Blood and tears

I bought more needles! Yeah me! Just in the nick of time too. My oldest son is in Japan teaching English and requested I make him more vests for work. They expect him to wear business attire. The only way to avoid wearing a full suit, including a coat which is hot, not to mention the expense of several suits to a young man starting out in life, is for him to wear an appropriate vest along with his slacks and tie. 

But ...

You knew there was a but here ...

But ... I used every straight pin I own to pin baste my Goddess quilt. Obviously I don't own many straight pins, LOL. I bought a box of curved safety pins and quickly found that swapping the pins still wouldn't return my straight pins to my pin cushion. 

So I had to start securing my Goddess. 
And I still have not mastered free motion quilting. 

I pulled out my sad little quilt sandwich, put in a fresh needle and started stitching. I can sew straight. I can do a small curve. The Q foot that came with my machine is for embroidery with a hoop. It hopped all over everything. I would call it a failure but truly I look at it as one more step to learning new skills.

Now what to do?
I swapped back to my regular stitching foot and started sewing the 'straighter' lines of my Goddess. It was slow but it truly filled me with joy. I was finally accomplishing something. The lines were imperfect but then again I actually put real stitches into my Goddess quilt. 

I also discovered why no sane person bastes their quilt ONLY with straight pins. You get stuck with their sharp ends. Owww! And yes, I ended up getting blood on the back of my quilt.

My husband wandered in and sat on the bed as I struggled to stitch and not bleed. He observed my struggles with my machine. Finally he ventured the thought that maybe I should sell my machine and buy a different machine that would be more conducive to free motion quilting. I know if I persevere I will accomplish free motion quilting on my Babylock Ellure, but I really agree that it might be easier if I had better tools. 

I did not fully stitch secure my Goddess. The earth is outlined, most of her rays are outlined and a the ribbons. I need to do her face and hair but I got a lot done before dinner demanded attention. And most importantly I stitched enough to leave her basted with only safety pins, so I could use my straight pins to start laying out my sons vests. 

The Goddess is in full pause.
The vests will be my next project as my oldest daughter is flying to Japan to visit her brother in less than 2 weeks. Nothing like a time crunch to get my priorities rearranged. 

    

I went from one sewing project to another ... And I am definitely sewing happily along :)