Once again I'm stalled with quilting. The thread kept snapping at the needle while quilting the little Homebase. I've swapped out the needle, the bobbin, re-threaded everything multiple times, and I concluded it's the walking foot. The foot works fine as long as I stay in a straight line. But if I try to turn a curve too sharply, either the foot or the feeds rub against the needle and snips the thread. (I've never been happy with this foot - my other walker is much sturdier, but I am hesitant to try buying another walking foot online without seeing it first.)
In troubleshooting the problem, I discovered the spool of thread I was using shouldn't be on top of the sewing machine but on a thread stand. Fancy that! I don't have one of those, but discovered a great work around. I have had this ornament holder stuffed in a cupboard, unloved and unused for years. Works pretty well, too!
I decided to take a break from the quilting and swapped to some other projects I had cut and were ready to sew. Not really what I wanted to be doing yet, but it's satisfying to have actually finished something without a lot of swearing and re-threading the machine.
First, I used the rest of my Italian cotton. I made a twirly skirt for dancing. The pattern required more fabric than what I had; I lopped 5" off the bottom of the skirt pattern to fit the 2¼ yards I had. It's a full round skirt - I figured if it was too short, I'd add another color fabric to the bottom to make it longer. As it is, it comes to my knees. The pattern says to let it hang for a
day or so to let it relax before hemming it. I may get to use this! Yay!
I still had large chunks of the cotton after cutting the skirt, so I made a couple of knot bags with the leftovers. I'm happy with how they look. Depending on what's left, I may make a shoe bag or two and then strip the rest for cord bowls. The fabric is no longer taking up room in my stash or looking forlorn on the top of my sewing drawers.
So back to quilting! I hope the machine behaves.
I love the idea of using an ornament holder as a spool holder. The normal ones are not as nice to look at. Next time I find an ornament holder around the house, it will be placed in my sewing room, which I hope to get back to sometime next year when I can get up the stairs.
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