As I was carefully, slowly stitching along with GREAT concentration to stay in the seam line, this happened...
ran
out of
bobbin.
Right there a quarter inch from the start. You know stitching in the ditch is the hardest machine quilting as one moment's loss of focus and your off the seam, and it shows like a neon sign.
Argh!
I know you've done this too.
As I'm wrestling with this bed quilt, determined to finish it, my good friend Nancy asked innocently if I had finished my Valentine quilt for this year.WHAT?!
If you are new to my blog, I have made DH and I a V-day quilt every year of our marriage. I've shown a few here and show them all in a lecture on working in series.
I do have a concept, and a title. Now I must make the quilt to match.
The pictured mess above is my valuable scrap box of fusible pieces. Almost no matter how small, if it has fusible ironed to the back, it goes in this box. It's amazing how many times I reach in here to add a little applique.
So this is how I work. I have many projects going at the same time. As I am quilting one, I am thinking about the next. You?
LeeAnna
Hi LeeAnna,
ReplyDeleteOh no the bobbin thread ran out! That happens usually when I think I'm on the home stretch! Almost there! Almost finished then that happens!
But your situation,,,,how very frustrating!
Quilting/handwork is just lke watching tv. We watch a variety of shows through out the week. Same thing as "switching channels" with a hobby!
Take care,
Joanne
Hi LeeAnna,
ReplyDeleteOh no the bobbin thread ran out! That happens usually when I think I'm on the home stretch! Almost there! Almost finished then that happens!
But your situation,,,,how very frustrating!
Quilting/handwork is just lke watching tv. We watch a variety of shows through out the week. Same thing as "switching channels" with a hobby!
Take care,
Joanne
I have always said, machines ought to have a bell that rings loudly when bobbins go empty and never stops until you fill it! I would pay extra for that!
ReplyDeleteI have ..... well, too many to name going on at once. And I am thinking YEARS ahead! LOL
yes thaT is exactly how i work! here, there, under this,
ReplyDeleteis an idea sprouting, the next step on this one, and that on a pin board needs rearrangement and wow now that is better, eye pleasing.when i get stuck and cant' decide what comed next on a project , i move laterally. seriously. that way i am never bored and it cuts down on the crabby! this works for things that are not under a timely. sometimes i can hear the sewing machine has changed sounds when bobbin runs out.sometimes i have alotta tiny pukas(holes) to show for the effort. a sure sign in mind i was far far away!
I look forward to your latest heart quilt. What a loving tradition !
today is our Wedding Anniversary so i will celebrate a husband that came with among other skills, as a former paratrooper, skills at the sewing machine!
My bobbin does that. My machine has constant problems,but when the bobbin runs out and I don't notice for three or four feet, I just appease myself by saying that for that time,at least, the machine was working well. I, too, have WIP in boxes, on hangers, in drawers,on the machine and in my head. Don't we all?
ReplyDeleteYour post made me smile. I have (had) a small pile of fabric pieces backed with fusible stuff growing behind my machine. Last night I moved it to quilt a lap quilt. I thought, I need a box labeled "Fusible" to keep these in...they are too useful to throw away. Today, at school, someone threw away (gasp) a beautiful, sturdy box, just the right size to nestle into an empty space on my shelf. I rescued it, of course. Now, all it needs is a label, and my fusible scraps will have a home!
ReplyDeleteYour post made me smile. I have (had) a small pile of fabric pieces backed with fusible stuff growing behind my machine. Last night I moved it to quilt a lap quilt. I thought, I need a box labeled "Fusible" to keep these in...they are too useful to throw away. Today, at school, someone threw away (gasp) a beautiful, sturdy box, just the right size to nestle into an empty space on my shelf. I rescued it, of course. Now, all it needs is a label, and my fusible scraps will have a home!
ReplyDeleteI always seem to run out of bobbin at inconvenient times, so glad I'm not the only one. And I'm always dreaming of new projects. This quilt is looking so good!
ReplyDeleteYou bet I have done that Leeanna! and while SITD-ing too. I love your idea of creating a scrap bin for any fused bits of fabrics. Very clever to make them into heart too!
ReplyDeleteI usually can tell by the sound of the machine if the bobbin is out, but that doesn't mean that I may have traveled a long way before I realize it. Boring me, I usually work on one project at a time. Not many UFOs.
ReplyDeleteI also have a fusible scrap box that I often plow through, usually for fabric postcards.
I can never tell if I've run out of bobbin thread - even piecing when you can see through the little window I don't pay attention and it always sursprises me! Love your Christmas quilt. I have one in the machine, 4 to baste and far too many ideas to be able to work on just one at a time!
ReplyDeleteOh no! Yrp...done that so many times with the run-out bobbin! Looks like a lot of fun with the Valentines quilt. Good thing your friend said something. ;D
ReplyDeleteOh, you already know how many WIPs I have going! I have so much trouble trying to limit new starts until I finish something! On the bright side, I can work on whatever I'm in the mood to work on any time; I don't have to get in the mood for one specific project!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a valentine quilt every year. I got an idea for one while I was working on my Ticker Tape quilt, but I won't let myself start a new one until I finish two old ones. So it might be way past Valentine's Day by then!