Sometimes

you just have to cut your losses and give up!

This morning when I woke up, I decided that today was going to be mostly an able mabel day. I was going to whip out a few things on my sewing machine, feed the kids lunch, clean and then go back and sew. Great in theory, not so in reality.

First off, my baby didn't cooperate. I finally got her settled for her morning nap and started in on this blanket. The flowers were originally from a panel of fabric. Each flower was framed by kelly green vines (the vines didn't do much for me). I cut the flowers out in squares and sewed the squares together. Simple, right?!? Right.

No sooner had I gotten them done, my baby woke up. Now what does she need?!? Figured that out and went to back the top of the blanket with black minky. I cut it exactly to match the top. What was I thinking?!? (This should have been clue #1) For those of you who have never sewn with minky, it's ultra slippery. I've usually cut the minky a tad bit bigger than the top fabric to allow for a bit of slippage. (Put that red pen away...I know slippage isn't a word in the normal dictionary, but it's in the able mabel one so I can use it.)

I fought with it for an hour (I'm not kidding. This should have been clue #2.), everything that could go wrong with my machine did. Finally, I was ready to top stitch it. I fed my kids an early lunch and went back to do the top stitching. I had already decided not to put the blanket on able mabel since it didn't pass quality control. Baby Doll was going to get herself a new blankie! Halfway thru top stitching, my bobbin ran out of thread. That was the last straw, I give up! Instead of ripping it apart with the seam ripper (I'd seen that little guy too much today.), I'll do it the "lazy man's way" and cut it along the edges.

A morning like this one keeps me humble I guess. It's not very fun though. Someone was obviously trying to tell me to get off my rump and get my cleaning done!

I love how the blanket looks, or the concept of it (the bright colors against the black background), so I'll try it again another day. Or maybe this afternoon, if I finish cleaning soon enough. It'll be the carrot dangling at the end of the rope...