festivus for the re'stuv us

The semester ended well. Very well, considering I had two lingering contagious diseases in the space of three months, plus a musical. Plus a pizza delivery job, a church choir gig and full time course work at the local university. All A's, yes, even in French, and a B+ in piano, for lack of a jury.

Best part of the semester? Being able to make a quilt for class. I beaded, appliqued by hand and machine, and finished the sucker of with some hand quilting. This project was brought to you by the History professor, who, if he liked what you handed in, was going to pass it on for consideration in a Martin Luther King Jr. arts contest. I am slightly peeved at the thought that my quilt, which is about half the size of a crib, is sitting around his house being shed on… all this AFTER I read an article about submitting quilts to judges which included all kinds of shipping advice like acid free tissue paper between the folded layers to discourage wrinkling, double bagging, writing the full address of the maker on the quilt, et cetera. *headdesk* I have pictures somewhere*… *addendum 12/30/07 here's a picture



Every time I find the camera, I can't find the card reader... ugh ugh ugh. Now I can't find the camera. The latest quilt I'm working on, since no semester break can be with out a quilting project, is a simple charm in shades of blue, thank you eBay. The blocks are 3 1/2" finished, set on point with a piano key border. It is for a friend who is having open heart surgery this summer… again. Not sure if I want to quilt or tie it, but it will have batting, as soon as I can get to the store for the fluff stuff. It has been pet tested and approved. There are copious quantities of purple charm blocks, 7 1/2" that have to be dealt with yet, and the pieces of the ocean waves that are stuffed in an Amazon box that also require attention. The summer kimono is done, and I finally found the obi fabric, so that will be finished (finally). It turned out very nice. Mom said something about making a short one for dad, but I highly doubt he'd appreciate the crap load of work I'd have to put into it, let alone where'ma going to find quality black silk for the sash without having to sell my kidney on the black market?

Last but not least, I figured out how to cable this semester, and made mom a cabled scarf to match a hat she bought at a craft show years ago. I originally started out with three cables, but it was more of a baby blanket than a scarf, so I ripped and settled on two - worked out perfectly. And she loves it. Two skeins of Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick n Quick. Again, when I can find the bloody camera, I'll provide some pictures.

Quilting goals for 2008:
quilt the jewel box
finish the ocean