Zipper madness

I've been on baby quilt hiatus, waiting for more Essex Linen. It came yesterday and got washed today, so I'll be back at it tonight.

But in the lull, I had a bit of a zipper attack.



Camera pouch!



Whales AND pigs, together in harmony.



Zippity zip zip zip.

And now on to other things.

It was sewing machine maintenance day today.



It happens once or twice a month. The fella gets brushed out weekly because ::damn:: there's a lot of fuzz buildup. The Bernina guy assured me it's normal when half the things you sew have batting. But still. Gez.

But once a month it needs a little more: a good oiling. The manual says to oil BEFORE (in caps, so you know they're serious) you sew to avoid oil leaking on your fabric. That seems backward to me, so I sew for about 15 minutes on muslin scraps after the oiling. I've never had oil leakage, but it gives me the opportunity to check out all my pretty stitches.



Thirty-seven years old and it still sews in circles (and diamonds and comma shapes) around newer machines.

::Now, jumping to another topic just because it was laundry day::

Bamboo batting -- yes it holds up well. Super well.



This quilt has been loved. Tough love. It's been camping and fishing and to parks and used as a towel after swimming. It's been swiped away by Chowder for a makeshift bed when no one was looking. Tom peed on it once.

So it's been through some stuff. And had all that stuff washed out of it with extra-hot water and harsh detergent in less-than-ideal machines. Followed through a cycle in the dryer on high heat.



It's just as quilty soft as it started out.

So it's worth it. Half-off coupons at JoAnn don't hurt either.

ZIPPER! (and the pillow it's attached to)

Ahem!



That's my zipper!



And there it is again, in hiding.



And that's what it's zipping up.

My first pillow!

Made with one of the log cabin blocks I didn't use in the quilt. And used here to test out quilting ideas for the larger end product.



I like the straight lines.

I debated for about an hour over whether to sew my binding to the front or back. I was nervous about hand-binding into the corduroy I used for the backing, but it went well. So well I forgot how afraid I was of it at the start and didn't take any special photos to document the result.

And here's where we're at with the baby quilt.



I cut my yard of Essex Linen in the wrong direction, so I didn't get enough out of it to finish the sashing. Good thing it's cheap and I found some more online.

I think what I ordered will come tomorrow, so I should be ready to quilt by the weekend.