Ready to go...

My basting process: taping the backing onto the kitchen floor, wrinkle-free but not too taut, pulling the cat out from under it and retaping; getting the batting square with no lumps, watching the cat charge into it and push it all into the corner by the refrigerator, then putting it back; laying down the finished top, getting it just right, body-blocking the cat from coming near it a third time.

After finally exiling him to the spare bedroom I spray baste both layers, then turn on the stereo and get to the pins. I do both to keep the sandwich from shifting -- too many puckers and too much time spent picking my work apart over the years have taught me I can't just use one or the other method.

Basting + frisky cat = getting absolutely nothing done

This morning, I turned on NPR, but even they were spending a little too much time on the Michael Jackson memorial recap (I admit I cried when Jermaine sang "Smile," and Paris' closing statement put me over the edge, but there're only so many times you can hear it, come on), so I switched to my 1975 playlist on my iPod and hit the floor. Nothing like a good dose of The Doobie Brothers, Average White Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd to get me moving.

I'm not a stippler, so spending time pinning also gives me time to think about how I'm going to quilt it. Usually by the time I'm done I have a pretty good approach in mind; today, I ran through two or three ideas before making a decision.

Messing up my stuff can be exhausting!

I'm in production mode this week, due to a baby boom among my circle of friends: this top pinned and ready to go, another halfway done, three baby tops completed over the weekend (pics coming soon, promise), and one awaiting binding. It's cool and rainy today -- good quilting weather. If the drizzle (and my momentum) stays like this, I'll get this baby completed before the weekend, and not end up being late to the shower because I'm still sewing on binding!

Not that that's ever happened before.