Captain Midnight & Beyond

I have heard stories from quilters about their proclivity for practicing this craft at all hours of the night and day. I had not fallen prey to this phenomenon until yesterday - or rather last night.

After a wonderful evening spent with dear friends who came over to celebrate a milestone birthday (age to remain secret), I wasn't tired at all. Must have been the spectacular sunset we had as we sat in our backyard, watching the Canadian geese flying overhead and taking in the true beauty of nature. Dear Husband had produced another great dinner, although truth-be-told, most of it was pre-made (like the gourmet pizzas from Whole Foods in Roseville, CA).

As it was a "school night" for DH, the evening wrapped up around 8:30 or so. DH trundled off to bed. I was going to watch yet another "Law and Order" re-run, but decided to go into my sewing room and look at a pattern I should be working on as it is a Christmas gift and I feel the press of time to get it started. Then I saw the fabric for the Christmas block exchange I'm participating in. I told myself, I will only make one block. Right! One block turned into a production line and four hours later, DH appeared at the door and said, "Friends don't let friends quilt at 1:00 in the morning. What are you doing?"

Darn. Caught in the act. I told him I wasn't tired after dinner and had just fallen into the rhythm of quilting. What I didn't tell him was that I desperately need to get these blocks done, so I can continue to work on other holiday gifts. And, 34 blocks are a lot of cutting, sewing, squaring, etc.

I did learn a number of lessons from this midnight romp with my machine and fabric:

1. The wee hours of the night/morning are quiet and perfect for getting fully into the zen of quilting.
2. You have to pay really close attention to what you are doing, particularly after two or three hours at it. I trashed a couple of pieces I incorrectly cut after making half-square triangle squares.
3. A production process is absolutely key when you have to make what seems like an endless number of half-square triangles. I found mine. Mark, sew, cut, press, measure, square - and execute these en masse. So chain sewing really comes in handy and is the best way to produce a large number of the same pieces.
4. Perfection is a problem when making volumes of pieces. By this I mean, one cannot spend 20 minutes measuring each HST to make certain it is exactly 4 1/2 inches. At some point, having a system of quality control (like measuring every fifth piece) has to suffice, or else the pieces are never going to get made. I have to learn to trust my skills more and let go of my obsessive nature more. At the rate I was going before last night, it will be 2020 before these blocks are done!
5. Having your doggies sleeping in your quilting room while you are working is wonderful. And so mine were, quietly snoring and making cute doggy slumber sounds. This is opposed to right now - they are speeding across the back lawn barking loudly at every thing and person who moves, walks by, is within a hundred mile radius. However, our late night did result in a late morning for them. When DH arose at 6:00 am, there wasn't a peep out of either of them. Quite a change from the normal 4:15-4:30 am wake-up call from Merlin.

The weather is expected to cool this week and it does feel as though fall could be right around the corner. Thank goodness. I am so tired of the sizzling summer for which the Sacramento area is so well known. I will spend as much time as I can today working on the block exchange pieces, until I must shift gears and work on the Japanese puzzle celestial quilt.

Tired, but content. Onward.