tips for taking it easy

The other day I was "all a tizzy" thinking about the reality that I was about to quilt my mom's gift. Quilting just isn't a natural talent for me. However, I began the job.

I sat down and started. Sweat began to bead up on my neck.....this was going to be a long road. I reminded myself who I was quilting for, my mom. This is the lady who cherishes my little pincushion, stuffed with cotton balls, the one I made when I was too young to even use a sewing machine. This thought relaxed me a little.

Music. The room was too quiet. I turned on a newly purchased Dave Matthews album and instantly felt my mood get even lighter. I was on the road to recovery.

The sewing continued. There were a few moments when I had to replace a bobbin or rethink the direction of my meandering, but the experience wasn't as bad as I expected. Positive thoughts and Dave Matthews really helped.

When I finished I decided this was a good quilt to try some "boo-boo" fixes on. Overall, the quilting is pretty nice, but there were a few stitches that were larger than others or the back thread was a little loser than I'd like. I removed these with CARE and then some additional stitches. Then I just ran over that area, backstitching at beginning and end, to create a pretty nice looking "band-aide".

The hand binding is close to done. I will probably finish it tonight and give it a good wash in the morning. My crafting time has been limited, but I really want to see this completed before I head to bed.