Keeping Secrets

I've been keeping a secret.  Not a big secret.  Just a little secret that's really big to me.  When I took the Tree Farm quilt class from Edyta Sitar, I accidentally got a little ahead of the class.  I didn't mean to, and am not quite sure how it happened because I was paying really close attention, and then I suddenly realized I was a step ahead.  But, it gave Edyta the chance to watch me work from a pattern, without her explanation, and I was successful.  And, it must have impressed her because she invited me to review new patterns for her, after they're written, but before they are published.  It's not the first time I've been asked to do something like that, but it's never worked out before, so I decided to keep it secret in case it didn't work out this time.  And, I waited.  And, waited.  And, she and I exchanged emails a couple of times while she made sure I was still interested.  And, on Saturday, she sent me a new, unpublished pattern to review. 

Not to put too fine a point on it, but WOOO-EEEEEE and YIPPY-CAY-EH!

I made sure she knew I didn't know what I was doing.  And, when she asked me how much I'd charge, I said this time, I'd do it for an early copy of the pattern (and asked how much most people charge her, which was a reasonable amount that I will likely ask for next time because this is NOT easy work).  First, it's a beautiful pattern and I can hardly wait to make the quilt, so a pleasure to read through it really fast.  And, realize it's a pretty complicated pattern.  And, then start reading with my pen, making suggestions, not for how to make the quilt, but for how to describe the steps.  If I was a quilt maker, what would have made this pattern easier to follow.  So, that's what I've been working on.  I've found that I can only read for about an hour and a half before I have to take a break and come back at it with fresh eyes. 

So, that's my secret.  And, I'm pretty excited about it. 

I also worked on the hexie quilt during TV time.  I've created the brown border sections and am adding them to the quilt.  It's a little "drab" now and I'm hoping the next round, which is blue and a pale orange will spice it up a little.  It better.  This thing has taken forever and I'd hate to finish it and decide it's "dull"!

The rest of the weekend was just hum-drum (it's hard for chores to measure up to what else I was doing, right?)  Remember that we found a leak in the kitchen faucet when we installed the dishwasher, so we replaced that, and promptly found out we also had a leak in the water filter faucet, so another trip to the hardware store to get a new one of those.  And, I continued cleaning. 

I'll show you something I don't show often.  It's not usually suitable for sharing, but right now, at least half of it is I've been re-folding and re-stacking and moving things around and getting rid of a LOT of stuff. 

There's still a lot to do.  I've only worked on one side.  But, I'm getting there. 

But, I gotta also tell you, I'm over this cleaning stuff.  I'm ready to spend whole days at the sewing machine, like I used to.  I miss it.

Everybody have a great Monday!  I hope you and your family are safe after the bad weather and flooding of the last few days.  I know it's been raining here so long that the mosquitoes are thick as thieves and the yard is full of mushrooms, which we almost never get.  We had a small roof leak in the greenhouse and it flooded out a plant, but so far, that's the worst damage we've had.  And, we ARE counting ourselves lucky! 

Lane