The Thing That Wouldn't Leave

If you're as old as the Pyramids of Giza, like I am, then you might remember that old skit on Saturday Night Live where John Belushi plays a rude house guest. And if you were born sometime after the 14th Century, you can see it right here.
That's the way I feel about Joseph's Quilt. I started this quilt in August of 2011. It's been sitting around my sewing room with its feet up on my sewing table, smoking cigarettes and cussing, ever since. Finally, finally, finally, I think it's going to get a job and move out.
I finished the quilting yesterday.

It's not the best quilting I've ever done, but finished is a good place to be.

Remember this spool of thread I was using? I took the wrapper off of it just before I took this picture. It's one of those 1200 yard spools of Coats & Clark Star variegated thread. I used the whole thing, and I still wasn't finished.

Fortunately, I had something similar enough, and even I can't tell where I changed horses in the middle of the stream.

I wasn't sure which fabric I was going to use for the binding, but as I was cutting the excess backing and batting from it yesterday, I decided to use the extra for the binding. The backing fabric doesn't appear anywhere else on the front of the quilt, and so it seemed like a good choice. I like the way it looks.

Here's how it looks from the back. I was afraid the quilting wouldn't show at all, but it definitely does.

I'm still hand-sewing the binding. As of this morning, I'm 3/4 of the way around. I'd love to sit and finish it off, but I have lots to do today. And it always impresses me when someone else gets on Facebook or their blog to tell me how busy they are, so I figured I'd do that too. Because...you know...priorities, people.
This weekend we're heading out to our friends' Greg and Jan for our annual weekend get-together. Think of it as a tie-dye weekend since everyone there will definitely remember the Saturday Night Live skit I mentioned above. It's a good time, and we always enjoy it. Traditionally, I make the food for Friday night when it's a smaller crowd. We're expecting six on Friday this year. I'm making my pulled pork sandwiches, 7-layer salad, German potato salad, and blueberry hand pies. Also, I'm throwing together a 7-layer dip appetizer to share on Saturday night. All of that has to get done over the next two days, along with packing the camper.
Also today, I'm heading back to my knee doctor to let him take a look at my pesky right knee. It seems whenever we gear up for a trip when I'm going to want to do some hiking, my knee decides to act up and be a literal pain. It's worst when I'm walking on uneven ground or going down stairs. Right now I'm having to go down the stairs backwards, so painful is my knee. Just picture that in your mind for a minute. Don't think I can't hear you laughing.
So now that I've moaned and groaned about how busy I am and how much my knee is hurting, I guess I'll go take care of business. I have miles to go before I sleep. Pin It