sewing deadlines

My professional life is defined by deadlines -- but I don't generally sew under any kind of pressure at all.  Today, however, I was sewing like mad, trying to finish the piecing of the quilt I'm making for our friends who are getting married...in 3 (!!) days.

I'm very happy with today's progress -- these blocks are the giant dresdens from the Lily's Quilts quilt-along -- and now I have two more schooldays (i.e. child-free days) to get this gift basted, quilted and bound.  (The quilt-along has directions for a QAYG/quilt-as-you-go method, but I'm piecing and then quilting this in a more conventional way.  This doesn't seem like quite the right time to experiment with a new quilting method!)

I didn't use all six of the blocks I had made -- due to time constraints, but also because this is already one BIG quilt (plenty for two laps). In fact, this thing is so big that I had to recruit my long-armed husband for a photo shoot. 

I spent so much time at the sewing machine today that I started to get a cramp in my right (pedal) foot...I'd say that that is a sign of a FULL day of stitching.  Time for a break...more later....