Thread Magic

Have you ever noticed how a can of non-stick cooking spray will last way past the point when there seems to be nothing left in the can? Sometimes I can shake the can, sure there is nothing left inside, and yet...it continues to produce spray for another several days. I call it the "magic" part of the can. That's kind of how I feel about my spool of thread right now. As I'm sewing, I keep checking it to see how much is left. It seems to have less thread each time I look, but it keeps going, and going, and going. With each quilt block, I think I will run out, and then when it's finished, I check the spool again. It still has thread. This is how it looks this morning.

For yesterday's effort, I was certain I'd run out of thread before finishing even one block. One block down, and I still had thread. I think this might be the first block I embroidered when I started working on this project.

So, okay, still having thread, I quilted another.

And still I have thread. Only two blocks were finished yesterday. I left the house at 9:30 for my 10:30 appointment. I'd been asked to check in at 10:15. At 10:50, I was still waiting to see the doctor, which put me in a bad mood. Oh well. Eventually, we got through it. All is well. I'm done for another year. At least, I hope I won't have any reason to see her until next year's annual physical. After that, I headed to the grocery store, which was mobbed. I dislike shopping on Monday because the aisles tend to be filled with huge carts, as employees restock the shelves after the weekend madness. On the other hand, is there ever really a good time to go grocery shopping? I think not. By 2:30, I was finally home, and you know I took a nap after that.

It's important on these venturing-out days to keep up with my slow-stitching. I was able to get some accomplished yesterday, and I've already done this morning's dose. Today's outing will be to the dentist, and so you can see why it's important to calm myself ahead of time. I've nearly filled the hoop on this position. There is just a little more to stitch inside the mason jar and on the pie crust.

Possibly this piece will cure me once and for all of ever using a tone-on-tone fabric for an embroidery background. It was difficult to trace the pattern since it was hard to distinguish the lines on the pattern from the lines on the fabric. It seemed as if it would be okay, but now with the stitching, I'm having trouble seeing the traced lines. Fortunately, I can compare the traced lines on the fabric with the printed pattern to find my way pretty well.

The kitties are doing their part in this endeavor.

Looking at these two, I'd say Smitty is the more committed to doing his part.

As I said, I'm heading off to the dentist this morning. The dentist is only half of the bad news. The drive to downtown Portland makes this adventure positively harrowing. I used to drive into downtown Portland every week. Now, I do it so seldom that even the anticipation seems downright dreadful. It almost always gives me road rage. Fortunately, I get to come home after that, and then not go out again until sometime next week.

So I'll get back to my quilting this afternoon, and I'll keep going as long as the thread holds out. The good news is that the new spool has shipped. I expect I'll have it in a day or two. There's plenty of other sewing to be done in the meantime.