Photos maybe later

Or maybe I find a spot to hang the new quilt top up indoors and photograph it that way. It's overcast here and threatening rain this morning.

I did finish it yesterday afternoon. The idea of making a grid on paper, sorting the blocks by color, and doing something akin to Sudoku with the colors (so they are as evenly spread as possible across the top) was a good one and maybe I do that with more quilts because the "crawl around on the floor" method of laying them out gets old fast, and it also leads to a lot of dithering, where probably just generally making sure that the colors don't "pool" too much is probably all you need to do.

I also discovered that I am going to buy more of that "Best Press" stuff (sort of like starch, but apparently something that is not-starch, as it boasts being non-yellowing and non-attractive to insects). It works better than just plain steam for getting the wrinkles out of fabric that has been badly stored and it works really well to stabilize bias edges.

I also sewed up the backing for the roll of stamps top and might take it in to the quilt shop today. Yes, this isn't one of my favorite tops, but I admit: I want to try out the new quilter on one I don't love quite as deeply just in case things don't go as I hope. (And if they do go well, I will probably wind up liking the quilt better; I like most of them better after quilting).

I also want to finish Spitfire - I have one ear left to crochet and the wings, and then I just have to put on her hair and tail, and do her face. I found all the necessary colors of felt (and the two shades of yarn for her mane and tail). That will probably be this afternoon...

I did get the house pretty much fully clean (well, except for my home office and the sewing room) yesterday and I feel better about that. I need to try to be more disciplined about cleaning stuff up as it gets messy instead of getting in the cycle of house gets really messy ---> I feel bad because I don't like the mess ----> I start to worry about what people will think if they come over -----> I finally take an entire day and clean the house, and it takes a day because it's gotten so bad.

I also pulled a muscle in my neck/shoulder, I'm not sure how.