Quilting "En Provence": problems!

Finally I started quilting my version of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt well over a year after I finished piecing the top. I really love this quilt whose colours remind me of La Provence district of France. 

Layering and starting quilting was my One Monthly Goal for May which I posted about here.

Well, that was done in the first week. In fact I had quilted about two thirds of the quilt and thought this will be finished this month. The photo below of the back shows how far I got.

But then my Bernina Stitch Regulator started playing up. The BSR suddenly lost contact with the rest of the machine. The BSR no longer registered on the display screen and (this is the worst) the machine continued to run, at full speed. As the feed dogs were lowered the needle just went up and down about a hundred times before I managed to switch everything off. I tried to fix it myself: unplug and then reconnect the BSR, unplug and clean the plug with a piece of fabric, twiddle the plug a bit in the socket (you realise I'm grasping at straws here) and yes, there it was again - connection made and off we go again. For about five minutes. Then repeat ... several times!

It spent a week at the dealer's and the result was: a service and nothing wrong with the BSR! OK, maybe the service had fixed whatever it was that was causing the interference.

 No. This morning I tried to continue and after about 10 minutes it happened again. This time no cleaning plugs, no twiddling; first thing tomorrow morning it's going back to the expert.



 
 I met my goal for May as I started quilting my "En Provence". I'm frustrated as I'd hoped to have the binding on by now! 
As I probably shan't be able to post until the middle of June I'm sending a link to this post to Patty at Elm Street quilts, but won't be able to post a goal for June.

To see more May achievements click on the OMG button on my right hand side bar on or after 26 May.


Happy Sewing

Marly.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2018 halfway summary

Each month, for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Angela chooses a colour and Mari chooses a block and gives the instructions for the Squared Away sampler. This month's block is Baton Rouge Square  in pink; I posted about my pink blocks here. As the RSC is running for 10 and not 12 months this year, May marks the half way point. It's time for a summary so here are my blocks so far.

 And here are my squares with wonky stars:

I just finished the yellow star, and the green one I made a couple of months ago. The others I made last year. These started as leaders and enders with 2" squares, and when I have enough of one colour I make them into a big square with the wonky star. Last year I had cut a lot of red squares apparently! Some months I just haven't accumulated enough 2" squares to make a square.

I'm liking up to:

Click on the button to view the display of RSC pinkness.

Happy sewing

Marly.

May pinks

Each month, for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Angela chooses a colour and Mari chooses a block and gives the instructions for the Squared Away sampler. This month's block is Baton Rouge Square  in pink (with that name it sounds as if it should be red!).

I have done more pink sewing in the last month:

My starting block for the Dutch MQG (district West) bee round robin. I really made it at the end of April, and it's due to be passed on this Tuesday. I posted more about it here.

Soon I shall have more time for sewing as I have now finally retired. My first task, however, is to sort through, and largely throw away, my teaching materials accumulated over the last 43 years! It really doesn't seem that long. For most of that time I was working from home and visiting client companies which is why my materials occupy 4.5 metres of shelf space. Just imagine how much fabric and how many project boxes I can stash there! Even so, it feels like I'm taking my life to the paper recycling bin; so much effort went into those 4.5 metres!

Sewing has always been my hobby, and quilting since I officially retired 6 years ago. Everyone needs a retirement challenge: mine was to be patchwork and quilting. Unfortunately a few days after my "retirement" my boss asked me to return. It's nice to be thought indispensable, but I was finding the pressure increasingly difficult to deal with. Hopefully now I can pick up where I thought I would be six years ago.

I'm linking up to  

Click on the button to see more pink delights.

Happy sewing

Marly.

My May One Monthly Goal

By the end of May I hope to have the my "En Provence" (Quiltville Mystery 2016 - 2017)  layered and to have begun quilting.

 At the beginning of April, the pieces I wanted to incorporate into the backing still looked like this (minus the bears' paws):

 
At present the backing is pieced and looks like this:

I'll cut the extra off the side while I'm layering. For now the first task is clearly a good pressing!

Good luck to everyone else setting goals to achieve in May; may your plans work out well!

Click to see other crafty May goals

Happy Sewing

Marly.