The Latest in Fine Luxuries

                I am hopeful for the new administration.  While I know that I won't agree with everything they choose to do, I am confident that the needs of the entire country are being weighed in decisions.  May wisdom guide their choices.

                Tiny was up again in the middle of the night, but eventually got herself back to sleep.  She then proceeded to sleep in an extra couple of hours, which made the rest of the day disjointed--not tired enough for a nap early enough for her to go to bed on time--that kind of thing.  I ended up just letting her snooze in her high chair at afternoon snack time for about twenty minutes.  She didn't go nose down into her cheese cubes or anything, and she woke up on her own, so I'm taking that as an indication that she got what she needed.  Perhaps this is enough of a reset that she will glide into bed on time and wake up again at a reasonable hour.  I doubt it, but there's always room for positivity.

                This year, my sister requested that I fix her quilt for Christmas.  She had reached the end of her crafty skills and was now at a loss as to her next step.  It arrived in November, and I started reviewing it for work.  She had removed all the yarn ties and cut out the batting, so I carefully seam ripped the backing off.  Then I repaired all the thin spots, restitched the split seams, and darned the ravelled edges.  Then I bought and prewashed some new, heartier backing fabric and some batting.  Then I hit the freaking wall.

                My largest surface was 25 inches smaller than the narrowest measurement of the quilt.  This quilt was bigger than the biggest quilt I had ever managed to shovel under my machine, and I was worried about damaging the quilt top while wrestling with it.  I tried to research professional quilters and could not manage to get a grip on how to get started.

                At this point, I was wallowing in my special blend of self loathing and inaction, and I was mentally wording a loving apology to my sister for my failure.  A friend from Fair posted her magnificent quilts she had made for her family this year, and I kicked myself a little.  Why couldn't I do surface quilting like that?  I swallowed my pride and messaged her for tips.  She messaged me back with the contact information for her fabulous quilter, who did wonderful work and had great turnaround.  Her secret could be my secret.  I was back in the game.  The quilter, Melanie, was friendly and helpful, and she answered all my questions, not even letting on how kinda dumb some of them were.  Nice lady.

                Last weekend, I pressed the backing fabric, carefully folded all the layers separately, then jammed them into a large flat rate box.  Seriously.  My mother prides herself on being able to fit tons of stuff into a flat rate box, and I'm pretty sure she would be rather impressed.  By the end, I was having Fuzzy hold the box in place while I lashed it with more tape.  I used a lot of tape on that box, but it fit, so it shipped (dammit).  These are the packages the Postal Service most likely despises.  It was at least somewhat square still, but it was definitely considering rounding out. 

                I wanted to put a little note on it that said, "I make really pretty stuff, but I'm also not going to send this in a different box," but Fuzzy implied that a note would just add to the wacky that was going on here.  I'm definitely getting myself one of those vacuum food sealer thingies the next time I have mad money.  You know, for the good of humanity.

                After she left the package alone for a few days to allow any germs to dissipate, she called me today to confirm quilting designs and such.  Apparently, the batting popped out like a jack-in-the-box as soon as the tape was cut.  I'm still relieved that it made it in one piece.  I thrilled to the picture on Facebook of my sister's beloved quilt all smoothed out and ready to go.  This is going to be beautiful, and I feel so lucky.  She is pretty sure that with all the new work, this quilt should last for the next fifty years.  Whoo-hoo!

                I think that sending quilt tops out to be quilted is my new favorite luxury.  I know I can't do it with every quilt I make, but it's definitely in my plans for some of them now.  Unexpected luxuries are such a wonderful thing.

                If you're feeling like you need to have some quilting done, message me.  I can get you in touch with a nice lady who does good things.