the end is near

You know?

I think I may really 

actually

be able to finish this thing.

Probably not for another month or so, though, mind you...

Linking up with Lee and Work in Progress Wednesday :-)

~

For those who are curious:

I'm using DMC Perle cotton, size 8 for the hand-quilting,

and Aurifil 50wt (of course ;-) for the machine.

(I recently found this perle - which, on sale, is an excellent price. I admit that I prefer the aesthetic of the little balls of DMC, though)

I mark my quilting lines with a hera marker.

So far, my preferred needle is a straw (milliner's) needle from Foxglove Cottage.

I've tried the chenille needles (or maybe they were crewel?) that lots of people said were best for perle cotton thread, 

but I really didn't care for them. 

At all. 

I could only get 2 stitches loaded before having to pull the needle through;

with my foxglove straw needles, I can load as many as 6.

I can only assume those people haven't yet tried my favorite needle...

Oh, and I sew by the light of this lamp. 

It's not pretty, but it gets the job done, and it's ever so much less expensive than an Ott.

(A full spectrum lightbulb in a pretty lamp would work well, too. But that did not occur to me before I made my purchase.)