Are We There Yet?

By -
I'm seeing lines, lines, lines in front of my eyes! Will this blasted quilt NEVER end? I tell you, a king-size quilt that's quilted with straight lines on the diagonal every inch and a half in both directions, requires a LOT of lines! I'm working several hours each day on it, and it never seems to get any closer to being finished. I'd hoped to have it quilted before we leave for California on Sunday, and in a fit of optimism took an hour or so yesterday to cut the binding, stitch the WOF pieces together on the bias, and iron the whole binding in half, ready for sewing onto the quilt...NOT!

Sigh. In between times, I rest my back and shoulders by knitting on some socks. Finished the Jaywalkers, which I love, and started another pair. Loved the yarn, hated the fit of the finished first sock, so this morning I frogged it and started over. Hope the airlines will let me take my bamboo dpn's onboard. That would be a good 13 hours of solid knitting on the flight to SFO. I hear from the local knitters that no flights leaving Australia will allow knitting needles of any kind, so I may be knitless...to go along with my being witless from quilting all those lines!

Anyhoo, I'll be reading your posts for inspiration while we're away (only two and a bit weeks), but don't know how faithful I'll be at posting myself.

Later...

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sounds like the trip will be a welcome relief. Have fun, and maybe on your return you will feel re-energized for finishing the blasted thing!
8:00 AM
Anonymous said…
Oooh, have a great trip Diane. Wish it was me!
12:04 PM
QuiltingFitzy said…
I've always carried my bamboo dpn here and there on the airplane. Not international tho, please check before you loose them. Or make a self-posted envelope out to mail them back home just in case!
1:12 PM
Mary Johnson said…
Don't you hate those quilts that take forever - I know it will be all worth it when you're done!
1:27 PM
Lily Mulholland said…
Enjoy your trip Diane, and I hope you get to the end of your quilt soon!
3:16 AM
Judy said…
Lily told me you were having the same issues I am currently having so I stopped by to see and YES! you are!! I also did my lines 1.5" apart and I wish I hade done them right over my applique. Skipping all the applique..the starts and stops has driven me nuts! I am not going back on the second pass. I finally finished making one set of lines and that's it. I'm doing the fun free motion now and loving it.

I sympathise with you. I would work for hours only to realize that I got 4 lines done!! Hope you finish soon!
10:11 AM
Jenni said…
That is exactly the reason I don't want to quilt any more big quilts on my machine. My back kills me at the best of times, not to mention the mental frustration! You could put your dpns in your bag, and they won't show up on the Xray. Then if you get asked on the plane you could very confidently say "oh they let them on because they are only soft bamboo". A bit risky - you could start an International Incident!
2:06 AM
Sassenach said…
My neck is knotted up just reading your post!
7:15 AM
Libby said…
Those lines really are killers - I'm sure you'll make your goal in plenty of time.
4:09 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stop Me Before I Quilt Again!

By -
Image
What is this big pile of fabric and scraps, you may ask: Some you may recognize from the 10 Wishes quilt, but others are new. Yes, I've made a start on the Big Girl Quilt (i.e. queen-size) for Katie Rose. I've been so inspired by the lovely quilts Mary and her Heartstrings group have made that I decided to make one for Katie. Here's where I am -- two rows of string blocks made...four rows still unmade. I will sash these blocks with 2" sashing (don't know what fabric yet), making stars from the cornerstones (ditto). You can't really see the EQ design very well, I know...sorry. Here's a close-up of the first four blocks: Second four: Third four: It's really fun doing these. I love the colors...wanted them to be "girly" but not too bright. I will add a wide-ish border of some gorgeous fabric, yet to be discovered, I think. I'm also ratting through my WIPs and getting inspired to finish up the As Time Goes By quilt pretty soon. Of
Read more

Sunday, Sunday...

By -
Image
Well, I'm going to try Tonya's suggestion and load my photos in the center instead of to the left, and see if that helps any with the spacing problems I'm having. So let's try putting up Dad's River Dreams Quilt that disappeared yesterday: Well, that seems to have worked...I think. So, let's add a couple of kids' quilts I've made over the years. Here's an I Spy for my grandkids. Can you see that I added their names, as a crossword puzzle, among the I Spy squares? Well, by gum! That seems to have worked, too...thanks, Tonya! Shall we go for a trifecta here? How about a little bluework quilt I did for my nephew. I found on-line coloring book images, printed them out and traced them on white fabric, then embroidered them in blue, setting them in stars afterward. I liked the result, and so did he: I'm on a roll now! What about one that was WAY outside my comfort zone. I'm not an orange person, but a friend in France had a baby girl. Mom loved ora
Read more

A Sad Farewell to the Best Old Friend

By -
Image
And so the time has come to say farewell to our little friend, Alfonse le Soot. He would have been 13 years old right about now. Those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile may remember his dramatic disappearance in July of 2008. And his equally dramatic return just over a month later. No explanation was ever found for his disappearance, but we were so happy to have him home. In late March of this year we made a trip to California, only to have the terrible news from our wonderful house-sitter, Judy, that Alfonse had collapsed and had to be rushed to the vet the day after we left. The vet tried mightily to save our little fellow, but he had experienced sudden heart failure resulting in a clot that paralyzed his hind legs. After three heart-rending days and a steadily worsening condition, the decision had to be made to let him go. We returned to Australia two days ago and today, with heavy hearts, we picked up Alfonse’s ashes, brought him home and buried him in his final res
Read more