Updates

First update is about my quilting class with Linda Steele.  Our second class last Wednesday was very informative for me in particular!  We were busy stitching patterns on our sample blocks, when my bobbin ran out of thread.   I had another bobbin ready, so I popped it in.  The machine promptly made 'eyelashes' on the back, ie. the tension was all out of whack.  Linda came over and tried everything she could think of.   One of the other ladies suggested that the problem might be the different thread on the bobbin to what was on the top reel.   She was partly right; the thread I'd used to fill the bobbin at home was a very old reel of thread that I'd been given by someone having a clean out.  Linda warned us that old thread can really stuff up our machine, and said I should throw it out.  So I re-filled the bobbin with the same thread on the top reel, and while I was re-threading the machine Linda noticed that I'd placed the thread somewhere that didn't look right to her . So we scanned the instruction booklet and sure enough, I'd been doing it wrong all the time for the past six months! Once we'd fixed that, my machine hummed along happily.

The final class is not for another three weeks, which gives us time to practice what Linda has taught us on our sample blocks.  When we return, we'll start on a new block using coloured fabric and contrasting cotton, and Linda is going to show us how to do the 'feathers' design.  The lady sitting next to me commented after the class that she is glad Linda has broken the workshop into three days rather than learn everything all in one day, and I agreed.  We both felt there is so much to take in that if it had been a one day workshop, both of us would have gone home exhausted and forgotten everything by the next day!


Sorry this next bit isn't stitching related, but some of you left such kind comments here relating to my last post about my friend who has cancer, that I decided to give a bit more info . We visited our friends today and "C" was quite positive about everything, although once the guys left us for a few minutes we had a heart-to-heart talk . She goes into hospital next week and for the next few months life is going to be tough for them both, as many of you would know if you have experienced cancer treatment first or second hand. Here we are having a hug before Ken and I came home - I'm in blue, "C"  is in pink.  She is eight months younger than me.