Oorah!

The Semper Fi quilt top is finished! Since I've worked on it almost nonstop since October 23rd, you can imagine how happy this makes me. Besides, I really wanted to share it with my friend, Andy. I was determined to wait until the top was finished so I could surprise him. And it's just in time for the 244th birthday of the Marine Corps tomorrow (Sunday). So, yeah...OORAH! Here it is:

It's a large quilt at 89 x 102 inches. Mike and I tried getting a straight-on picture of it with me setting the camera up on a tripod, and us standing on chairs. It reaches all the way from floor to ceiling with no room to spare, and then, even with our double-wide wing span, our picture turned out comically bad. So...Plan B was to lay it on the floor. I've already shared it with Andy, and he was thrilled. I knew he would be, but it's always nice when you get an enthusiastic reception to a finished quilt top.

And I was so done sewing for the day. I spent a little time on Tree #5 for Twelve Trees for Christmas yesterday, and then spent some extra time finishing it up this morning. I really like this one. It was stitched all in stem stitch with a single strand of floss. I have a hard time making pretty stitches with a single strand, and often, I default to two strands. In this case, I stuck it out, and then put the beads on this morning.

This one used the other, larger beads purchased for this project.

Several of you have given me some good ideas to avoid "beadtastrophe." My friend Linda suggested using a low-loft batting to keep them from rolling around too much. A few people suggested emptying them onto a saucer. And I think nothing succeeds like overkill, so I did both. I'm glad I did too because I spilled them just getting the cap off that little tube. Aren't they pretty, though?

They're a little larger than the other beads, and so I was able to stitch them on using my regular embroidery needle. It's a little less fiddly in my hands.

So then I traced out Tree #6, and had an impromptu little demonstration about how heat erases Frixion pen ink. The trees are backed with iron-on fusible interfacing. Usually, I can iron all around the traced design, but this time, I managed to iron over it. Oops. And that gave me a reason to put this into the freezer to see if the design would come back, as so many have reported.

Okay, well, it did...sort of, but not enough that I felt confident stitching it that way. Still, I could see well enough to retrace my steps, and now it's hooped up and ready to go for tomorrow's stitching.

There probably won't be any more sewing today. I have quite a few things on my to-do list for the weekend. I'm canning some pickled beets, and pickled brussels sprouts. Also, cranberry chutney and cranberry pepper jam. I'll split it up and do two each day. It shouldn't be too much work. If I do any sewing, it will be to make a back for the Semper Fi quilt. First, I absolutely must vacuum my sewing room. Just take a gander at what lies beneath my ironing board.

Kona solids. Love the colors...hate how much they fray. The whole sewing room looks like this. So I'll get all of that vacuumed up and make the sewing room look a little less scary. With all of that on the list, I have plenty to keep me busy for a day or two. When that's all done, I'll catch up on the Tiny Tuesday blocks.