When a blog goes silent for a prolonged period of time, there's usually a reason. My reason is that I am smack dab in the middle of a dry spell caused by my long-arm woes. I am unwilling to blog when all I do is whine and complain. No one wants to read that! And I don't want to write it!
I felt as though I took positive action in July when I took the machine to be serviced and cleaned. It needed it. I've had the long arm for 10 years, and this was it's first servicing. All my optimism with a newly serviced machine was crushed when I found that I was still having top thread breakage. Darn. How could this be?
I've been fiddling around with it - in a rather sporadic and half-hearted way - and I feel as though I am getting close. I've had a long phone chat with Jake, the repairman at Chestnut Ridge. He offered good, sound advice, and even said that I could bring it back and he'd sit with me to show me basic trouble-shooting strategies.
Pink Pinwheels, below, was on the long arm when my troubles began. I have successfully completed it. A promising development.
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| Pink Pinwheels; made with leftover HSTs. |
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Pooh Quilt - intended to be gifted last Christmas. |
After Pink Pinwheels, I immediately loaded the Pooh Quilt. I did great for a time, but then the thread breakage started up again. So daggone aggravating!
Stay tuned. I will have positive news. I am optimistic that I can avoid another trip to Chestnut Ridge, and solve this with my own bull-headed determination.
I tell you all this just to explain why I am not blogging. I have tried to focus my attention on WIPs that need finishing, and I've made progress on those. I know that ultimately, with success on the long arm, productivity will see a massive rebound and I will share happy news rather than complaints.
Now, let me share some of those WIPs (works in progress) which I mentioned. Bit by bit, some finishes are on the horizon. I've pulled out this hand-quilting project to find that I was further along on it than I'd realized. This motivates me to maintain my focus and finish it off.
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| A hand-quilting project is nearing completion. |
With remnant of my TATW quilt finished in the spring, I began making mini TATW blocks. I've now made 7 blocks with a plan to do 5 more. I will still have remnants, but 12 blocks will made a nice couch quilt.
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| Mini-Trip Around the World block. |
Hoping that not just my long arm mojo returns, but also my blogging mojo does, too! How do you weather the dry spells in your sewing and quilting life? Maybe I need a pep talk.
Happy Quilting, Friends!
Jayne
