a day of sewing

Well, my day has gone much easier that thought, in some ways. Chuck woke up early with a sudden and bad flare up of gout in his knee. I fully expected my day to be at his mercy but he hasn't needed much, for a change! I started working on the back side of my journal quilt and have learned a few hard lessons. NEVER use heavy fusible web when sewing! MAJOR rule to remember! It gums up the needle REALLY bad, totally screws up the bobbin, breaks thread, etc... So, my morning was spent in utter frustration. I had run out of my good thread too and was using crappy thread that was just shredding. So, I took a break and ran to Hancock for thread. Since I've already fused all my pieces down and managed to stitch half of it, I have to finish. I have a couple of ideas and am going to see if they help with the sticking.I ran my needle several times through a versa mark embossing pad! :) If that doesn't work, I'm going to add a tiny bit of oil to my needle and see if that helps. I'm desperate! This didn't happen with the front side and my conclusion is that I adhered Timtex to the back of the front piece and it's got a weird sorta' waxy feel to it and I think it helped keep the sticky stuff off my needle! Now that I'm doing the back, I don't have the timtex on because I'd then have double thickness in the middle of my quiltie, which I don't want. Anyway, I'm trouble shooting.

I stopped and picked up a movie for the kids because I'd promised Max that I'd make him a creature from his drawing today. He'd originally drawn a tiger but changed it to a leopard. So, while at Hancock, I just happened to notice leopard print and bought a tiny piece! So, I got busy on his creation as soon as I got them home from school and settled with the movie. Now, his little creation turned out really cute but OMG, I thought I'd go nuts! These pieces are so tiny to turn and stuff! Next time, the critters have to be bigger! I did have to make a minor alteration to Max's original drawing. He had drawn his leopard with stick legs! I took the general shape he had and just made the legs wider. And, at his request, The ears got straightened out a little bit. He was very particular with how the face was embroidered and he requested no nose because he didn't know how to do one like a "real" leopard and he didn't like my version either! Of all the nerve.... Anyway, here's Max and his little leopard! I think I need a break now....

I may get back to my quilt back and maybe not today. Tomorrow, I"m suppose to be dying sheets for a station for our upcoming 24/7 week of prayer. My friend Becky is suppose to come help me!

Gotta' go do food....