A Near-Month Off

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. 

Pink Pinwheels; made with leftover HSTs.

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.

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.

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