Hiccups

Interruptions, chaos…it happens. 

Granddaughter and great-granddaughter on the carousel

Friday brought joys—Kelsey brought her family to town for a quick visit which we made the most of—a visit to the state fair, a pumpkin patch and lots of food. Our great-granddaughter was the center of attention in a good way, and that added to the joy. 

The camel was a sweetheart

The gourd and melon winners

I loved seeing dads and granddads sporting their girls' backpacks

The girls in the corn castle at the pumpkin patch

Nita was part of the entourage and I gave her the Be Still quilt and got the loveliest note from her Sunday night. Love like that takes away all the grumbling for all the wrangling I did with that quilt while I was quilting it. 

The quilting of the Pumpkin Pie quilt has been interrupted. On Sunday I made it halfway through the 23rd hooping (out of 49 total hoopings required) on the Luminaire when the bobbin ran out with no warning. I turned off the machine and walked away with it still in the hoop and on the machine, per instructions. I returned to it Tuesday morning, turned it on, and instead of being asked if I wanted to continue with the project, I received an error message stating “remove embroidery frame”. I removed the frame and the message did not go away. Attempts to troubleshoot were met with stubbornness on the part of the machine, so off to the dealer she and I went. It will probably be a week before she’s fixed and I can not wait to hear how much this is going to cost.  

Lucky for me, I have my Bernina. I have used her mostly for sewing this past year, but last week I stitched out a label for the Pumpkin Pie quilt on it and I can’t help but wonder if the Luminaire saw that and decided to be a diva and have a hissy fit. Hmmph. The edge-to-edge design I’m using will fit on the Bernina and I may continue the quilting of the Pumpkin Pie quilt on her. We’ll see. 

I also see this as an opportunity to start the baby quilt that needs to be done in a month. I recently purchased several Studio dies when Accuquilt had a sale on them, and one of those dies was perfect for this project. The ScanNCut will also be utilized for this project. 

And I have been thinking a lot about my UFOs. I may be turning 2027 into the finishing year, but I will obviously allow some NESTYs their due. The possibilities are running through my mind and I’m hoping I have a clearer path before January 1 because...

...another set of hiccups is family related. No details yet, and I’m processing all the variables in the hope of this becoming a blessing rather than a bane. I’m always wondering what God wants me to do and He keeps pointing me in a certain direction from which I have attempted to avoid for a long time, if for no other reason than for self-preservation. I think this may be part of the reason why I have been trying to get so many projects finished as quickly as possible—my time in my studio may become restricted due to family life. 

But back to happy thoughts—despite the Luminaire going to the shop, I’m pressing on with the following:

Mod Owls Revival is a flimsy and Katrina will be longarming it. I hope to get it to her in a few days; I need to piece the backing. 

Pumpkin Pie may be spending some time on the Bernina getting quilted. 

Baby quilt is being cut and I’m anticipating sewing it up this weekend and working on the appliqué portion, too. 

Starting the baby quilt

Posh Santa is back on the design wall while I mull over how I want to quilt it. I know I want to face the quilt instead of binding it. 

The studio refresh continues to amaze me in how much more productive I am because I can actually move around in each room. Hubs has tweaked some things like the foot rest for my foot pedal on the Bernina, and installed the strip plugs for each machine underneath the table, making it easy to reach and turn off. There are a few boxes that need to be taken to the attic. A wool strip cutter for rug hooking and a Dazor magnifying lamp will be placed on the market. I decided that I do lighting above the new table. The bulbs have arrived and will hopefully be installed next week. 

Thanks for following along with me. I hope you have a week full of making and whatever makes you happy!