Some of you will remember back in November when I mentioned I was working on a quilt I called 'red shift.'

I am cheating and showing pictures ahead of time, but I am aware that neither of the recipients are reading blogs right now, as the female half of the duo is recovering from serious, albeit planned, surgery. (She's doing well.)

Here's what has had me obsessed since November.  All photos from the set are now public. 

I can tell you what I'm working on.  Sort of.

Anyone who has called the house in the past week -- and for those of you who have called in the evenings this past week to keep me company while Jeff's working insane-o hours, I thank you dearly -- knows that I've been hard at work on a quilt.

Here's the problem:  technically, I shouldn't post pictures.  Why?  It's intended for someone whom I know reads this site. 

For those of you who don't keep an eye on solecist.net, here's my current obsession:

Some assembly required
by domesticat.
[Original on flickr: 'Some assembly required', or see the full photoset]

It's been a good project; it has been at the far edge of my current skill level, and I know I didn't get everything right. Luckily, about halfway through the sewing process, I stopped caring, accepted that lines wouldn't be straight and circles would point off in random directions ... and things immediately got a lot calmer.

The quilt's going to be more idiosyncratic than perfect, but I think I can live with that.

Like virtually every other shirt or dress I've ever owned, it wants to slide off my shoulders. I'd blame my utter lack of sewing skills, but they've picked up more than their share of blame for this project. My shoulders just point down and entropy, like gravity, goes along for the ride.

I finished all principal sewing on my Halloween costume tonight. In fact, I am wearing it, breathless and giggling, as I write these words; I am giving my body a few minutes to relearn how to sit properly in a dress of this type.Scratch 'relearn.' I've never worn anything remotely like this.

(whap) "Tenzing, get OFF the fabric!"
MEOW! (indignant)
(sound of cat being tossed across the room)
(sound of cat jumping onto fabric)
"Edmund!"
(sound of cat being tossed across the room)
(sound of cat jumping onto fabric)
"TENZING!"
(sound of cat being tossed across the room)
(sound of spouse laughing) "Got help, hmm?"

...and so it goes, and so it goes.

"Nope. Forty-five inches." He shrugged, folded the fabric neatly back onto the bolt, and handed it to me. Ok, I thought. So my dress won't be emerald green. I took the bolt from him and wandered back to the 'luxury fabrics' section of the store with a sinking feeling. I compared the width to the red and blue velvets I liked. They, too, were 45" widths. I grumbled (audibly) and mentally scratched options 2 and 3 off the list.