Call Me a Thug in a Cocktail Dress...

...but as I look at the sewing machine, and the binding that needs to be pressed so I can finish the Japanese wrapping cloth wall hanging, thoughts are focused on the 10:00 season opener of Real Housewives of NYC. I just love a good train wreck of a reality show, and the Real Housewives franchise knows how to deliver. Granted, it's not NJ, but it runs a close second in my book.

I have always been reality tv's biggest 'prostitution whooore' (as Theresa from RHNJ would scream, while upending our dinner table), and gauging from what's on 57 channels these days, I'm not alone. Top Model, Top Chef, Cupcake Wars, Survivor, Idol, Race, Loser, Matchmaker, Jersey anything....if it's on cable, I've seen it. I think one of the reasons the hubs bought an HD flat screen for my studio last birthday was to keep the trash off of his 60" (which seems to be reserved for dismemberment, murder, rape, aliens, explosions, mayhem and such--though wait....that Allstate Mayhem guy can share my screen any time! Yum! I am SO about the bad boys with an edge and a dark side {smile}).

And  say ya-ay! Housewives premier was so non-riveting that I got the binding sewn on the wrapping cloth. I was planning on turning up the Asian Indigo backing, but the hubs thought the pink packaged binding matched the centers of the flowers perfectly and voted for that.

Here's a closeup that you can enlarge to check out the quilting. For the light blue I just decided to freemotion along the obvious and non-perfectly spaced weave of the fabric. Just the verticals. So, we now have an OPAM finish for April (said as I pat myself on the back).

With so many projects in the wings to choose from, I'm not sure where I want to go right now. I'm thinking it needs to be an Accuquilt GO! project, but I'm wavering on traditional or free-style. It's a bit late to get started now and I'll be out with the ladies tomorrow night, so I've got until Saturday or Sunday morning to make up my mind. Suggestions appreciated.

In addition to something on the GO! I've got quite a few other ideas....

1. I can make the pedestal cake plates for my sister and myself from our Mom's china dishes my sister had displayed on her dining room wall.
2. Switch to dollmaking and start on the Beachwalker Santa that's been in procrastination limbo for a couple of years now.
3. Maybe I should catch up on the Fiesta BOMs
4. I can spend a day making pincushions of all types...cupcakes, pies, donuts, petit fours.
5. What about taking on the painted batik wholecloth project?
6. There's always another Japanese wrapping cloth to be quilted
7. Don't I have a Bali briefcase pattern, Pop, and a hank of clothesline patiently waiting in the closet?
8. And let's not forget sewing border prints on dishtowels.

And we aren't even thinking about taking the Bernina embroidery module out for a spin...or cracking the EQ7 manuals open and designing a barn quilt for the Accuquilt contest.

Maybe I should call in the Calvary...what do you think? Or maybe you'd like to come over and motivate me. There's an idle Bernina 1260 and a Babylock Imagine available.

Oh, and here's the catalyst for the little Japanese furoshiki I just finished:

There are so many cool  'wrapagami' projects that this cloth could be used for, it's almost a shame to quilt it and turn it into a boring wallhanging....well.....okay....I have seen it quilted and turned into a wallhanging and I have to say 'boring' wasn't an adjective that came to mind that day, I was pretty amazed when I found out it wasn't an arduous labor of strip piecing that I was trying to purchase the pattern and fabrics for :)

I'm open to suggestions for my next project, so if there's something you'd like to see, drop me a comment and let me know. I always appreciate your input (and a little direction is always a good thing).

Have a great weekend...do what you love. (and if your weekend will be spent doing taxes...take lots of sewing breaks).