One More Time Around

Are you getting dizzy going around and around Semper Fi? I wish dizziness was the only thing holding me back from this finish. There was a lot on the to-do list yesterday, and so I didn't get into the quilting room until after lunch. Now I'm on the last border with three sides left.

One whole side is done, and I was just getting started on side two when I quit for the day. Really, I needed to walk away from it because I was tearing my hair out with frustration from thread breakages. (And, honestly, I can't afford to lose any more hair.)

So I wanted to blame this half-empty spool of thread.

But, really...it is only about half empty, and it doesn't seem as if the machine should be that picky about thread spools. And this is expensive Aurifil thread! Nevertheless, I'd tried everything else. I'd cleaned out the bobbin casing, rethreaded the bobbin, oiled the machine, rethreaded the top thread, changed to a larger needle, changed back to the original needle. Finally, I tried changing out the thread spool for a new one. It seemed to fix the problem, but only temporarily. Maybe it was only fixed because I did walk away from it for a while. When I returned, the problem was back. Smitty was completely purrplexed.

Now, I'm thinking I might be yanking a little too hard on the quilt as I change directions on the stylized stars. The same thing was happening on the earlier friendship star motif, which my friend Cathy has cleverly identified as "twirly star thingies." I love a good technical quilting term, don't you?

Terminology aside, it's natural to pause for an instant as I change direction, and here's my theory: As I pause, the needle probably makes one or two extra ups and downs in that spot, which makes a tiny knot on the back of the quilt. Then, as I take off in the opposite direction, the knot makes just enough resistance to cause the thread to break. And here's my proposed solution...slow down just a tad at those changes of direction. As I was taking off on the second side of the border, I slowed down at those spots, and possibly...just possibly...I have identified and solved the problem. If you don't hear from me again it's because the problem continued, and I decided to slit my own throat with my sewing scissors. Not that I'm overly-dramatic or anything, but enough is enough. I'll find myself quoting Popeye when I say, "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!" But you really want to see him say it, don't you?

It must be old television show week, here at the Three Cats Ranch. Please tell me you're old enough to remember Popeye.

In other sewing, Smitty was my helper cat yesterday. We're on a skeleton crew here as we wind down for our winter trip. Only one kitty helper per day.

With his assistance, I finished the fourth Tiny Tree block. This one was a simple four-patch...or "fur-pawtch," if you're speaking Catonese.

These are the four blocks I have so far.

Also, I traced out the next three Snowmen for "I Believe in Snowmen." This one...

And this one...

And this one.

The first is hooped up and waiting for me downstairs. They are small, and so they stitch up pretty quickly.

So that's where I'm headed next. I'm hoping to finish the quilting on Semper Fi today...unless I take the Popeye escape, mentioned earlier. If I can get the quilting finished. I'll get to work sewing the binding strips together. If there's any patience left in me, I'll get that binding sewn on by machine. It'll be our final wrestling match, and I'm determined to pin it. (See how well wrestling and sewing fit together?)