Daily Craft - Got my mojo back

I can't tell you how excited I am that I managed to fix my sewing machine and didn't have to take it in for servicing (which was totally against my budget anyway).  Not sure exactly what I did, but husband is taking the credit on the grounds that he was standing there when it started working again.  I suppose this is not dissimilar from calling IT at work because your computer has frozen, but when they arrive it starts working perfectly.

Seeing as the machine is functioning, I was really excited to get back to business and finish off the project that was stalled.  A while back I had made some cushions for my friend Paige's baby's room.  I had some smallish strips of fabric left that were too big to throw out, but too small to make much with.  This set of 3 soft blocks take 18 x 5" squares, which I gathered out of 4 different coordinating fabrics.  Overall, they were pretty quick to make seeing as you can cut and press all the squares at once, then lay them out and get to sewing.  It would have been even quicker if I'd had a rotary cutter, which I am now putting on my wishlist of things to get.  The second I was finished making them, husband grabbed one, realized it was squishy, and threw it at me.  So, while they may be intended for babies and toddlers, they are also big kid approved!

To make it better, in the interests of really using up every scrap of the material that I could, I finished up with this patch work pin cushion.  I think everything turned out nicely and I've already got other projects laid out and ready to go.  I'm a sewing fiend!  It's proof that when you can't do something, you really want to do it more than anything.  In a way I should thank my sewing machine for the hiatus as it seems to have inspired me.

Daily Gripe - It's all good...when it's working properly!

Friday afternoon, I get out of work early and figure that it's the perfect opportunity to do some sewing.  Using some fabric scraps, I've been working on making baby soft blocks, using this tutorial.  I had one down, stuffed, and ready to go.  The other two had all the squares cut and laid out, just needed sewing up.  Somewhere in the middle of the second block, my sewing machine became possessed and started feeding the fabric in reverse.  I checked the reverse button - not stuck, nothing sounds loose.  I turn the machine off and on again, no go.  I finally take off the plate, make sure there's nothing stuck under the bobbin case or anything like that, but still nothing.  In fact, now I've made it worse because now I can't pull up the bobbin thread without it getting stuck and the upper thread breaking!  Gah! 

Of course, this is to be expected on the afternoon when I finally have some time to dedicate to sewing and I end up spending more time breaking a sweat over why the machine is driving me nuts.  Time to call Brother and see what they can tell me...fingers crossed it's an easy fix.