Thread Count

Piecin' a quilt's like living a life.

The Lord sends us the pieces,

but we can cut 'em out and put 'em together

pretty much to suit ourselves.

-Granny Ball

I have so many projects going that involve a needle and thread. It's exciting... exciting and harrowing. A weekend guest plopped onto an armchair only to be poked with a threaded needle. Just this morning, pre-coffee, I performed amazing feats of circus aerobatics after my heel caught a rolled-away spool of thread. That's it! Time to do a thread count.

I subscribe to the beloved Alicia Paulson's style of quilting: fast, fun, and finished (i.e.: tons and tons of squares). At the rather un-eventful yard sale on Saturday, Mrs. Presley - who always wears the prettiest neck scarves over her Dallas Cowboy sweatsuits - offered to teach me to quilt in the flower garden pattern. Hmmm. Obviously my endless rows of pieced squares weren't exciting enough for her. (Mrs. Presley - rival of Miss Gunn - well, her house sits down the historic street from Freeman House and is painted atomic yellow. Not sunshine yellow. Atomic, neon, blind-all-pedestrians yellow. It always makes me slightly ill if I stare at it too long.) Anyway, I told Mrs. Presley that I was a square/crazy quilt kinda girl, and maybe I'd take on flower garden patterns when I'm more sophisticated. (Read: likely never.)

Oh well. Can't blame poor Mrs. Presley and her pretty neck scarf for trying.

I got the most wonderful shipment of fabrics in yesterday from PurlSoho. Opening of the package involved frantic scissors, flying package tape, and one screeching me. I'm thrilled with the new stuff I have to work with! I folded it away carefully, promising that as soon as I'm done designing and making aprons for INNstead (an B&B/inn-sitting company), I'd play with it all Sunday afternoon and get some great new things on the Etsy site. Until then, my rounded-up thread and I will eagerly wait.

Okay. Better be off. I have some scuzzy-looking builder men wandering around measuring so they can give me a bid on Freeman House's kitchen. I have to do some Pilates-type breathing exercises and praying before they give me the total. Failure to do so will likely involve me fainting.

(Fortunately there's fabric and half-pieced quilts nearly everywhere you turn. That should break my fall!)