My least favorite part of quilting...

I think I've already spent a good three hours trimming threads on the back of this top in preparation for quilting and am not done yet. I love Kona, but man, does it ravel!

As much as I hate doing it, it's a critical step in the process. It's horrible to spend untold hours creating, only to have stray dark threads show through the lighter fabrics when it's all done. I've dug enough of them through from the front in my quilting life to know I really don't want to do that when I'm finished with a queen-sized quilt. So I keep trimming. And trimming.

On the bright side, I've almost made it through the fourth season of "Parks and Recreation" while I work. Thank you, Netflix!

A short demonstration...

Archie attempts to thread my sewing machine. Or whatever.

332 days and counting...

While other parts of the Midwest have been treated to at least a few inches of snow so far this winter, it's been almost 11 months since we saw our last measurable snowfall here in Chicago.

I am compensating for this lack of precipitation by making my own.

PaintStiks and stencils on an 11"x14" scrap of Quilters Only white

Well, it ain't much...

...but it's a little finish for the New Year.

Just experimenting with a design, and decided to do a doll quilt first instead of my usual practice of plowing headlong into a bigger project, getting halfway through and deciding I hate it, and banishing it to the UFO corner.

New year, new approach.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Looking better...

I think I need to keep going with this project, because these blocks are working for me.

I'm having a lot of fun with these, though they're not going very quickly. Too many decisions!

I have learned that I don't use a lot of red, surprisingly enough. The orange and turquoise piles tie for the biggest, and I have ONE string of brown. What can I say? I love brights, but I didn't think I would like them all together as much as I do. It helps that the dark purple (it's photographing black here) through the middles and the corners give your eyes a place to rest, otherwise I'd just be dizzy.

It may take a while -- this is a good one to come back to in between projects -- but it's definitely a keeper. My first string quilt!

Now I just need to keep the cat out of the box.

Even the cat is tired of all my scraps...

I have a box on the top of my cabinet to collect all my fabric trimmings. Seems a shame to waste them, and I figured someday I'd dive in and do a string quilt.

I admit it was getting a little overloaded, but I didn't think it was piled high enough to warrant a citation from the in-house fabric police.  When I came home the other day, the box was on its side, and the strings were everywhere.

I took it as a sign that "someday" had arrived..

Now I just can't decide if this is the start of something really cool or something incredibly hideous. Only time -- and a dozen more blocks -- will tell!