Well, I haven’t been to bed yet; but I guess, technically, I should be saying good morning instead of good night!  Ever since the Mystery Pattern Tester Contest started, I’ve been spontaneously jittery.   Ha!  How crazy does that sound?

I’ve been trying to stay focused on a specific order of doing things, but I guess that’s just not my style.  Instead of scratching off things to do on my notepad that sits by my computer, I keep adding things.  That’s what’s so great about crafts – there’s a lot of potential dabbling, lots of forks in the road to explore.  (And books, too.  I even surprised myself when I counted that I’m reading four books now.  Yes, at the same time.  I know, it makes absolutely no sense!  But I must secretly enjoy the chaos or I wouldn’t constantly put myself in this position!)

Anyway, speaking of dabbling, remember that free pattern that nearly blinded me when I was in my local fabric store a couple weeks ago?  The apple core quilt? Yeah, it’s not done.  I stink at binding.  I really have no idea what I’m doing.  (It’s fun that way!)  And, I swear, I didn’t even read the pattern card that said experience was necessary to do a project like that.  I just saw that as I started the horrible binding process.  It all makes sense now.  Not the smartest pick to get my feet wet in the quilt world.

I think, deep down,  I was hoping that it would be so challenging that it would turn me off and I would/could forget about quilting.  Of course, the opposite happened.  This wonky, puckered, over-sized dishrag has literally rocked my nerdy little world!  I have caught myself thinking about how I’m going to tackle this or that when I’m driving in the car or brushing my teeth.  It would be an embarrassment to an experienced quilter, but to me it’s the gateway to another intoxicating realm of sewing excitement.

Binding half-done (and in need of serious re-do) and two blood blisters on my fingers later, take a look at this wonky wonder (and maybe not so much at the mess I made behind it):

I’m not sure that I’ll do another apple core anytime soon (but I won’t rule it out either!), but I have already had Matt rig up my Minnesota A to do free-motion quilting.  Thank goodness he’s a fan of the mechanical machines that make my heart go pitter-patter; otherwise, I don’t think he’d be able to stand me!

And, yes, sewing friends, I have been using my scanner.  A lot.  A whole lot.  Actually, I have three permanent markers; and two of them need to be replaced.  I’ve been doing a lot of drawing…and I’m very excited for what’s to come!

C