Hot Stuff

This is the season when I tend to zero in on things that, in my brain, have become synonymous with fall.

Fire is one of those things.  Don't be alarmed, you won't find me maniacally skipping around the neighborhood setting piles of leaves afire.  But if I did, I'd totally look like this:

Yes, I'd wear the same outfit Jimi's wearing.

 No, I like my fires small and well contained in the form of burning candles.  I always want to buy ALL the scented candles this time of year.  Well, not all of them because some of them are funky.  If you've been in the candle aisles of some stores here in Raleigh, NC and heard a lone candle-sniffing lady exclaim "This don't even smell right!", it was probably me (When I'm upset that a candle's scent isn't up to par, somehow my grammar falls by the wayside.).  I am equally vocal when I am impressed that a candle smells exactly how the label says it's supposed to smell ("Yes, I will take 50 of those "Birthday Cake" candles, Sir!").

Hot tea is another.  Rooibos is my favorite tea in the whole wide world, but I can totally be convinced to try others. Which is why I must stay away from Teavana stores in the mall because the sales associates stand outside with samples, ready to give you the first hit of whatever they're pushing for free.  Next thing you know, you don't have any more money and the bills are due.

Afghans.  My goodness, I love to wrap up in afghans during this time of year, preferably those that I've made.  I haven't purchased an afghan in a while because of guilt.  You see, I've had a quilt top sitting in the craft room for what has been almost two years, and it just needed to be quilted and bound.  Every time I'd see an afghan I wanted in a store, I talked myself out of buying it because I COULD have a new afghan if I just finished mine.

I really wanted to use it this year, so I decided that now was the time to finally finish it.

I LOVE it!

Oh honey, believe me when I say that there are many imperfections in this quilt.  There is a technique called "stitch in the ditch" where you stitch in previously stitched seams (the "ditches") in the quilt top to connect all three layers of the quilt sandwich (the top, batting, and the back).  It is supposed to be nearly invisible but there are many areas where I kind of veered away from the ditch:

I don't point out imperfections to down myself.  I do it to show you that you can be proud of the things you've made, even though they are less than perfect.  Kind of like when superstars post selfies wearing no makeup to show us regular people that they, too, can sometimes look like hell but still be awesome.

I'm proud of this mitered corner in the quilt binding, so I'm making you look at it.

This is my very first quilt and I want to thank my friend Merrie for teaching me the basics and for being super patient with my slow ass. Merrie said that the colors make the quilt look like fire, and that the colors alone would keep me warm.  I love that.