Quilt, Porter & LC

I'm not even going to mention how bone-breaking cold it is outside, how it's supposed to "warm" up to normal (24 degrees) tomorrow, and then plummet back into the low single digits for the rest of the week.  Nope, not going to mention that at all.

At work yesterday afternoon, after I spent the morning unpacking, pricing, and putting away a couple of deliveries, I used the expanse of empty floor in the back room to assemble my Controlled Chaos quilt "sandwich" (that's what the big girl quilters call the back-batting-top assembly).  It never occurred to me that this would be the toughest part of the whole shebang.  It might have been that I was wearing so many layers of clothes that it was hard to get down and around.  It might have been that I was achy from yoga on Tuesday night.  It might have been that I am 62 years old and not thin.  Whatever the reason I felt awkward and ancient trying to get it organized and pinned together.  Thank god I bought a can of basting spray to put it together because I didn't believe the quilting book when it said to use masking tape to stick the smoothed out back to the floor before putting on the batting.  I should have followed the directions because when I got it all assembled and checked the back before pinning... well, let's just say there was about a half an hour when I repositioned the back before putting in the first pin.  The basting spray let me put the whole shebang up on a table so that I could sit in a chair to pin all those pins and didn't have to crawl around on the floor.  How do people who make king size quilts do it?  Is there a frame, or a gymnasium, you can use?  Next comes the quilting part--and renting time on a long-arm machine is looking better and better, but I will give quilting on my home machine a try first.  Should be interesting.


After work I went to LC's house for supper and to keep her company while her Mama went to band practice.  We had a fine time.  When I arrived both LC and Porter were zonked out.  That changed as soon as supper was served.  Porter had her bowl of food and LC wanted hers too, so Mama got to eat one-handed (oh, I remember that) while keeping the baby quiet.  After she left LC and I had a bit of soothing bouncing, a little spit up, a couple of poopy diapers (she HATES those and lets you know the situation IMMEDIATELY in no uncertain terms) and then a nice, wide-eyed visit before she drifted off all snuggled in a swaddle, wearing a Grandma-knit hat, and with her friend, Nuk, firmly in her mouth.  (Mama says she only gets to have Nuk for two months so she's getting the good stuff while she can.)  I can't wait to do it again.  Soon.  LC had her 3 week checkup yesterday and is doing very well; she's gained back to her birth weight and another pound, is longer, and her head's in the 99th percentile which Mama told her is because she's got such good brains, not because she has her daddy's freakishly large head.  (they get that from Durwood)  I think she's starting to get some personality in her face, she's starting to look like somebody.  I'd forgotten how quickly they change.

January 23--England, Suit.  You have to be on your best behavior when you're wearing a tan suit.  Every dribble and splash shows, every brush against a railing or a person leaves its mark.  Jacob felt the epitome of style in his new wool suit.  His burgundy bow tie struck the right color note against his starched white shirt.  It was too bad that the perfect spray of arterial blood from slitting Max's throat would never come out.

Yikes, I never saw that coming.  The sun is shining in the bright blue sky and making the new snow sparkle; it's going to be bitter cold out there, I just know it.  Better go gird my loins for the day.  Hasta la vista, babies.  Bundle up!  Oh, and to those of you whose daffodils are up (I"m looking at you, Aunt B), pffffft.
--Barbara