Mission Accomplished

So, I know I’ve been a lousy blogger lately… I hate this perfect vision of spending my vacation time last week catching up, posting photos of all the yarn I’ve spun, knitting I’ve been working on, more mad-capped adventures of the kittens, all the stuff I’ve been up to…

Then I woke up.

The reality is I spent the majority of my Thanksgiving stay-cation catching up on all the errands I usually do on my Friday’s off (which I’ve not had off since the end of October. This full time crap is for the birds), getting most of my Christmas shopping out of the way, doing way too much shopping for myself, preparing Thanksgiving dinner, spending time with the family (Gamma is, without a doubt, the greatest thing I have ever been called. I can’t wait until all my friend’s who’ve gone the traditional route and had kids from whom they will eventually expect Grandkids to catch up. Honestly, being a 2 and a half year old’s favorite sight to see is an honor. And seriously fun).  In other words, way too much time wearing a bra, not nearly enough in my fuzzy slippers with a lap full of kitten… So I still suck as a blogger. But I’ll try to improve at that just as soon as life settles back into something vaguely resembling normal. Just don’t hold your breath because I expect that’s still several weeks out.

Anywho, lets get to the part where I accomplished my mission. I have made a mention or 2 of a stealth quilting project I’ve been working on. I am a quilter turned knitter who still likes to flirt with that first love from time to time and on my bus trip last week I fell in love with a quilt kit that will make a spectacular Christmas gift for my hubby. What I hadn’t considered was the very limited time I’d have in which to accomplish this project, especially given the insanity that has been my schedule the last 5 weeks. Not to mention the Christmas knitting and sewing I’d already had planned. Threw caution to the wind just the same… Would you expect any different from me? Nope… I didn’t think so.

So the trick to stealth sewing for one’s hubby is finding time enough to get into the sewing room to make progress. We are home bodies so this was no easy feat. But I did it. I took my 1896 Singer hand crank machine to quilting night a couple  bof weeks ago, I took advantage to hubby’s kindness in fixing both his dad’s and my BFF’s furnace one Saturday afternoon, I scurried off to my sewing room immediately on sending him off to work a couple times last week, took advantage again of a project he decided to work on away from home last Sunday and tonight, thanks to his Son’s of Union Veterans of the Civil War meeting, I did it. I put the final stitches on the binding of this lovely piece of project. I did spare myself a bit of grief and heap load of stress by compromising with myself on one part- I chose to tie the quilt instead of actually quilt it. Machine quilting and I are not friends. Doing so on a short time constraint was not going to make the experience any more enjoyable. So I cheated a little but I got it done in plenty of time to take it for show and tell, wrap it and toss a bow on it before Christmas.  I think I even successfully covered my tracks in the sewing room so it should be a surprise all the way through. I’ll share pictures after he opens it.

In the mean time, I need to kick it in the ass and get at my Christmas knitting. And other planned sewing. Half a sock, a hat, two more socks and a handful of shopping bags to go. But what the heck. It’s still November. I have LOTS of time, right?

I’m pretty sure delusion is the only coping mechanism the Christmas crafter has to get through the Holiday season. So I beg of you. Let me have the dream…  Though if anyone has any tips on silencing my spinning wheel (Seriously, she SCREAMS for my attention every waking moment… Freaky) I’d welcome your suggestions.