottom of the quilt.  I wore a brace for a couple months and it went away.  I quilted the one on the left in the picture above wearing that brace and never had any trouble.  I started the one on the right and my tennis elbow came back.  Just barely, but I don't intend to let that get worse.  I don't mind quilting in the brace. 

Everybody have a great Tuesday.  Things are finally starting to slow a bit at the office.  That's a welcome relief.  I know it's only temporary.  I volunteered to be on the planning committee for a meeting with my peers.  I don't know what came over me.  But, it's time for me to be more involved.  I've been reading a book titled Quiet.  It's about introverts and how they are undervalued in a work environment that is team based.  It's certainly made me feel more "normal".  And, that makes it easier to participate in group activities.

Lane