Anchoring My Creative Quilt "Mess"

The current quilt on the agenda is a baby quilt.  The person who commissioned it checked with the mother-to-be for colors and theme.  The baby's room will be in mostly blue with white and a few red accents. So the quilt will be red white and blue.  The room will have a nautical theme and anchors are a major design element.
I sat down with Electric Quilt and made up this design.

The anchor will be better centered on the real quilt.   Then I started cutting fabric and realized that it could be a bit tricky to piece this without having to do partial or Y-seams. Hmmm....  EQ doesn't really help with that bit of quilt planning.  So I sat down with a pen and paper and started sketching and figuring measurements. I also was planning how to piece it.  EQ had several small pieces and lots of points to match (ugh.) If I can avoid matching points, I do.  Especially when I have a deadline to reach completion.  (and I really don't know when this baby is due - I did but I have forgotten!)

So now I have this creative mess in my living room - which is where I am sewing and cutting.

I should mention that the embroidery machine decided to be temperamental  when I was sewing out the anchor design.  It was sewing so nicely that I walked out of the room to do some other chores.  Did you know there is a special built-in sensor on an embroidery machine that limits how long you can leave that machine?  Well, maybe not really, but it certainly seems that way.  I heard a "clunk" and took off running.  I quickly stopped the machine and sorted out the problem - I thought.  Then, I used the  minus  ten stitch feature to go to the last place it was sewing properly.  I restarted the machine and it punched needle holes but did not sew.  ARRGH!
Now what????

I took out the bobbin, cleaned the bobbin area and put in a nice new bobbin, as the other was almost empty.   Just to be safe I used another hoop and just stabilizer to test it. More holes, no sewing.
So, I removed the embroidery unit.  I tried straight stitching. Nope!  I re-threaded and tried again. WHACK- the needle broke.  (I am ready to scream and/or cry now!)  I replaced the needle and the embroidery unit.  I put the small hoop with just stabilizer back on and picked a simple design -and prayed.  I pushed the start button....and it started embroidering.

Hooray!!!!

I put the anchor design (still in the 5 by 7 hoop) back on and repositioned it once again.  I hit start and watched constantly until it was finished.  Whew!  Apparently when the machine jammed previously, it bent the needle just enough that it wasn't noticeable to my eye - but the machine noticed. If it had only told me what was wrong!  I have lots of new needles in my stash.  Now I know and that is a good thing to remember.

When in doubt, re-thread, take out the bobbin and put it back in, clean the bobbin area while you have it open and (oh yes!)  change the needle every few projects.
A little prayer never hurts either.

Have a great day,

My blog is http://blog.geneblack.com
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