On to the next...

Remember this project? I began this quilt top in Michigan, and of course didn't finish piecing it (or even get close, I was still obsessively arranging blocks) by the time the renters arrived for the summer, so I pinned all the pieces onto a queen-sized sheet, folded it up, and brought it back home...where it sat atop the stash boxes, a cruel daily reminder of my failure to finish it. Archie claimed it for a cat bed for a while, then I think he got stuck a few times by the pins and found somewhere less hostile to sleep.

I pieced parts of a few rows at some point, maybe a year ago, but mostly it went back and forth to Michigan as a "good travel project." It returned most recently in May, where I didn't even bother to take it out of the car.

Sorry, bad photo -- I'm still trying to figure out how to compensate for indoor lighting.

In the spirit of completion and straightening up my kitchen, I have gone back to it. Some of the pieces were so scrunched up, the only thing that's going to take the wrinkles out is a good washing after it's finished. After lots of ironing and some more obsessive rearranging to get the color balance, I can at least say most of the rows are sewn, and I've regained a small amount of enthusiasm for the project.

One by one, they're gettin' done!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Glamour Mom, 1947.

This is my favorite picture of my mother, a few weeks before her wedding, all carefree and glowing and totally in love with the man she would spend her life with. I'm pretty sure she's admiring her engagement ring.

When I look at this picture, I can see all of her children in this buoyant young woman:  her raven hair went to her oldest daughter, those mile-long legs to the next, her nose and eyes to her son. I would have loved her skinny genes, but those went almost exclusively to her third girl, who's never weighed more than 105 pounds in her life. And me? I mostly look like my Dad, but I think I lucked out and got her spirit, that nothin's-gonna-stop-me attitude that's kept her going strong for almost 90 years. I'm hoping it'll keep me going just as long.

Gaining momentum...

Man oh man, finishing things feels good!

Maybe there's some weird productivity gas seeping into my air conditioning vents, or maybe I'm just tired of having all these piles of partially-finished quilts sitting around, but since I got back to Chicago last week I've been going a little nuts here. I guess it could be the heat, or the humidity, or the fact that I have company coming next week. Whatever the reason, I'm running with it.

Archie admires "Spare Change." Or maybe he thinks there's food on that stool.

I tried to remember when I first started this quilt, and I couldn't. I know when I dug the strips out of the UFO pile and started piecing it, and when I started quilting it, but can't for the life of me recall when the idea for this quilt was born. I think it's safe to say W was President -- and even safer to say it was during his first term.

It was almost exactly 11 months ago when I began quilting this. And it was about ten and a half months ago when I ran out of lime green thread...and couldn't find any more to match. I had about 4" left to quilt on either side of the top, and in frustration I threw it into the Duffle Bag of Doom and moved on to something else.

While I was in Michigan last month, something miraculous happened:  I FOUND THE GREEN THREAD, four spools of it -- all of which came home with me.

And now it's DONE. Amen and hallelujah, let the fireworks begin!

Or maybe we should all just take a nap.

It isn't all sand and sun...

There's a little actual work going on here at the beach, and a little sewing if it's raining.

During the last deluge, I got "Jack of Diamonds" bound -- finally!  And the beach is the perfect setting to show it off!

I love how the quilting with the higher loft batting turned out on the back. I didn't end up putting anything in the center of the hourglass blocks, but quilted different shapes inside of each one.

I hate to admit it, but I think it's actually my first finished quilt for 2011. I'm waaaay behind schedule!

For Father's Day...

This is my favorite picture of my father. He's 25 years old, and that's my oldest sister, his first born, at about 18 months old. She was the apple of his eye, and the world was his oyster. The war was over and he'd made it home, gone to college on the GI Bill, met a beautiful woman that's still with him 64 years later, had a perfect little girl and launched a career. There's hope, and promise, and joy in this picture -- a portrait of a young man living the American Dream. Five kids and a few grandsons later, I think the Dream's still alive.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Running away...

This is me:

I have run away from home. Away from the Big City, away from broken hot water heaters and foundation issues and noisy neighbors. I'm back on the better less stressful side of Lake Michigan.

In between some horrendous thunderstorms, blistering heat, sandstorms, chill, tempestuous winds and fog (it is, after all, spring in the midwest), I've been taking long walks up the lakefront road and around town.

It's always interesting to see what's changed since last fall. There are a couple new houses up along the lake...

...and some old friends that (hopefully) will always be there.

It's been wonderful to leave the windows wide open, take in the fresh crisp air, lounge on the front deck and watch the world go by, and sleep to the sound of waves lapping on the beach (that is, if it's not sweltering, freezing, pouring or gale force winds, in which case I'm holed up inside, which is fine with me, too).

Definitely not looking forward to going back.

I think, therefore iPad...

I have a client who wants to produce print material for electronic readers and smart phones. Since I had neither, and will eventually need to see how our work looks on an actual device, what better excuse could I have to go out and get one?

My new iPad is shiny and beautiful, and I filled it with apps as soon as I got home, all the while wondering how I could keep it shiny and beautiful because it doesn't come with anything to put it in. That, of course, is all extra.

As it turns out, there is no end to what I can make from 40 yards of old slipcover material. The iPad was exactly and inch smaller than the width of the slipcover skirt. And, of course, I have a gazillion yards of piping, so why not add that, too?

I probably should have trimmed threads before I took the picture.

I hinged a Timtex base at the folds and added two layers of scrap batting on the inside. It's quilted through a few spots that are going to get some extra wear and tear (like around the Velcro), and the sides are hand stitched because there was no getting all that bulk under the presser foot of my machine. The iPad fits nice and snugly -- it's not going anywhere!

There's a coordinating pocket on the back for the charger and a little stand. I makes it a little lumpy, but I'd rather keep it all together than forget the plug somewhere.

I'll probably make a couple changes to the next one I make, but for a first try, I was pretty happy with it. It isn't the most stylish cover you'll ever see, but it sure is functional!