Eleanor Is Back In Action

Well,  my machine was at the doctor's for the last 2 weeks and it was killing me!  Apparently the feed dog module was toast.  Eleanor's got plenty of pep in her step now!  It's like an episode of I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, how did I not know there was that big of a problem?  We're good now.  I haven't tried free motion yet but I'm hopeful!  

I put together the blocks for my baby quilt and got the first border on but then had to quit when I realized that I needed more fabric.  Ugh.  It'd be fun if I could plan ahead once in awhile.  I bought more of the yellow than I needed but I figure that can be the back.  I will NOT be doing the prairie points.  One more white border and I'll be done.  The baby will be here before I know it , I was hoping I'd finish it today.

So, I decided to start another project for myself.  I'm a super huge Harry Potter fan.  I saw this project a few years ago when the designer was doing it as a Block of the Week.  I wasn't really excited at first because it was just books.  Not really exciting but then I saw it at the end of the year!  So, great!   I just loved it!  It's paper pieced, which is weird for me.  

I kept thinking that as I went along it would get easier to do but that was not the case today.  I ripped out more than I sewed, or so it seemed.  It's so hard to make sure you've got a big enough piece of fabric, pointing in the right direction.  It seems simple but it's not.  Then, I kept ripping the paper off before I had the whole piece together.  Bleh.  Lots more to do.  By the time I'm done, I'm going to be an expert, I'm sure.

While the machine was in the shop, I worked on my cross stitch project.  I sucked at this, too.  The last block with the Flying Geese, kicked my butt!  I wrote in the pattern wrong twice.  Then, I was half way done stitching and realized I still had the pattern wrong.  I was 2 rows off.  I couldn't leave it like that because the block beneath it wouldn't line up.  So, I ripped out the stitches.  And, shredded the Aida cloth in the process.  2 weeks and much swearing later, I fixed it.  Only to realize that I now had it misaligned in a different direction.  Ugh.  Why do I bother?!  At least it will still line up with the one beneath it.