Sew & Tell ~ Maintenance and Self-Care

As I wrote my stories for last week's Pieces of My Life series (blog post & newsletter) I mentioned the need for maintenance... roads require it or they become rough and, sometimes, impassable.  Vehicles require maintenance...water systems need it... machines of all types need it.  

I've been so busy with customers quilts (not to mention life) lately that the proper cleaning and maintenance of my sewing machines had been overlooked.

As you can see, my poor Lyric was in desperate need of attention.  No wonder the stitches weren't quite "perfect"!  

After a good cleaning of all the lint and bits of thread I spent time trying to get the locations and dates embroidered on the park sign blocks of our Camping Journal quilt.  This gets me one step closer to a finish and leaves the final two rows of postcard blocks to be experienced.  

A good portion of one day was devoted to picking through my scrap bin in search of two specific pieces of Route 66 fabrics that I want to be included in a few blocks representing our trip later this month.  I was finally successful and located one of the two... I guess I really did use up every last bit of the other one.  

All of this to say... we need to pay attention to our machines and our bodies and perform the proper maintenance and care to keep running at optimum speed and function.

I mentioned water systems... after the freeze and breakage of the main line earlier this year, there was to be maintenance performed to improve and replace several shut-off valves. That was scheduled for this coming week.  

It was a good plan, but as luck would have it, an observant neighbor noticed a growing puddle of water on Friday afternoon.   There is a leak.  Noooooo! The repairs will be made Monday.  Fingers crossed and hands folded in prayer, the line doesn't blow completely and we end up with a geyser.

Dave and I are in need a break!  (It is coming soon!  Our nephew's wedding is just a few weeks away and we will be there.)

I am looking at my self-imposed publishing schedule for the Pieces of My Life Sew Along and trying to figure out how to best handle the emailing of my newsletter.  The releasing of the patterns is easy to schedule and manage... The newsletter is a little trickier for me since I use a mail merge feature of MS Word and don't have access to the program on either of our laptops.  Hmmmmmmm.... I have options.  I will need to consider all of them and determine how important it is to keep the two blocks/stories separate.  

Do you enjoy getting two different stories with each block?

Were you aware that I even do that???

These are just some of the questions I had floating in my mind as I did the embroidery on my park signs.     

Along with the question of why, oh WHY, does my machine do fine on one block and then does something so messed up that it is not legible??? (This will be a question the next time my machine is taken in for its "spa" treatment.)

I finally gave up on the machine embroidery.  I was spending so much time removing bad stitching I decided that I will hand stitch the few remaining portions. I am matching the lettering as close as possible... The free-hand stitching can't be any worse than the stitching gone awry!  I will fix a few more, like the date on the Cimarron Canyon block... that is supposed to say "May '24". 🤦‍♀️

As for my personal self-care, I am enjoying the slow stitching!  I have been reminded that not everything needs to be about getting it done fast.  Right??? Who's with me? 

I've rambled on long enough... Time for the Sew & Tell feature. Maggie at Making a Lather shared several finishes.  They are fabulous!  Take a minute to stop by and admire them a little closer and give her a pat on the back for the accomplishment.

Let's get the party started! 🎉

I'll be over here hand stitching... what are you up to?

If you don't want to join the party, leave a comment... 

OR... Do both!  I'd love to hear from you and give your blog or social media account a visit.

Keep piecing,

Melva

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