Quilt Design - Almost A Job

Perhaps your tired of hearing about the Nitty-Gritty aspects of creating a quilt AND pattern to go with it... but do you know, I've been keeping track of my time and in the past six days, I've spent over 20 hours on this project. That's "almost like having a job!" And of course, I'm intending to make it lucrative, but, for someone who's "only" job has been running a house, homeschooling, and sorting out mounds of medical bills, adding 20 hours of ANYTHING to a normally busy week is quite a bit.

Tonight, I hit my wall. I miscut one piece, but one measly inch (over the course of 80" it doesn't sound like much). It was easy to fix, but not with the time crunch I was in. Instantly my hands started to itch (a nervous thing of mine) and I knew I was Done. I called Tom up and he encouraged me to take a break (I spent an hour cuddling with the boys on the couch) and push out the quilting until tomorrow. Tomorrow I won't have help from the machine owner. I have used a long-arm machine four times before, but the last time was last May and I had trouble with it. I guess, just like the rest of this project, I'll have to figure it out myself.

It's been enlightening to me that I've wanted to create patterns for so long. Finally, last week I decided I was going to do it, and I am doing it. I've realized that all this time I was waiting for someone else to encourage or nudge me, and really, I just had to make the decision and go for it. I've been so excited, but true to my nature, I've also worn myself out a bit.

I'll be leaving for Arizona AFTER my planned day of Monday. The trip will still happen next week, but I want to finish the pattern this weekend so I can get paperwork in order and pack (kinda HAVE TO do that) before leaving in the middle of the week.

Oh yeah. I JUST finished the quilt top - again. I decided it wasn't done with just the piece-work and added two borders. Today I also designed, cut, and pieced a scrappy back for the quilt. Now, I have to pin on three giant zippers so tomorrow I can "zip it" onto the quilt frame (at 8:30 am with Jack in tow!)