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Four.
1. There is something just so wrong about the fact that you can have a handful of cheesy popcorn and a handful of chocolate covered pretzels and put them in your mouth and chew them at the very same time and they still taste good. Chocolate & cheddar cheese? gross. Chocolate pretzel and cheddar cheese popcorn mingled together? Yummalicious.
2. Yes, I took my parents to London for a week as their Christmas present. I went along as their tour guide. Since I've been to London more times than you can count on both hands (yes that's a fact), pretty much everywhere we went was someplace I've already been. So it was fun to see some things again and I randomly discovered a few places I hadn't been before (the London Review of Books bookstore is a great fucking store), but there was nothing really WOWZA about the trip for me: It was FOR them. Throw in the fact that one of the three of us doesn't like to travel... It was an interesting trip. In addition to the usual suspects (museums/monuments/churches/etc.) saw a couple great plays, a really really great art exhibit, ate lots of bangers & mash... and had meals with three good friends who live there (michele g., kendall!!!!, jess) two of whom are blogless, and only one of whom is from London. Blogless? What's that?
3. Supergirl tagged me for the five weird things about yourself meme. Since there's nothing weird about me (ah ha hahahaha), instead I'll tell you five things that make me fucking crazy to the point of madness.
i. People who refuse to push as they walk through the revolving doors. hello i'm not your slave, bitch.
ii. People who don't flush or clean up the toilet seat in public bathrooms. hello i'm not your slave, bitch.
iii. People who drop trash on the sidewalk right in front of you. hello i'm not your slave, bitch.
iv. People you work with who just sit there and don't do any work so you have to do their share of the work as well as your own. hello i'm not your slave, bitch.
v. People who leave the printer without paper or the copier jammed and just walk away. hello i'm not your slave, bitch.
4. Yet another child being brought into this messed-up world (what are parents thinking, man) calling for yet another shower present. Expect to be invited to a shower for me one of these days. Bridal? No. Child? No. Just a "Shower for Carolyn" where everyone gives me gifts to make up for all the fucking gifts I've given out to other people for occasions that I'm never going to have. Yes yes we're just supposed to be unselfish people who just love to give gifts and never get a damn thing in return but where's the fun in that.
It's like a friendship where you do all the work, you call, you write, you arrange, you accommodate, and you get nothing in return? So if you stop for one second what you're doing, the entire thing just disappears. No one puts up with bullshit relationships like that. So why is it OK to put up with the bullshit "I celebrate every occasion in your life with gifts and since I just don't happen to have any of those "we all give gifts" situations in my life, then I never get anything" ? See, kids to be born, it's all about unfairness, from the very beginning.
Anyway, I had some extra fabric laying around (hahaha, some of much) and decided to whip together a quilt for the occasion. I used Eleanor Burns' Log Cabin in a Day book and let me testify: depending on how many free hours you have in your "day", this really could be a one-day project. Monday, I pressed, cut and pieced the entire front and back (yes I had already washed the fabric prior to the "day"). Toward the end of the day I started to get a little lazy: watching entire episodes of Everwood, instead of just glancing up once in a while, and then I went out to dinner. So there were at least four more hours I could have been quilting but wasn't and several other hours where I wasn't actually working on it for at least 30 minutes. Tuesday & Wednesday nights, I machine quilted it (about 3 hours each night). And tonight I put the binding on (1 1/2 hr). If there had been one more day off (after Monday), I could have gotten the stuff I did Tues, Wed & today all done in the one day. So it would have taken me two days total, in terms of time worked. Damn job, always getting in the way.
Funny how much crafting you can get done when you actually sit there and craft instead of just thinking about it. Do you think knitting might work that way too? Mua ha ha ha ha ha.
This is for a baby girl to be who is jokingly being called "Gertie" or "Gertrude Bertha" by her parents, and is likely going to be taken out by caesarean ON MY BIRTHDAY. How nuts is that.
Yes, I chose the 'fields & furrows' layout. (I am also a big fan of 'barn raising'.)
Back:
Quilting:
All folded up and ready to gift:
All the fabric on the front (and the plaid on the back) is from a Mystery Box I bought at the Minnesota Quilt Show. The back had to be pieced as well as I just didn't have quite enough of the pink jungle animals fabric. And now oddly I have a tiny bit left over. How did that happen?
Here's a question to all the budding inventors out there: When are you going to come up with a bobbin that holds as much thread as a spool / let alone a cone? Stopping to wind bobbins can really suck the momentum right out of you and even a tiny quilt like this one can really eat up the thread.
Now just to put the binding on my Strippers of the Orient which I finished free motion quilting on Sunday, and I'll have two finished quilts in 2007 before the first month is even up. Woot!
Posted by Duff at January 18, 2007
oh, gorgeous gorgeous blanket!! So I need to have a baby to have you make one of those? I think I need to learn your trick and have you do my quilting for me - I could never turn out something that looks like that.
Posted by: jackie at January 18, 2007 10:50 PM
Yeah you're back! I adore Gertie's quilt! Nice job on that on my dear.
I LOVE your idea of having a shower just for YOU! I speak as one who has to wear a teal floor length bridesmaid dress adorned with maribou feathers and sequinned flowers this summer in Georgia. Yes, shoot me now.
Posted by: Sil at January 18, 2007 11:46 PM
Dude. I'm all about your shower. I think you should register.
And that quilt is beautiful! Is it hard to keep the lines straight when you're quilting it?
Posted by: Carrie at January 19, 2007 07:50 AM
Count me in for the shower if I don't have to actually fly to Chicago and can just send something by mail! So what would you like: socks, yarn, books, knitted item thingies?
Posted by: marrije at January 19, 2007 07:58 AM
Also, spiffing quilt!
Posted by: marrije at January 19, 2007 08:00 AM
1. I'm glad you were able to talk your mom into going. And that you had a good time.
2. The quilt looks great.
3. You go ahead and register for that shower, lady, we'll make it happen.
Posted by: jenn at January 19, 2007 08:40 AM
Quilt is awesome! I'm with you on the 5 things that drive you crazy. I could add about 20 more things.
Posted by: monica at January 19, 2007 10:16 AM
Cute quilt--I like the quilting too.
I agree with Carrie. Register!
Posted by: melanie at January 19, 2007 10:39 AM
Very cool quilt. I have got to try a pieced back, I always use one fabric. Now that I'm going to be a grandma I've got plenty of quilts to make. What's your address? I'll have to send you an invitation to the shower ;-)
Posted by: Charleen at January 19, 2007 10:56 AM
The quilt is great...I really need to just bite the bullet and get the walking foot for my machine just to see if it's possible to machine quilt on my machine. If not, I need a new machine. :-)
Posted by: sarah b. at January 19, 2007 11:15 AM
hello sarah b! if you have a walking foot / it is completely possible. it is just more or less of a pain in the ass depending on the size of the quilt.
but DO NOT quilt without a walking foot / or darning foot if you want to do free motion.
if you straight line quilt w/o a walking foot, you will get a complete mess of puckers, etc.
Posted by: duff. at January 19, 2007 11:19 AM
welcome back!
where are you registered?
gertie bertha or whatever the hell is her name is one lucky little girl. beautiful quilt.
Posted by: maryse at January 19, 2007 11:59 AM
A carolyn shower is a fantastic idea. That quilt is lovely, and I'm glad you guys had fun in London!
Posted by: jen at January 19, 2007 12:04 PM
The shower for yourself is a great idea! I want to have one too. Great fabrics on the quilt.
Posted by: melissa at January 19, 2007 05:22 PM
I stopped by to thank you for that fabulous bean recipe you posted a couple of weeks ago (made it twice, both with and without the sausage) YUM! and I get to comment on your fantastic quilt too. Love it. Lucky baby!
Posted by: Emily at January 19, 2007 08:44 PM
Since I'm now obsessed with quilting, I love your quilt even more than I usually would. It's fabulous! And welcome back!
Posted by: alison at January 19, 2007 10:15 PM
you're amazing!
Posted by: rachel at January 20, 2007 01:09 PM
Where the fuck are my London pictures? Let me guess- hello, you're not my slave, bitch? I guess maybe you didn't take many- or any really.
That quilt kicks ass. If I get Mik's vasectomy reversed, can I register for one? I will totally send you a pair of Danskos or something in return. Hell, Carrie on Sex and the City (which you probably hate) did it, so I don't see why you can't.
Posted by: Cathi at January 20, 2007 09:57 PM
Great front and back pictures of the quilt. You did an awesome job on it!
Posted by: Jennifer at January 21, 2007 01:12 AM
Oh my gosh, that really is totally beautiful. I was just thinking about the gift imbalance that you mention last night. It ain't right, and something should very clearly be done.
Posted by: Mary at January 22, 2007 11:34 AM
The quilt is just amazing, and the matching onesies are ridiculous. Honestly, they're just genius.
Let me know where you register. I'd be happy to go to a shower for you!
On to our favorite current topic: so NBC moves FNL to Wednesday nights so it won't be up against the steamroller that is American Idol -- so what does American Idol do? Airs a new episode on Wednesday night in FNL's time slot, so NBC airs a repeat. Arrrghhhh! I need a new episode.
Posted by: regina at January 22, 2007 11:44 AM
Awesomely long post, sweets, and fabulous quilt.
Posted by: Michelle at January 22, 2007 02:22 PM
Oh my gosh! So so so much to say.
1) LOVE LONDON!!!!! LOVE the Tate Modern. Love love Muji, this design store....LOVE LONDON!!!!! WAAA I wanna go to London
2) Um, DUH, I HATE lazy revolving people...dude, get a muscle!
3) Yah, love quilts. PRETTY!
Welcome back!
Posted by: .25 Crisis Kid at January 22, 2007 03:42 PM
Man on man! That quilt is fantastic! Your fabric choices rock. But don't I feel like an idiot. I was going to say "Wow! How in the world did you manage to cut the animal fabric on the backing so that the repeat is perfect?" Duh!
And a bigger bobbin would definitely be nice.
Posted by: myra at January 23, 2007 02:44 PM
love the quilt especially the back!! i'm down with the shower for carolyn. i've been thinking about having a 'graduate from law school' shower since a wedding and babies are a long way off for me.
Posted by: sara at January 24, 2007 07:38 AM
Aahhh! I wish I had the patience to make quilts again! I really want a pink and green one to go with my bedding. Alas, I haven't the patience nor the wonderful skill that you have.
Posted by: Gloria at January 25, 2007 09:37 AM
i like licorice and cheez-its together. that sounds disgusting, but it's something about the saltiness and the sweetness together that makes it a little piece of heaven
Posted by: Penny at January 25, 2007 07:10 PM
amen on the bobbin issue. love the quilting and the backing fabric...too cute!
Posted by: alexia at January 26, 2007 09:04 PM
Really, really impressive quilts! Dang!
Posted by: Betsy at February 1, 2007 04:33 PM