Fresh Start

Good morning, my friends. Happily, I got my sewing day back on track yesterday after the free motion debacle of the day before. We mopped the floor in the morning. While I waited for the floor to dry, I picked out what remained of the quilting I'd done, and I was ready for a fresh start. A fresh start is always better than a false start. Wouldn't you agree?

When I'd finished picking out my stitches I went outside to check on the kitties. I found them with some poor critter trapped under this weeping spruce tree. Cats have amazing patience when they're stalking something. Sadie was a newcomer when I took this photo, but Smitty had already been sitting there for an hour or more.

Eventually, they both gave up and came inside. Whatever critter they were stalking lived to get into mischief for another day. I was working on my "Spices" quilt in the sewing room when Smitty joined me.

Are you pawsitive you've selected the right fabrics for this quilt?

Well, I think so. Here's your peek. What do you think?

When I'm working on these collage quilts, I'm spending about 95% of my time standing at the ironing board. I've realized I can't work on them for more than about an hour and a half before my feet start to hurt. I've had foot problems for decades. It's one of the reasons I chose a sit-down mid-arm machine over a longarm. I blame my wide feet and high arches. Also, I have mild scoliosis that causes me to always stand with my weight on the right foot. If I stand with my weight on the left foot, my right foot doesn't touch the ground. As for sewing, I suffer at night when my feet are hurting, and so I've learned to set a timer and stop when the time is up.

It was time to get back to my quilting, but I'll admit to being a little gunshy about it after having spent a whole day taking out what I'd already done. It seemed safe to start with a different block, and I was tired of looking at the one I'd been working on. So I switched to a monofilament thread and a small 80/12 needle and went to work on this block. 

And I like this a lot better. It made me feel better about having spent so much time taking out the other quilting stitches. There is so much going on in these blocks that there's really no room to do much with the quilting. I'm just outlining the applique. The quilting is strictly functional. Here's how it's looking from the back. It's hard to see, and that's by design.

It was nearing the end of the day by then, and so I left it needle-down. I'll start here today.

We're looking at overcast skies today. The relatively cooler days this summer have been appreciated. I took a couple of days off from the Bowflex and the treadmill, but I'll get back to that today. There's one housekeeping chore on my list, but then I'll just get back to the sewing projects I've been working on. It's the same old same old until we get on our way to Moab next month. Sometimes routine days are a welcome respite.