A VALUABLE LESSON LEARNED TODAY

I’m machine appliqueing the black fabric onto the tan fabric on Just Takes block #27 just using a close zigzag stitch and trucking along.  All of a sudden, my sewing machine makes a strange crunching noise – like when the thread has gotten jammed up.

Sure enough, there was a bird’s nest on the back of the project.  I began moaning and singing the blues.
What did I do?  Just all of a sudden it went kablooey.  First I rethreaded the whole top thread.  Then I took out the bobbin to check it and put it right back in.  Still made that dreadful noise when I pushed on the foot pedal. 

I rethreaded the top thread again.  Didn’t help.  Then I took off the throat plate to be sure there wasn’t anything wrong in the bobbin area.  It was clean and looked in order.  Put it all back together and it just kept getting messier and messier every time I did a test piece.

In my usual impatient manner, basically just threw up my hands, turned off the sewing machine and walked out of the sewing room in disgust.

To get my mind off of the problem I washed a load of towels, ate some breakfast, cleaned the cat’s really gross drinking water fountain and just put the messy thread business out of my mind.  When I sat down to watch an old Agatha Christie movie on the American Movie Classics channel it dawned on me!  You didn’t try changing the needle.  That was my last hope.

Jumped up right then, changed out that sewing needle and my baby was back to purring softly and sewing beautifully.  The moral of the story?  When all else fails just take a break.  Forget about it for several minutes.  Give the old faulty computer in your brain a chance to percolate through the files hidden deep in there to pull out a solution.

When all else fails, try a new sewing needle.  Easy fix.  So glad ‘Nomie didn’t have to go to the sewing machine hospital.  Quilting Bear Gal is a happy stitcher again.

Quilting Bear - my alter ego - sitting in front of 'Nomie

Sew back to the machine appliqueing.