Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. -T.S. Eliot

I finished my last two classes of the semester today! I still have one more paper to hand in, but it isn't due until the 20th since the prof gave the whole class an extension, yay! It's a 15-20 page paper and I already have 10 pages of notes, plus I'm writing about something I like so I think I'll be fine. I will be taking at least one summer course; I've actually signed up for two, but I'm considering dropping the second one. It all depends on how the Summer job hunt pans out; keep your fingers crossed for me!

I really can't wait to get back to my sewing and quilting! I have so many quilt designs waiting to be stitched up that I really hope I can get them done in time to present the at Quilt Market. Oh gosh, Quilt Market is going to be so great and I just can't wait!

I mentioned a few posts back that I sewn up a few things for friends that I couldn't show until I was sure they received them, and one of them made it to its new home earlier in the week. I'm sure many of you remember that a few months back my lovely friend Katy gifted me with a generous stash of Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy (see this post), and so I decided that I just had to make her a little something to thank her for being so kind and generous.

Here is the front of the little pillow cover I made her. For some reason when I was thinking about making something for Katy I couldn't get the mermaid out of my mind; I embroidered the mermaid in the centre panel (which sort of reminds me of some of the burlesque style mermaid tattoos I've seen) and the surrounding prints are a mixture of Denyse Schmidt, Heather Bailey, Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry.

Here is the back of the pillow; all of the prints are from Denyse Schmidt's County Fair collection and I adore these buttons - they're wood and I have them in a few colours and sizes. I just had to use some Denyse Schmidt fabrics since Katy had been so generous with hers - it's like little link between us!

Katy said that she loved it and that it was "very sweet and lovely"; I am so happy that she likes it!

On the quilting front, I just ordered a 1/4" foot for Genevieve (my Janome) and it's on its way as we speak. Man, was it a pain to get! I have a front loading Janome and had a hard time finding the proper foot for it, even with the part number. I found a couple online, but the shipping from the US was $16-70 (not even kidding!) for a little tiny foot! I was not having any of that; I eventually found one that was a good price with good shipping, I ordered it, and paid but then received a refund from them the next day saying that they weren't authorized to ship Janome products to Canada - so ridiculous!

I ended up getting mine from England, and even though it was a bit more than I wanted to pay originally, it was cheaper than from the US and I can't wait for it to arrive! Jennifer was quite shocked when she found out that I didn't already own a 1/4" foot, I've just been doing it by eye this whole time, but I'm excited to see how it changes my piecing when I try it out.

Okay, off to hang out with my love and watch a little TV. I am so tired that I can't even explain it, I'm hoping that after getting a good night's sleep (I haven't had a proper sleep in quite awhile) I'll feel a lot better in the morning - maybe tomorrow I'll actually be able to celebrate the completion of my first year in grad school!