More Samples

19 down and 41 more ready to go!

Over the weekend I continued to work on samples until I ran out of suitable fabric - plain enough for the stitching to show but not totally plain.  My machine was cantankerous, making new noises and not making perfect stitches so I was glad that I had booked a visit to the service man Gil at Rumpled Quilt Skins in Okotoks.  Not next door but this store comes highly recommended by a friend back in Ottawa.  What a banquet of quilts to view and fabric, books and tools to explore!  They really had some pieces that got me anxious to get my embroidery unit working!  The visit yesterday did not disappoint and I found out that, in addition to the usual accumulation of lint (in spite of my frequent cleaning), somewhere along the line there had not been enough lubricant used on my machine - or all the dry climates I have been in over the last two years have taken their toll.  On the way back, while pursuing other errands, I located some inexpensive fabric that should do just fine for samples so I was back in business today.

It took a chunk of time today but I now have 41 quilt sandwiches prepared ready to stitch.  I'm much more likely to sit down for a short period of time if I don't have to start from scratch and make the sandwich.  Now to spend some time researching new fillers so that my reminder cards are ready to roll also.  Then tomorrow I can get back to stitching for a while.  I'm actually enjoying this exploration - not as boring as I thought it would be.  The next series will be an exploration of some new surface design techniques but that will have to wait until this series is completed.  I hope to actually get working on some 'work' along the way as well.  Hope hubby doesn't decide to hit the road too soon!