March Miscellany

I parked myself in front of the computer yesterday morning and worked on the Cobbles pattern. I have a different tech editor now, and I think this will be a productive working relationship. I am reminded again of Jean Lampe’s advice to me as a new knitting designer. She suggested I write out instructions for tying a shoe so that someone else could follow them. That sounds easy enough. It’s not. And you never know what baggage people are going to bring with them when reading your pattern. The Sandhill Sling pattern included cutting instructions for interfacing pieces. I assumed that those were for the lining, because I always interface quilt cotton when I use it for lining. They weren’t. They were intended for the exterior pieces. Had I bothered to read the pattern instead of making that assumption based on bag patterns I’ve made in the past, I would have noted that small detail.

[It doesn’t really matter, as I can’t interface the waxed canvas I’m using for the exterior, and I prefer the added body that the interfacing gives the quilt cotton lining, but I was scratching my head there for a bit.]

The baby quilt is quilted and just needs a binding. I’ll have to start on the Big Top quilt soon and the Beginner’s Choice wallhanging, although I still have no idea how I want to quilt either of them. I am hoping that inspiration strikes when I sit down at the machine.

I got an e-mail notice that my fat quarter bundle of Corey Yoder’s new line Spring Brook has shipped.

I generally do not buy fat quarter bundles of fabric collections, but I made an exception for this one. Last spring, I tried to make a quilt using a smaller fat quarter bundle of Corey Yoder’s Pepper and Flax fabric collection. I didn’t have enough fabric, and nothing in my stash coordinated well with the colorway. (That is why I don’t buy fat quarter bundles.) Of course, that line was no longer available. I put the blocks away in a box. When I saw this line—which is basically the same colorway as Pepper and Flax with some blues thrown in—I decided to go ahead and get a fat quarter bundle to see if I could finish the quilt I started as I really hate having large unfinished projects hanging around.

My habit of noodling around in EQ8 for 15 minutes over morning coffee has resulted in a new quilt block design, or at least a quilt block I have not yet been able to find anywhere else. I haven’t made an exhaustive search of the Jinny Beyer book, however, to see if it’s in there. Of course, the block then wanted to be put into a quilt design. I love the design and even made up a test block yesterday, but I’m shelving it until I get some of these other tasks finished and crossed off the list. And everyone seems to love that purple and green block—who knew? I may go ahead and put that one into the queue as well.

*****************************************************

The husband and I were talking over dinner last night and I mentioned that I am going to have WS on Saturday as Elysian is taking an all-day class. I am trying to decide what to do with this 7 year-old for the day. I thought we might take a trip to Missoula as it’s supposed to be in the 50s this weekend. The husband said, “He probably just wants to watch TV all day.” (The little boys do not get a lot of screen time at their houses.) Just then, there was a knock on the door—it was WS with a delivery from his mom. I said to him, “What do you want to do on Saturday when you’re here?” and he said, “I just want to watch TV.” That made the husband laugh.

I might let him watch some TV, but not for 8 straight hours. I think he should spend some time out in the shop with the husband, talking his ear off. That would be good for both of them.

*****************************************************

I’ve got to take the car in to the tire place. The left front tire has a slow leak. Every couple of weeks now, since the first of the year, the low pressure sensor on that wheel goes off. The weird thing is that it only happens on Sundays. After church. The husband put the car up on the lift over the weekend—he had to change out one of my fog lights because it took a hit by a rock and had a hole in it—and he said he didn’t see any nails in the tire. It might be a bad valve stem. I’ll have the tire place look at it and get their recommendation.