Tidying up

After some really lovely feedback on my work from module one - thanks Janet - I'm excited to get started with module two.

Before I get cracking this is just a quick post to explain that I have tidied up the labels in the side bar a bit.  As you know I like to blog 'chatter' posts as I'm progressing through the module, this way I can keep posting regularly without having to wait until I've finished each chapter. 

You can click on the labels in the side bar to take you to all posts relating to a particular chapter.  I thought this labels section would start getting a bit overwhelming if I left everything in there.  So in the sidebar I have now hidden the links to the chatter posts for module one, and will put up links to the module two chatter posts as I progress through.

I have left the labels in to link to the submission post for each of the module one chapters and any general stuff that I blog about so anyone passing by can still pop by and look at those quite easily if they wish.

Inspiration everywhere

I can always tell when I'm into working on this course as I start looking at the world differently.  My eyes take everything in when I'm out and about and  all of a sudden a group of reeds at the edge of a pond, an amazing architectural feature on a building, or a crumbling ivy covered wall lit brillinatly by the sun become lines, swirls and textures that I want to translate in to stitch.

Happy Days :)

Stitching in the Sun

Just had to tear myself away from the sunshine for a second to share my little slice of stitchy heaven. Beatrice is all set up and has been working nicely for me this morning. I have the Ipod going with my favourite tunes, and I know it's a little early but you can't have a stitching session in the sun without a nice glass of Pimms to keep you company. I love sunshiney days off work!! :)

I'm Back

Had family staying with me last week. With my two nephews aged 10 and 2 running around there was no chance of me getting to the sewing machine. It's my last day off work today so I'm hoping to make the most of it. The sun is shining at the moment, so I think I'll go to the effort of dragging my machine out in to the garden. Seems a shame not to make the most of the beautiful weather.

Woe is Jemimah

I think Jemimah is going to have to go back to the shop. I'm still having problems. She has this auto setting on the tension dial.I have always stitched with the dial in this position and have had absolutely no problems before. You saw the other day what problems I was having with the tension randomly changing when I was doing the freemotion the other day. Now I'm having the same issue with feed dogs up.

I was merrily stitching away on some work for my prarie point sample. I thought all was ok for a while. She was stitching a bit tight and I was getting some pull on the fabric, but it wasn't until I had a closer look at the stitching that I could see there was definitley a problem.I'm not sure how obvious it is as this photo isn't particularly good, but I'm still getting what seems to be random changes. This is the same fabric, same thread, same tension, same sewing speed, same auto stitch pattern, but the pattern on the left is a lot tighter/the repetitions are a lot closer together than the stitching on the right.

I could go on and on messing around with tension like I did for the free motion sample, but actually Jemimah didn't stitch like this before she went in for repair so I'm now convinced that she's come back not quite right. The only trouble is I'm sure the repair shop is closed for 2 weeks holiday and I'm also worried about how long it might take them to get her back to me after all the palava last time. I could take her to another place, but there aren't many choices round hers and I also paid the last place for repair and she's come back wrong so I don't see why I should pay somewhere else to fix the mistake that she's come back with.

Back to Chapter Eight and Beatrice for a while again I think...... sigh

Party time

Jemimah is back! I'm so excited to have her again. I thought that Beatrice might be a bit jealous as she is likely to take a back seat in my sewing exploits now, but she is being the perfect lady about the whole thing and decided to throw Jemimah a welcome home party complete with balloons :)

Meet Beatrice

With Jemimah still in the shop and no further news on her repair, I think Dave was fed with me moping around the house. He came home from work yesterday with a present just for me. Meet Beatrice.She's a basic soul, but I she has all the essentials so I'm sure we'll become firm friends. I haven't had the time to put her through her paces yet, but she switches on which is more than can be said for Jemimah right now so I'm sure we'll be getting on like a house on fire before too long. I'm so excited about the prospect of making some progress on the coursework again :)

Frustration

I had hoped that I would be getting my sewing machine back today, but no. I called the repair shop and they say it's gone back to the manufacturer for an estimate of the repair cost.

I'm so frustrated I spoke to the repair shop 2 weeks ago and they gave me an estimate then and now they're telling me something different.

I've been without my machine for 6 weeks now. If I had known it was going to take this long to sort out I would have bought myself a cheapie with a few basic stitches to make do for a few weeks.

I don't know whether to scream or cry at this point!

Waiting

My machine went in to the repair shop on Friday so I'm waiting to hear what is wrong. How long it'll be before I have her back is any one's guess they had a whole array of machines waiting to be looked at before mine so there must be a sewing machine virus going round at the moment :)

It's frustrating not to be able to get on with things but in the meantime I'm keeping myself amused with these booksAnd on Saturday I spent a day in London and had a visit to Tate Britain.First time I've ever been. It was an interesting experience and lots of food for thought, but I have to confess that there were a lot of pieces there that I just didn't understand and left me feeling confused. I guess I'm just not intellectual enough to get some of this modern art stuff!! :)