Hi Quilting Friends,
The Rainbow Scrap Challenge for November is to assemble block sets and finish quilts. Last week I shared the new scrappy zipper bag that I couldn’t resist making, HERE. This week felt like the perfect time to play with my basket of colorful signature blocks, and I had loads of fun with it.
These little blocks can be arranged in a variety of patterns, so I auditioned several potential layouts using a 5 by 5 block grid. This provided a reasonable design preview without fussing with ALL 204 of the blocks.
Which layout do you prefer? Or is there another interesting possibility that I’ve missed?
The next step will be to arrange the colors using the layout that I choose. I found examples of color burst images online for inspiration when I work on the design wall (or floor) to decide color placement.
This process will take a while, and I may need to add or remove blocks to achieve the look that I’m working toward. Stay tuned! I’ll provide updates as I continue playing with my blocks.
I had a bit of a mishap with a glass of water and Princess Nina (my primary sewing machine) last week. You can guess what happened, I’m sure.
I powered down right away, cleaned up the spill, and tilted her slightly to allow gravity to encourage any remaining water to quickly exit the machine case. I kept a fan running across the vent fan opening near the bottom of the machine and left her unplugged for 3 days. I confess that I didn’t sleep well for a couple of nights, worrying that I had made a very expensive blunder.
I checked in with Curtis, the technician at our local Bernina dealer, to get advice about when it might be safe to power the machine up. He reassured me that the area that had been splashed wasn’t where the computer boards are located, and that it should be fine to put Princess Nina back into service. With that encouraging information, I plugged her in, crossed my fingers, and flipped the power switch. Whew!
I was very nervous that I had killed Princess Nina with my clumsiness, so I feel very lucky that she works just as she did before her shower, and has survived the mishap with no ill effects. What a relief! (Thank goodness!)
Lessons learned:
1. Keep my glass of water on the ironing table (and away from the sewing machine), or make sure that the container has a spill proof lid and is placed where an elbow won’t send it flying. (Duh!)
2. Slow down and pay attention! When I don’t pay attention, I pay in other ways later on. (This could be said for most activities, including crossing a footbridge during a hike.)
In other news, I’m slowly building back up to my normal activity level now that my bruised metatarsal is almost healed. It feels good so far, and I’m enjoying the freedom of taking a walk every day. It’s actually autumn in my area, so the weather out there is gorgeous. Yay for skipping the miserably hot walks in September and October, LOL!
Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate your input on the block layout; we’ll see what I finally decide to do. 😁
Happy quilting,
Sharon
