She's Back!

Who is she? Why, my sewing machine, of course. Here she is happily sitting in her table.

Actually, she was only in the shop for a few days. I have just not posted in a while. What was the big problem that caused the top thread to keep breaking? This is a highly technical answer: crappy thread! No kidding. I bought two big spools of #50 weight thread from a vendor at a quilt show. I assumed that anyone who owned a quilt shop would sell good quality thread. Apparently, I was wrong. Lesson learned. I will now only buy a reputable brand of thread.

I rethreaded her with Gutterman thread and she is humming. It sews "like buddah!" Here are a few things I have been working on.

I completed block #11 in the 2013 Designer Mystery BOM program.

Next month I will complete the last block and begin to put the quilt together. The fabric line is Avalon from Joanna Figueroa. I love it.

I also completed the April installment in the GenX BOM project. I really love seeing the positive and negative of each block as it comes together.

Aren't these fun? Here are all eight blocks I have made so far:

I hope you are enjoying wonderful spring weather where you live. Yesterday was absolutely beautiful here. Today, we will have storms. Oh well. At least is isn't snow.

I have linked up with Anything Goes Mondays (Link on right).

Thanks for stopping by.

Rabbit, Rabbit!

It's the first day of another month. Yeah! No pictures today. I am still waiting for my sewing machine to come home from the spa. I have been working on my Great Granny Along quilt top on my Lucey. I don't have any photos yet. Coming soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

It has been a long time between sewing days. Work has been very busy. I have gotten some work done in spurts, though.

I completed the third BOM installment in Park Bench. Here are detail photos of blocks 5 and 6.

Those rulers make cutting and piecing hexies and diamonds a snap. I am pretty pleased with the points in these blocks. Here are all six blocks so far.

I also spent some time putting together the star centers for the Star Surround quilt. I have 11 done, with 5 more to go.

During the construction of these blocks I began having trouble with my machine. The stitches don't appear to be even. Top thread kept breaking. I changed my needle. I rethreaded both the top and bobbin threads. I cleaned lint out of the bobbin case. DH cleaned more lint out of the bobbin case using the vacuum. Still, every few inches the top thread breaks. Time for a trip to the sewing machine spa.

Today DH and I took the machine to Lexington to my dealer for a good massage, maybe a mud bath...what other fun things do people do at spas? I wouldn't know. I just want that baby to feel better soon. Here is a picture of my sad sewing table.

So here I am, twiddling my thumbs. I have projects to work on, but no machine. NCAA basketball won't be on until this evening, so I am bored. Look at this beauty that is waiting for me to get started.

I bought the Canned Pears pattern and fabric from Joanna Figueroa. I can't wait to cut into that Mirabelle fabric. It is just luscious. It will have to wait until I hear that the machine is ready to come home.

Thanks for stopping by.

UN-Sewjo Sunday

Oy. Karma will get you when you aren't looking. Here is the sewing I completed yesterday.

I finished sewing the Flying Geese blocks. I trimmed them all. All 192 of them. Phew. The boring part was now over. On to putting together the blocks. Here are the first two blocks I assembled.

Look at the two Star Surround centers I completed yesterday (before stopping so I could watch MSU beat Wisconsin). Pretty good. I was very proud of myself. The points turned out great. Look at this closeup. I am sure I was proud of myself.

I was so proud of my perfect points. I didn't say it out loud, but I patted myself on the back in my head. OK. Here is the problem. The corner blocks are not supposed to be HST's. They are supposed to be solid squares. How did I make that mistake? Oy. Fortunately, because of the basketball game, I only completed two blocks. Today, I had to UN-sew. I hate that, of course. I discovered my error when I checked the instructions for the next section of instructions. WHAT? How could I make such a mistake? Nonetheless, the mistake was made. Today, I had to UN-sew those blocks to replace the corner blocks.

This is the correct layout for the blocks.

Here are the two blocks resewn. They are not quite as perfect, but I can live with them. Ok. Now, moving on.

Thanks for stopping by.



 

Sewjo Saturday

I am linking up with Sewjo Saturday. (See the button on the right.) In addition to the GenX BOM blocks that I posted yesterday, I have worked on a couple other projects.

I completed block #10 in the 2013 Designer Mystery BOM series. We have made three baskets, three stars, three houses, and now we are starting work on flowers. Only two more blocks to go for this quilt.

I am continuing to plug away at the Star Surround quilt top. I am working on the Flying Geese. Phew. There are a lot of them. I don't even want to count.

The smallest stack of FG in the upper right of the design board are the ones that are all trimmed up and ready to go. You will notice that it is the smallest pile. This is the boring part. Oh well. It's a good thing to be working on while watching the NCAA basketball tournament. Go Michigan State!

 Thanks for stopping by.

Gen X BOM Vice Versa Blocks

The March installment of the Gen X BOM blocks arrived by email last Friday. I couldn't work on it until today. It is the Bear Paw block this month. I really love the Bear Paw block. I really want to make a red and white quilt with the Bear Paw block someday.

Here they are, both the positive and negative version.

Here are my blocks all together on the design wall.

Thanks for stopping by.

Park Bench BOM

I received the second installment of the Park Bench (by Jaybird Quilts) BOM. The Hex N More and Side Kick rulers make this project a snap to fit together. Here are the blocks from this month's installment.

The fabric collection is Botanics. I really love the colors. Here are the four blocks I have completed so far.

This is going to make a sweet little quilt.

I have also started working on the Star Surround quilt. This was a quilt-along project last year from Melissa @ Happy Quilting. I am behind the rest of the western world, but I just have to get some things finished before I allow myself to start something else.

Here are the HST's for the center star. I have all 16 sets sewn and arranged on a small design board.

My fabrics are all cut and organized. I started sewing the Flying Geese for the surround portion today, but I got bored. I'll get back to it another day.

University is closed today as well as all of the schools in the area. We have had sleet, followed by more snow than I have seen in all the time I have been in Kentucky. Driving is treacherous so I am hunkered down at home. As long as we don't lose power all will be well. I have my fingers crossed.

Thanks for stopping by.