FIRE IN THE HOLE!

Grandma O's quilt finished!  Maggie, the owner, dropped it off a couple weeks before Thanksgiving and I got all the binding done on it last Friday.  I was going to sew it down by machine, but I knew that it was going to be a disservice to the quilt and to its beauty by not doing it by hand.  The whole thing was pieced by hand, so it just seemed a sin to do otherwise.  I attached by machine and stitched down on the back by hand.  I was pleased that this fact did not go unnoticed by the owner's mom when she picked it up. :)

Beads have been the big thing this week.  I volunteered to make 40 beads for the Lampworkers Guild--20 for Drachenwald (red, yellow and black) and 20 for Calontir (purple and yellow).  I also got a couple of commission requests from Jadwiga (red, black and white) and Samira (red, orange and yellow).  I got a chance to try a couple of new techniques and came up with some really fun patterns.

Drachenwald:  19 great beads and one whoopsie (ran-out-of-gas bead)

Samira's first few beads:  I made 15 total that she could choose from.  She bought 8 and may purchase the rest, depending on how many she finds she needs for the necklace.  I suspect she thought the beads were going to be smaller.  Once she gets the other pieces strung up, she'll know whether or not she needs more.

I started making some beads for Calontir, but the purple I had was wrong...it's really pastel.  I ordered some new glass, but it'll be a day or two before it gets here.  I also ordered some orange and dark yellow, too.  Most glass isn't very expensive--about $3-4 per quarter-pound; the pricey part, like always, in the shipping.  It means I can make upwards of 30 beads for under $10 in materials.

This is the only bead I got a photo of for Jadwiga's commission.  It turned out so nice, though.  Maybe I can get Jadwiga to photograph the six she bought.  A Canadian friend asked me if this was a "drunken ookpik".  Apparently, ookpik is the First Nations (Salish?) word for "owl".  I can totally see the owl now!

I just got new glass in the mail, so more beads are forthcoming!

Ben had surgery on Monday for his nasal polyps...again.  They got them out successfully along with a bunch of pus and stuff...gross.  However, they chipped a tooth as they intubated him.  Ugh.  Off to the dentist tomorrow to get that fixed.