End of March

I finished working on Michele's quilt the other day.  This is for a new niece or nephew (not sure which...I think she said nephew).  She wanted very angular stitching and the initials sewn into the center square.  I had a long wait before I got the backing for the quilt, but it was finally delivered and now it's DONE!  I have four or five more quilts waiting in line--one for Lauri, one for my sister, one for Sharon, and a couple of my own quilt tops waiting in the wings.  I also have three quilts waiting for bindings so I can have them ready for the quilt shows this summer.

I started a new weave with Baronial and Kingdom colors.  This doesn't have any particular home in mind, but will probably end up as a prize or on the sale table at a big event this summer.  I've formed a great partnership with the fabric dealer, so I'm thinking maybe July will be the time to set out my weavings.

I did some repair work on the old loom.  The uprights were loose and the screws weren't helping, either.  It was painfully evident as I was warping it up the last few times--it would start out fine, but after four or five cards were put in, the first two cards were loose and had to be tightened.  I took it apart, slathered it in wood glue, clamped it together and let it sit overnight.  It's working really nicely now!  I will have to do the pegs next; a few of them are loose, too.  Considering how many pieces I've woven on it these last few months, I'd surprised it's lasted this long.  Now that it's had the bumper-to-bumper, it should be good for another 3,000 miles.

One thing I haven't done much of lately is knitting.  This is usually something I do in the cold weather months.  I started a Turkish sock using alpaca, which is deliciously soft, but I didn't get very far.  I had to rip it back to the toenails because it was too small for my foot, I added a few stitches, and started again, but I think it's still too small and I may have to start yet again.  Because it's a two-color pattern, maybe I'm not leaving enough slack in the yarn, or maybe I'm using smaller yarn than I'm used to, but something is different about it.  I'm just not ready to analyze it now.

I still have a tunic to finish for Tyrssen--it's been hanging in my closet for way too long.  I gotta get the pieces cut out and sewn together!  I'm also working on a red, white and blue swap for an online quilt group that I need to finish up ASAP.  The blocks were supposed to arrive on March 15th, but here it is the 30th and four people keep promising to send them...come on, guys!!  I know, things came up in our lives (hospital, health, work craziness) so I've extended the deadline.  Hopefully we'll have people participating in greater numbers in May.

We finally had another girl scout meeting this week--we had to miss one or two with Ben being in the hospital--and a couple days later, I get a note from one of the moms saying that her daughter is quitting scouts.  I don't know why, but I can't help but take it personally.  I wrote a note back to the Mom immediately and haven't heard anything back yet.  It makes me wonder if two years is enough being the leader.  I'm just sad that no one else seems to want to step up and do it, so I'm left holding the proverbial bag.  The girls LOVE being part of the group (or at least appear to), but none of the parents have time to participate.  Ever.  (Except Leena, my co-leader, who occasionally is out of town on business, and finding someone to co-lead with me is near-impossible.)  It's frustrating and while I don't want to abandon the kids, I can't stand people who complain about how I'm doing my job but aren't willing to step up and help.