Just Poppin' In for a Sec

It is Friday. Could it possibly have taken any longer to get here? The fact that I actually made it out of the office today without a police escort, handcuffed, is nothing short of miraculous (but we won't go there, because blog postings should all come from our happy place).

Raining here (could you guess from the tunes?), and supposed to continue through the weekend. Suits me just fine. I will be quite happy confined to the studio.

I've got a mystery to solve that may require assistance. I wonder if Scooby and the Gang are looking for work these days. Last night I sandwiched the applique, and instead of binding, I decided to just use a facing finish. I sewed around the edges, leaving an opening to turn, flipped it rightside out and then it needed an ironing before I pinned it for quilting.

I was 98% finished with pressing it when all of a sudden I'm streaking some white glue-y substance across the solid black border. Huh? I look at the soleplate of the iron and there's a glob of chalky white, thick, 'stuff'. It's way at the bottom of the iron, miles away from any steam holes. I have had absolutely nothing on the ironing board other than fabric for a couple weeks (well, I'll amend that, I had a bottle of Mary Ellen's Best Press that I'm addicted to, but that's watery, lavender colored stuff.) So from what alternate universe did this white glob of gunk suddenly materialize?

It's unlikely, but remotely possible that I was testing out gluing down the applique pieces (which I really don't remember doing, but you know what they say about the mind going when you get to be a certain age) and somehow the heat of the iron softened the glue and it came oozing out between my tiny, invisble, silk thread stitches and deposited itself on the iron, but who's heard of that and really, what the heck kind of glue did I use that suddenly becomes fresh and creamy and triples in volume when exposed to heat a year later? (and can I apply for a patent on that?)

I suppose it could have been deposited on quilt top while it hung in the closet for 10 months--maybe the bottle of Roxanne's Glue Baste It, that's in the zipped-up Omnigrid applique case comes to life once everyone's asleep, escapes it's Omnigrid prison and dances wildly around the closet with the Bali Pops, and in it's frenzied romp in the fat quarters, it sometimes 'blows it's top'....but then how did I manage to do all this trimming and sandwiching and pinning and sewing without seeing it or getting it on me or the cutting table, or the sewing machine?

All I know is that it left a lot of 'white' that ironed into my black border. Water, Spray and Wash and a toothbrush have removed most of it, but not all, so I'm thinking the few streaks left might be hidden with a quick rub with a charcoal briquette. (Won't that be lovely when someone asks the 'white glover' if they can see the back and she grabs the border....now there's a good giggle).

It's almost as if some higher power is trying to tell me that none of my work is quilt show worthy. But really, is sabotage necessary? There's going to be some serious ghost busting going on here if something/anything happens to the Convergence quilt this weekend I will not hesitate to go all Carrie on any poltergeists lurking in my studio. You want some paranormal activity, I'll give you some paranormal activity.  Here's a tip...don't mess with Convergence.

My, my, look at the time. We're going to lose an hour Sunday, so I best snuggle into bed with a quilt magazine and set my alarm for an early start. Check back tomorrow for some photos of what I hope will be finishes (and not a levitating sewing machine and flying scissors).