Yesterday, in sewing terms, was nothing short of an epic journey. I had to check my last.fm account to see a tally of exactly what the final answer was (the question, of course, being, "What do I have to do to finish this quilt top this weekend?") --

• 4 episodes of the Splendid Table (200 min total)
• 1 episode of WireTap (26 min)
• 1 episode of On Being (50 min)
• 4 episodes of Trust Inc (112 min total)
• 1 episode of Marketplace (27 min each)
• 1 episode of The World's 'tech' podcast (16 min)

431 minutes, or just over 7 hours. I had joked about treating Saturday like a workday, except a workday devoted to fabric instead of software troubleshooting, and I think it's safe to say I actually followed through on my jest.

I've felt frustrated and blocked for most of the week, because I felt like I'd already learned the lessons Mitzvah had for me, but I wasn't yet done with the project. I like it when an artistic project teaches me something new, and if the difficulty is correctly pitched, I feel like I've just gotten a handle on things right as the project completes.

Mitzvah was a double wedding ring quilt -- my fourth. I've learned the lessons of this pattern already. But, before I whine exceedingly, it's worth stating the obvious: while it's true I didn't pick the pattern, the fabric, or the colors, I took on this project because it was the right thing to do.

True, I will have bellyached all week over "why isn't this project DONE yet?" but, this afternoon, when I show the finished quilt top to the recipient, I'm pretty sure I will forget every bit of it. It's a hugely personal project for her, and my finishing it means the quilt top that her now-deceased mother left unfinished ... will get finished.

I'm sending it out for quilting, which means I can do a quick reset on my sewing room, tidy up, and move on.

* * * * *

In the meantime, we're waiting for a heating tech to come out to our house to do an emergency repair. Yesterday, I thought I was being my usual chilly self, but I looked at the thermostat and noted that it seemed a little low. I put on a sweater and went on with life. I'm always cold, after all.

It didn't hit me until a few hours later that something wasn't right; the blower was blowing, but the air wasn't warm. As the evening wore on, I realized my sewing space was obviously chilly. I checked the thermostat again and knew something was wrong. We tried turning the system off and back on again, and sure enough, we didn't hear the burner ignite.

We'll get it repaired today, and Tenzing will stop snuggling out of desperation. The brothers Fang were quite the nestlings last night.

* * * * *

Confirmed: the repairman has come by. It is indeed the igniter on the heater. He's off to get a replacement, and then we should be toasty warm again. This is a good thing -- Edmund is quite the lapful, and he snuggles when he's cold!