Happy Leap Year Rambles!

Here we are, ready to be scandalized by the coming of another month! At least it will be The Best Month in all of Months. I might be biased because I love spring and the daffodils it brings~  wiggling impatiently  I have a flower of a different sort for you though.

before

after

Egads, did anyone expect a FINISH? I didn't! :D  I enjoyed working on this one once I really got started on it.  The top flower was finished over two nights of stitching quietly after my poor, sick husband went to bed early (he's fine now).  I was in such a happy hurry to take the pictures I didn't even give it a bath to get the fabric ink off.

Technical Details

• "June: Wild Roses" freebie pattern by Ellen Maurer-Stroh, found here
• 2 over 1 on 14-count ecru huck towel
• Finished size: 4.50 x 4.50" (11,50 x 11,50 cm)
• Started: October something, 2015, Finished: February 23, 2016. At least 12 hours. 
• How did I not track the start?!

all together now

Halfway there!  I do so enjoy seeing all the flowers together.

actually fabric pen

I have July's flower (larkspur/delphinium) kitted up.  Well, most of it.  Though I love all the blues in the world, my floss collection is sorely lacking in that area!  I managed to find four that were missing in a store that doesn't carry the full line of DMC but still need to find four more.  There are a LOT of colors in this one, eep.  Is it going to be a repeat of violets?!

before

after

And here we have progress on FFIII.  Only one letter managed this month; tsk tsk.  I guess slow and steady will win the race for this project.  I am okay with that... for now.

And finally(ish) thank you all, I didn't realize the Great Singer Adventure would be so interesting. :) I am not a sewing machine wiz by any means; everything I am doing now is thanks to the World Wide Web of information. When I first learned to sew, it was when I was but a tiny Rosey. My grandmother attempted to teach me on my Mom's antique Singer treadle machine. My mom also has an electric one but my grandma felt that it was best to start on a treadle because the speed can be controlled better.  I must admit I was not a good pupil at that time! I was (still am, you know!) a tomboy and haaated to sit still and quiet for more than a few minutes at a time. I have a small "quilted" Barbie blanket and Barbie dress that I made when I was probably around 5-6 years old, but that was about it until I took Home Ec. in high school.

Anyway! The work done this time! I was brave and attacked the tension assembly! This... was terrifying. It still is.

before

I don't know what that take up spring is doing up at the top of assembly!  It does nothing there!  And that "gap" is supposed to be horizontal, not at that weird angle.  But, here's the kicker, it sewed a beautiful stitch despite having zero tension control.  Also, something you can't see in this picture, the little tension indicator (the thing with the + | - on it) was at the BOTTOM of the assembly.  Not really sure what happened there either.  It was all assembled in the correct order but almost like it was just put on to keep it together.  Which is possible, I suppose.

bath time!

Putting the little parts in a bath of rubbing alcohol really makes me happy.  The little cups fruit comes in make perfect bathtubs and Q-tips are great scrubbers!

after

Looks much nicer!  That said, something was wrong with the actual tension after I assembled it; it was much too loose and nothing I could do would correct it.  My beautiful stitch was gone.  :(  I was so disappointed and frustrated when I saw this.  I put the machine away for a week.  There is a way to fix it but I knew that if I attempted it while upset I'd really have a disaster on my hands. I have at least learned a lesson in patience! This weekend, after I had consulted with the Internet and Mom-of-All-Knowledge, I tried again with a different fabric, needle, and thread.  Voilà~! The pretty stitch was back.  Apparently one shouldn't attempt tension setting on a piece of thick polyester from who knows when.  A small scrap of cotton gingham helped immensely.  Yay!  I will extra special fine tune it when the rest of the machine is done.

before

after

I also took off the face plate at the very front of the machine and cleaned out the doodads and whatchamacallits in there.  It wasn't too awful; just a bit of dust and old oil.  It only took four Q-tips!  The fresh oil really, REALLY made a difference.  In fact, it may have contributed to the happy stitch returning.

I'm inexorably moving ever closer to the most dreaded task of all -- rewiring.  When playing around with the tension, the machine would randomly lose power.  That's scary.  Luckily there are some amazing tutorials out there and if I can install a ceiling fan, how hard can a sewing machine be...?  eep

Wow, okay, I will stop now! I also have a finished crochet project and worked more on that silly curling scarf.  I'll talk about them some other time haha. :D  Run away now and save yourselves!