Making things happen

My new year's resolution was to spend time doing nothing and less time multi-tasking.  It's actually working out really well.  I find myself more and more just sitting somewhere, enjoying a book or TV and not doing anything else.  And, oddly enough, it feels like I'm getting more finished.  

I worked on this quilt this weekend.  Because of the pattern, I have my heart set on quilting a spiral that starts in the center and goes all the way to the edge.  Considering it's a continuous line, it should be pretty simple and straightforward, but it's one of the hardest patterns to quilt well that I've ever tried.  This is my third try.  It needs just that special skill that I'm trying to find.  

It needs a hopping foot, so it needs marking, but the pattern is so busy that I can't see marking, so I've tried tissue paper marking.  In the first try, the tissue shredded, so this time, I pinned the paper on and basted it to the quilt, pulled it off and the basting was my marking.  That worked pretty well.  I was able to establish the pattern and then use a walking foot with a guide to maintain the same distance and continue all the way out to the edges.  

 

But, even that had problems where I would adjust the bulk of the quilt because of the walking foot and get off the line.  I got about a third of the way out from the center and was so focused on the mistakes and was feeling pretty bad about my ability to do this, so I cut thread and pulled it out of the machine and laid it on the floor.  I chose a light grey 100wt silk thread for the top and a perfectly matching variegated thread for the back for the specific reason of hiding mistakes.  And, it did such a good job that I couldn't see the mistakes.  Oh, there are a few places where 10 or so inches of quilting need to be taken out and put back in, but for the most part, it worked this time.  I'm still having ideas about it.  Wondering if I can do better.  Wondering.  It's laid out across the Bernina, so I can look at it all week and decide whether I'm content...or want to try again.

In other news, we needed a new Christmas wreath.  Pretty badly.  The old one was falling apart and I kept finding pieces of it in the foyer.  We were in JoAnn's the other day and their C'mas greenery was on 70% off, so we stocked up and yesterday, I built us a new wreath.  

Pretty happy with it.  Can't wait til next C'mas to hang it again.  

Okay, Mary asked last week what we didn't have when the power went out.  Good coffee.  So, I decided I needed to learn to make good percolator coffee.  I pulled out a different percolator and made a very good cup of coffee in it yesterday.  

Then, someone reminded me I could have just used the French press.  D'oh!  So much easier.

Everybody have a great week!  Try something difficult.  Go at it with a fresh mind and spend time figuring it out and then give it a try.  Start with the rules, then find your own solution.  

Lane