It's not like nothing happened...

I just didn't take any pictures of it.  I think I spent most of it wondering 'where's my phone'?

After we washed and sealed the deck this weekend, I spent the afternoons inside.  I got another corner quilted on the arc quilt.  This is one of the corners with two circles full of circles.  The diagonally opposite corner also has two.  The other corners will each have one, all of them off-center.  The circles were already there and I spent four hours filling in around them and tying all the knots.  I lost count at about 25, just in that corner.  I wasn't doing a good job of looking ahead and caught myself in a couple if tight spots where the only way out was to cut the thread and move the quilt.  It's okay tho.  It's not a contest to see who can do the longest line of continuous background filler.  If you notice, I stayed a little more off that temporary line of quilting this time.  I let that puff up along the edge.  When I take out the temp line of quilting and put in the new one, I'll fill in around the edges where I need to.  I'm doing my best to work from the center out so I push all the extra fabric outward to the edge.  It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it sure makes a lot of difference in getting a square quilt when I'm quilting on my domestic machine.  

Remember I said I needed to keep my filler in the same scale, and that's hard when you're only sitting down to quilt once a week.  Last week, I showed how my filler had gotten too tight.  This week, when I sat down, it got away from me and started out too large.  I had the first side sitting on top near my left hand, so was able to see it quickly and decreased the size.  I'll fill in some of the larger spaces here.  A couple pop out at me.  It's a mistake, but I've learned to let those little mistakes sit until the quilt is finished and only fix the ones I can still see after that.  You'd be surprised how many will just disappear into the background of the other quilting, and leaving them behind sure saves time.  I can see a lot of mistakes this close up, but from farther away?  Not so much.  

I'm quilting with black thread on a black background using white or green chalk to mark with.  I have trouble seeing where I'm going, especially when I'm quilting toward me.  I need a lot of light.  I thought I'd show my setup for this quilt.  It varies, depending on where I need a lamp and how easily I can see my work.   The blue gooseneck lamp in the back (sorry, you can't see the goose neck, but it's there) casts a shadow across the quilt.  Sometimes, when I can't see the thread, I can see the shadow cast by the quilting.  When it's hanging in a show, it will be downlit and this gives me an approximation of that.  The brown architect's lamp on the left is sometimes up near my face and gives me a puddle of light so I can see the work, and sometimes down near the surface to give me a different kind of shadow.  And, the sewing machine bulb shines straight down on the work.  I like a halogen bulb for the brightness, but have learned they get too hot and burn out too quickly in that little space in the machine, so am looking for an LED version.  

I took a pic of me going out to walk the other morning.  No, 59 year olds don't run, at least this one doesn't.  We walk as fast as we can.  I do a mile and a half right after yoga and another almost a mile with the dogs just before breakfast.  I'll be glad when the weather cools off and I don't have to pile those on top of one another like that.  

Syd came for dinner last Friday.  We had such a nice visit.  I planned grilled chops but the grill ran out of gas, so I smothered them instead.  It was delicious and unhealthy and eating like that is part of why I'm walking almost 2.5 miles a day.  It's so nice to sit with her and listen to her stories.  I'm so happy and proud of the relationship we have with her.  If we were judgey or tried to tell her what to do, we wouldn't see her nearly as often and I'm so proud of the way we can give advice and feedback and keep it positive.  I wish I'd been able to do a lot more of that when she was younger and lived with us.  But, we do what we can do, right?  And, when we can do better, we do that too.  I think that's what life is supposed to be about.  Not beating myself up for not doing it perfect right off the bat, but instead letting myself learn and improve and being good with that.  

Everybody have a great week!  I griped about something at work and my boss handled it perfect.  He sent me off to do a research project on it.  I'll come back with proof I'm right.  Or, it will change my mind about how it works.  Either way, I'm good.  And, eating a little crow now and then doesn't hurt me.

Lane