Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
Done…
done…
done….
done, DONE!
Done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done…..
Why yes, the quilt is finished after nine months. It kept us warm last night. Toby approves of it. But what project will stay at the back of mind mind now? Something like this? (I’m serious; I think I like quilting.) Although maybe I’ll take a few months and enjoy this one being done.
(If you’re like me, now you have to go listen to the real Richard Strauss piece. Here’s a video link for you.)
I wonder if all these “in progress” quilt posts will spoil the final reveal, but I’m just so pleased with any step forward that I can’t not show it. The latest step forward is, of course, the quilting. Like the Velveteen Rabbit, it’s a Real Quilt now. Behold the even machine stitching:
And look how it looks like a real quilt all folded up:
The only step left is to finish the raw edges with some binding. I hope to at least start that over the long weekend.
I got a call last night that the quilt is done! So after work today we are going on a field trip to pick it up. Hopefully this will be my initiation into the quilting world–I’ve noticed that established crafty ladies (usually older ladies) are really unwelcoming to newer crafty ladies (usually younger, like me) until you’ve sort of “proven” that you’re not a dilettante. It took me months at the knitting store for the knitting ladies to accept me, and I noticed that the quilting ladies I’ve encountered during this process have a little of the same attitude.
Overall, though, the quilt ladies been more welcoming than the knitting ladies. Maybe it helps that I came in with a completed quilt top, so they don’t think I’m completely clueless.
Anyway, I’m excited to see it turned into a real quilt!
Did any of us think this day would come? I have a finished quilt top and quilt back that are ready to be quilted now!
No, these are not complicated quilt patterns, and they didn’t involve lots of little pieces. But they did involve enough math that I didn’t feel up to it a lot of the time, and I dare you to try working on a queen-size quilt in your 500-square-foot apartment. It doesn’t go very well–which is why I worked on it at my parents’ house, on the weekends. (I’m sure that they can’t believe this is out of their basement.)
I’m going to say this is 2/3 done, provided I can find someone to machine-quilt this for me. Then I can pick it up all quilted and do the binding. It sounds so easy, right?
Of course, I feel kind of like this when I really consider how far I have to go:
Look! It’s the back of a quilt and it’s all sewn together!
Granted, the back of this quilt is one big square surrounded by a border, but after seven months I think I can call this progress.
Now all I have to do is sew a border on the front of the quilt and then, you know, turn it into a quilt. Five more months to go…
When I was laid off I thought immediately of the 29 Things and how things like paying off debt and buying a new mattress (#2 and #3) would have to be put on hold. While those things and other things that involve money or eating out have had to wait, understandably, I’ve been able to cross a few things off the list:
4. Make a queen-sized quilt. I bet you thought I forgot about this, but I’ve been working on it at my parents’ house on Sundays. I already had the fabric when I was laid off, so I thought making a quilt with no pressure to finish and put it on a new mattress might be nice. I finished piecing the top yesterday! Now I have to add a border, because someone forgot to check her math about how big a queen-size quilt needs to be. Then there’s the back and then, well, the quilting part. Good thing there’s no pressure.
16. Stop biting my nails. I’ve made some progress here, too: After I gnawed them off completely in February, I’ve been able to let them grow a little, if only because I never want my hands to look like that again.
17. Learn how to sew knit fabric. I did a practice T-shirt that ended in the FAIL bin, but I have something else in progress now and future plans for a knit dress. I think I can get this thing figured out.
25. Stop getting plastic bags from the grocery store. Only about a 50% success rate with this one so far, but at least it’s 50%. And it doesn’t cost money.
27. Make cloth napkins and use them for everyday meals. I haven’t made any yet, but I have found three sets on clearance at Target and we’ve been using them regularly.
28. Go out to breakfast one weekend a month. This was able to happen in January and even in February (we went out for Valentine’s Day brunch instead of dinner at The Paris)(#11), so maybe I can keep this one up if we go somewhere humble in March.
And one thing I can’t wait to do: 18. Drink an Old Fashioned at the bar at Bambara the minute I find out I have a job again.
Which pile should I start with? The pile of quilt fabrics?
Turning this into a quilt shouldn’t be too daunting, because the final product will consist of just long columns of these fabrics, like this or this. I just need to get started. (I decided against making a doll quilt to practice, because most of my motivation on a project comes from anticipating the final result, and, well, Toby already got his new rug.)
This pile of yarn will be that owl sweater I’ve been talking about since November:
And then there’s this pile, which is the sweater I’ve been working on for ten weeks now. It will look like this someday…
Maybe I can blame Toby for impeding progress. I had to snatch the pieces from the jaws of death right after I took this.