I'm packed (all but the laptop I'm currently using) for the next road trip. Ain't gonna lie, I'm not excited about it. Neither is The Husband, but it's a work-related trip, and he's gotta go. I'm going just so that he doesn't have to go by himself.
The Granddaughter's quilt is laid out on a spare bed, still lacking a tiny bit of quilting and the binding. I started this quilt in the car, exactly one year ago today. (I know this because I embroidered the date on the first block, mostly as a joke related to how long it takes me to actually finish things.) I've worked on it almost every day since then. This quilt may be the first one on which I concentrated on the process rather than the product, and I learned some things from it. I shall resume work on it when we get back from our trip.
Laid out on the sewing table is 25% (plus some) of the wedding quilt I started last week. Five colors, cut into squares that will finish 3" x 3". The squares are laid out so that the colors create diamond-shaped stripes. Had to map it out on graph paper, marking off the rows as I complete them. This one is machine-pieced and machine-quilted; it needs to be done by the end of August. I'm doing a quilt-as-you-go method.
The binding of both quilts had me stumped until yesterday, when I watched a quilting show on PBS that talked about "big stitch binding." The Granddaughter's quilt is white, except for the blue, rose, and green embroidery. I could not decide whether to do white binding or use a colored print. The big stitch binding segment opened up other possibilities. I may use the left-over embroidery threads to do some colored stitching in white binding. We'll see. If that works well, I've got a whole box of pearl cotton thread - dozens of colors - that might work on the wedding quilt binding, assuming I'll have time to do some hand-stitching.
I bought an embroidery kit to take on the road trip, something to do in the car. I've packed my traveling watercolor supplies to use if I get stir-crazy in the hotel room. And the Kindle is loaded with books.
The only thing missing is my personal laptop. I took it to the repair store more than a week ago to have my keyboard cleaned. (I splashed watercolor brush-washing water on it, and it makes crunchy sounds when I type.) The technician said it would be cheaper to just order a new keyboard, but it hasn't come in yet. There is some work-related stuff that I need to tend to next week, so I'm taking the work laptop that I still have custody of, but I'll want/need to do some personal web-surfing, too, and I hate to do it on the work laptop using hotel wi-fi.
Today is Easter Sunday. Son #1 and his family have invited us over for Easter dinner at 1:00. We will probably have the car packed so that we can hit the road after dinner.
See you when we get home!
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