Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Busy Busy Busy

I've been piecing a quilt top for Owen the last couple weeks:



I plan to send it out to be machine quilted because otherwise, it will end up as a permanent UFO. One woman I found online charges about $75 on an average twin size quilt, which is a pretty good deal considering the hours of my life I would spend (not to mention the frustration) if I tried to do it at home. I did notice a business here in Madison with a sign in the window advertising "Machine Quilting" so I'm going to phone them up today and see what they say.

I made this quilt top from a lot of Mr. SABLE's old plaid and striped shirts that had ripped out at elbows and pockets and such. I also picked up a few more shirts at Digger's Outlet to throw in a bit more diversity in the color scheme.

There has been knitting, too, but I have to keep that under wraps a while.

In other news
Today is the Little Emperor's seventh birthday. Hard to believe how fast the time has gone!

Our lives are stressful these days. Mr. SABLE has some employment uncertainty ahead. His company wanted him to move to way-southern NJ by Sept 30. He decided that he really wasn't willing to go to those lengths to stay with that company. He's hoping to find other employment that keeps us in the Madison area soon, but he's considering jobs quite far away, too. As it currently stands, his last scheduled day of work is Sept 30, so after that, who knows? There is a severance package for those not willing to relocate, so we should have a cushion for a few more months after that, but it's a lot of stress and anxiety for us right now. Stay tuned.

11 comments:

Karen said...

Love the quilt top! I am seeing quilting more and more on my favorite knitting blogs...I am sensing a trend! :)

No moving to southern NJ? But, but, you'll be somewhat close to ME! I'm still not quite sure if where I am is classified as Central or South Joisey, but whatever it is, living here is growing on me. :)

Kathy Kathy Kathy said...

I'd sleep under it for sure. Have you considered tieing it or even tying it? I'd come and help you. I even have a little gun that shoots in plastic ties like the ones that hold tags on clothing. That way you don't have to baste it. It's still a lot of work, but maybe some Saturday knitters or other folk would come. Owen could help too. It's kind of fun, but hard on the bones of the elders. Oh, but you'd need some sort of string. I guess that makes it out of the question.

Leslie said...

That quilt top is great. Very masculine, perfect for your guy. And I hear you about the employment worries...it hangs over my husband's head on a daily basis. Hope it all works for your family and you can stay put!

Cindy G said...

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you'll be able to stay in Madison (purely selfish motives, but keeping them extra crossed that something really good works out for you all, wherever that may be.

Love the quilt! Ain't Dig and Save great?

YarnThrower said...

I love the quilt! If you call local quilting stores, they can give you additional options for machine-quilting. My mom has it done all the time -- she ends up with a finished product which looks great, and which she doesn't have to wrestle with to machine quilt it on her own machine -- especially when you are talking about quilts big enough to cover a bed... And, to further substantiate your point about WIP's, I currently have two quilts (both twin size) which are "almost" finished, just awaiting for about half of the remaining machine quilting on each... AAUGH!

YarnThrower said...

P.S. Best wishes with Mr. Sable's job search. That IS a lot of stress! (At least I know you have a yarn stash, so will be able to keep knitting...)

Anonymous said...

The quilt looks fantastic. And if I haven't mentioned it before, I very much enjoy your blog (although I'm not sure why as I spend most of the time reading it chewing off my right arm in jealousy at all of your talents- please excuse any resulting typos!)

If I ever grow up, I want to be you. :-)

kb

Emily said...

Sad to hear of the stress. Given his industry I am assuming his company will be moving into the orbit I lived in, not really south NJ down near Cape May. I actually liked central NJ pretty well during grad school, but would definitely not pick to live there over Madison.
Hope it all works out fine-- sometimes its hard to believe crazy drama like that will come out ok in the end, but I bet it will.

Deodand said...

I love a quilt that's been made of repurposed clothing. I have one my mother made that holds some good memories.

Anonymous said...

Wow, it looks fantastic! Can't wait to see it in person when you get home.
I agree about having it professionally quilted--does Stitcher's Crossing offer that?
xox
Jaala

Terby said...

Nice quilt! I hope the uncertainty has settled a bit by now. In the meantime, I hope the vacation was a nice break. And on the plus side, school starts up again soon!