When-oh-When basted!

I've had a nice long winter break but today I get back to regular teaching. Ahh, I really enjoy the free days though when I'm busy I think I honestly enjoy the hustle and bustle of teaching. During the holidays I got a little cleaning done, a lot of sewing done, some date time in with Tetsu but now I'll go back to daily routines and life in general.

Yesterday I spent a long time upstairs getting the When-oh-When quilt to quilting stage. I had other things I should have been doing (going to the bank, running errands) but I decided that I needed to get the quilt to where I can just pick it up and put in a few stitches at any opportunity. Of course there was the sewing of the backing, the tacking of the batting, the crawling around on the floor giving it a last ironing. Then the seemingly endless process of basting. This is where I strongly debated waiting until my quilting friends were available to hold a basting party but in the end I did it myself. I must have spent two hours just basting and used up all my basting thread.

"Patora! Stop helping me!"

She plays with the thread as I crawl on the floor. She must think I'm down there just for her, purring and meowing the whole time.

And of course, once basted I just had to try the quilting so I finally came down to the warm living room and quilted for a couple of hours too. Never did get to the errands. Yep, hand quilting makes me smile. I love the feel of the fabric and the way the hoop frames whatever part I'm working on. I love seeing the bundled quilt sitting on the sofa or on the floor when I'm not working on it. I love the way the cats crawl under the hoop or find a corner to sit on whenever I'm not looking. It's almost like the kitties are giving my quilt a good kitty blessing during the months that a quilt gets quilted.

For awhile I'll be stitch-in-the-ditch quilting around the stars and hopefully when I get to the border the quilting pattern won't have worn off yet. I may not have much to show you in the next couple months since I'll be forever working on this quilt but I'm loving every moment!

Oh, and I have to say thank you to Karen and Dee and Nancy for their Make My Day awards. That really makes my day! I'm so grateful that I live in an interesting place that allows me make observations and I'm so glad I enjoy writing and I'm so delighted that so many of you make a visit. I hope I can keep it worthy of your expectations and make it a bright spot whenever I can. Any questions are welcome!