Talkin' Tuesday and GenQ Magazine

Tonight was a hoot.  GenQ Magazine was sponsoring Talking Tuesday - see buttons on sidebar.  Up to its usual hijinks, GenQ brought out the best in the chatters.  We even got to chose what our super hero name would be if we could be a quilting superhero.
I mentioned that since "Captain Buckethead" was taken in our house, that I'd have to pick another name.  This drew a couple of ?? replies.
So here he is, fresh out of retirement in Bucket City,

Captain Buckethead !!

aka my darling 12 yr old son.

I think I'm going to have to insist he use a quilt for his cape,

 but then Superman's mom didn't tell him what to wear, did she?

Batik BOM #2 finished

Today's finish is another customer's quilt.   It is the same pattern as the last one but in a different colour way.  It also got a much different quilting treatment.  This time I made feathers.  Feathers in many different combinations.  The different blocks, of the Block of the Month pattern, received a different pattern.  The cornerstones that connect the blocks received a continuous pattern to accent their linear feature.  The filler blocks that were all the same received the same circle of feathers., half a circle in the side triangles.   As I do for all my customers who wish it, I serged the edges to make it easy and neat for binding.
So, here's a peek.

Time to vacuum the sewing room.

My baby's back....

Yesterday I got a call from the sewing machine hospital to say my baby was ready to come home.  She had a general overhaul and cleaning.  I vacuum out the bobbin area regularly but the tech was still able to remove a ball of fluff the size of a large grapefruit from inside the machine.
The lesson - get that regular servicing !!
She has a new bobbin case (see story below) and the total bill was less than I was expecting so it's all good.
And she's sewing like a dream.

The new bobbin case is because I put a needle through it a while ago.  I broke a needle and when I went searching for the pieces, I found the tip gouged into the side of the plastic bobbin case.  Being the frugal (cheap) sort, I smoothed it out with a scissor blade and got it up and running.  But since baby was going into the shop anyway, I figured I'd spring for the new one.  I'm happy with that decision. :)

Now, on another note.  Do you need rain??  Just send me camping.  Both of our camping trips this summer were cut short because of rain..  Camping in a tent, with an 11 yr old, and a dog, when it's raining and the forecast is for more rain-- isn't fun.  So, both times we went home.  This time it took 2 weeks !!!!! for the tent to dry out.  Every time it was almost dry enough to pack up , it would rain again.  AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH !   I think we're done for this year.   I need to win a lottery and get a trailer.  But then, if it were a big enough lottery, skip the camping and do the 5 star resort is what I say!

August FNSI

This was quite a night.  I think instead of calling it FNSI, I'll call it Wrestlemania Marathon.
I worked on a customer's quilt.  I had half of the quilting done by yesterday, so I figured it would be a cinch to finish it tonight.  Wrong in so many ways.
I started sewing this afternoon and met problem after problem.  The thread kept breaking.  I blamed the thread, as it was embroidery weight - not what I would have picked.  That and the bobbin thread was quite a bit thicker as it was 100% cotton "machine quilting" thread.  Also not what I usually use.  So, I tried to tough it out.
Rethreaded top and bottom, too many times to count
Changed the needle
Changed the bobbin
Changed the bobbin thread as I had the same colour in "my fav" thread
Changed the top thread
Changed them all again, a few times,
Still, every foot or so, the thread would shred and I would let out a few of those words that my mama would have washed my mouth out with soap for saying.
So, I went to Costco. I came home and made a delicious fruit salad of strawberries, watermelon and red grapefruit.

 And I walked the dog.
  Then downstairs I went again.
Finally in frustration, I pulled my machine out of the table and put in my backup/take to class machine.
Should have done that in the first place, it worked perfectly.  No more thread problems.
So, it wasn't the thread, or the bobbin, or the needle etc.
It was my machine.
So, I'll be taking her to the doctor tomorrow. 
So, in the meantime, I wrestled that quilt through the smaller machine and got 'er done.  Serged the edges, and packed her up.  Hopefully the recipient is home tomorrow and I can deliver it.

 A closer look at the quilting.  Overall daisies on the quilt, and a chain of daisies on the border.

 Packed and ready to depart from my home.

This is one quilt that did not find a soft spot in my heart.  If it had been mine, it would probably be in the darkest corner of a closet by now.