It's been a productive week again! I tidied up after my SIL left Monday morning and I settled in with the aqua Viridian's Chain quilt under the needle on my Babylock Jazz.
I had a brief detour as the machine became sluggish and the motor was straining. I've experienced this twice before and both times I gave a small drop of oil in a few key spots. It didn't seem to help this time. Hmmmm....
I moved to my piecing machine - the Babylock Lyric - and quilted a few lines. It was working out just fine, but I kept thinking of my Jazz. That's when I decided I needed to get the case opened up.
It is not the first time that I have done this... but I didn't really want to... But since Dave and I have done this together a few times, I was confident about where the issue was. Also, since the Jazz is a fully mechanical machine with no computer to be concerned about, I reasoned that it was no different than working on my mechanical Kenmore that I had for 20+ years.
I found the issue, cleaned up some ugliness from excess lubrication from a previous cleaning/oiling session, and carefully/sparingly oiled the problem area. I put her back together and we were back in business with her humming quietly as I quilted and the motor was not straining.
Woohoo! By the end of the day I not only had the quilting complete, but the binding as well!
This quilt, sans the orange "confetti" that I had auditioned, is calming and reminds me of an ocean breeze. Follow the link to learn about the orange.
I was on my way out the door to do some much needed grocery shopping on Wednesday, when I noticed that I had morning glories in bloom. I ran back in the house to grab the quilt and snap a few pictures while the morning sun was "glowing" on the flower bed. Sadly, that glow was caused by the heavy amount of smoke in the air. :( The smoke is from wildfires burning in the western portion of Colorado and some in New Mexico
It was well worth the pause in the start to my day, even if I did happen to get three mosquito bites as I accomplished the task that took less than 5 minutes! I was quickly off to my morning errands.
After shopping I returned to the morning glories to snap a few more shots, specifically, the pieced backing.
Back in April, I was confused about the "color of the month" and had started with teal. Mid-month, I switched to Red and this is what I made... Since it has aqua in the Hawaiian fabric, I'll count it for August as well. ;)
I finished the hand-quilting as I enjoyed a slow-moving morning... sipping and savoring my tea as I stitched down the scrappy binding.
You can see the smokey haze in the air. For those of us with allergies the smoke is aggravating! I don't have asthma, but I feel for those that are struggling with the air quality.
One last close up of my hand quilting...
I got three more mosquito bites while taking photos again! I'm ready for a heavy freeze to take care of those buggers. You may think I am making a big deal about the mosquito bites... well, I am. I have always suffered from the mosquito bites with severe itching and swelling and they bother me for weeks. Yes! WEEKS! They weep and itch and make me weep.
Earlier this summer, Dave was working with and listening to a friend about how his wife suffers from mosquito bites but found a laser light that zaps them and she no longer suffers for weeks.
Dave didn't immediately tell the guy that I experience the same thing, but did eventually get the info on the light "thingy." We ordered one and it has been a game changer for me. If you suffer like me... get this thing! You will not regret it.
That's all I have for now...
Keep Piecing,
Melva
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