A humbling day

Yesterday was an "interesting" day. I was all full of pep and ready to go, and then this happened. 

I had my quilt on the long arm, I set the pattern, and all was good. Then I was watching the second row stitch out, and it looked AWFUL. Somehow the lines didn't match up, and I suspect that at one point the machine "jumped" or was bumped or something. Touch STOP immediately and contemplate the situation. Could I live with it? And sadly, the answer was NO. 

It took me about five hours to have it all ripped out. Mind you, I did other things during that process, but still, it was just after 4 PM when I was able to restart. 

Ripping out stitches on a quilt

 

Ripping out well-formed stitches on a long-arm quilt -- hey, any quilt is the most tedious thing you can do. I just drop the entire quilt onto the back of the machine, get a chair, sit down, and rip stitches. It was heartbreaking, and I lamented the waste of time. My headphones weren't working, so it was dead silent. 

However, you know what? I did a lot of reflecting on my recent trip, took multiple breaks, and then I was on the home stretch. I was done and ready to roll again. 

I chose a completely different pattern, and you know what? I'm glad that happened - I LOVE this new pattern I chose. But it was much denser than the original, and thankfully, there were no glitches in it. 

The new quilt pattern with NO overlap

I was extremely excited to get to the final corner at about 9 PM last night. 

The final corner of the quilt

And there's the quilt from the back. You'll see the front next week. 

And my quilt is done!

I did not get the binding made, and I think I'm going to choose a different fabric - one that's a bit darker. 

What an ordeal. That has only happened once or twice before, and you can be sure that I watched that entire stitchout process like a hawk to ensure I wasn't ripping out that dense pattern!

I managed to complete one more machine embroidery hooping, but the mishap with the long arm meant it took me all day, and the last stitches were finished just before the quilt on the long arm was completed. I have three more things to stitch out, and I don't think I'll get them all done today. I could take them with me and stitch them out at the show. I also have those things on the cutting table that I was going to take, and that's IF I get a chance to stitch anything at all. If there are people around and I'm chatting, as I've been known to do, I won't get any stitching done at all. 

To top off the day, as I was nearing the end of the machine embroidery, this unexpected event occurred. Yes -- it was one of those days. 

My stool had a mishap

I bought two of these little stools, and they have been great for working on the embroidery machine, and I have used them for Zoom calls, when working in a tight space with tables surrounding me. Yes -- they look uncomfortable, but I was never sitting for long - just basically parking my butt to change thread and then standing up again. I had felt a few wobbles with this stool recently, and I should have checked. I did not, and then boom - I was on my butt on the floor, after hitting my head on the bookcase. I know -- another head injury!! All seems to be fine, but I was a bit worried after googling it and finding out that Bob Saget hit the back of his head, went to bed, and didn't wake up! Thankfully, I woke up. Do NOT yell at me - I have a proper chair at the machine for the moment, and I'll figure something out later. 

I have a friend who has her embroidery machine raised up so she stands to change thread, and I need to purchase a new table so I can do the same. I think this will be the catalyst that will make that happen. I've been searching, but I haven't quite found what I'm looking for. 

All I can say is thank goodness that did NOT happen on a Zoom or Facebook Live call. Can you imagine me disappearing from the camera view and then recovering quickly to continue? 

The stool is still good, and I think it can be repaired. If I lived near my Dad, it would be fixed in a flash. Where can I find a welder? 

However, I had a couple of good moments with the machine embroidery process. I hate when you get small spools like this - will there be enough or won't there? 

Do I have enough thread?

In my case, there was plenty, so I was saved. This is the thread range I'm currently using. Loads of colors, and I never follow the exact color chosen by the designer. I choose colors based on my personal preferences. And I've been bang on these last couple of days. Just wait until you see what I've been stitching!

My embroidery thread for the current projects

Speaking of stitching, look at this. Lately, various geocachers have been posting numerous unusual geocache boxes and creative ways people have set them up. Some of them are amazing. But look at this one - there's thread involved.

An interesting geocache with thread

There is a spool of thread, and I suspect that to "write" in the book, you use the thread. OK --- I wonder how many people do that? I've no idea where this one is located, but it's pretty fun!

I managed to get the binding completely on that other quilt, but again, it took the entire day to make that happen. Once I got the long arm back working, I literally hopped from the embroidery machine to the long arm, babysitting, changing thread, and some parts of this machine embroidery design are very fiddly, and it took quite a while. 

The binding is on!!!

But that is one more quilt done! WAIT - that is a 25-year-old UFO done! Today, there is nothing to quilt - only to trim the quilt, put the binding on, and operate the embroidery machine, so it should be a quiet day. I also have a few pictures to take and send to people, and I still have those labels to make, and I have to pack. 

An interesting comment came up over the weekend. I run a machine embroidery club, and there are about 25 people in the group. I heard from THREE people that they had to get some machine embroidery done so they would have show and tell for the class this coming Sunday. WAIT ---- I don't run the class, so you feel obligated to do something for show and tell. No -- they all assured me that the deadline was a good reason to get things done, that they wanted to do anyway! 

I guess I feel somewhat in the same boat, although I have a different deadline at the moment. But I have so many things I want to stitch out that I should be doing more machine embroidery regularly. I still have a "few" things to make for the upcoming Facebook Live on September 18, but I'll deal with that after this weekend. 

Anyway, although I got the minimum I wanted to get done yesterday, it took a very long time, and I was physically exhausted when I threw myself into bed. We still have a house guest, so I can't completely ignore her either! Let's hope that today is a lot quieter and calmer. But a day when things don't go well is also a good day. It's never good to have setbacks, but how you handle those setbacks is what builds character. I think I handled yesterday's setback with grace and dignity - just make it happen and move on. 

Although again, when you see the quilt that I was quilting, it's hilarious that that happened on that quilt! 

On that happy note, I'm out of here! Off to spin class. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!