Oops I forgot the maintenance

Today I had the house to myself, well except for Scamp and Picasso.  I rushed round to get the chores done, feed the washing machine, sweep and clean the kitchen floor and clean the bathroom so that I was free to do some sewing. My plan for the first part of the day was to finish my dress that I started last weekend so that once that I was done I could make some blocks towards my OMG. The first task on the dress was to overlock the seams to give a good finish. I do own an overlocker but it's a bit of a pain to get it out and even more of a pain to make it behave and produce beautifully finished seams so I decided I'd use the overlock stitch on my sewing machine. I was more than half way down the first seam when the machine started making the most awful noise so I decided to nurse it along to the end  before investigating. The noise seemed to be coming from the bobbin so I started there and discovered the compartment had a lot of fluff in it. That's when I remembered that I hadn't cleaned the machine after finishing quilting the compass quilt. I couldn't get all the fluff from the top of the bobbin compartment so I tipped the machine over and took the screws out of the bottom. Well I was horrified at how much fluff I discovered. It was at this point that I tried to think when I last cleaned it and just couldn't remember. My poor machine was being choked to death with this mountain of fluff.

I gave the poor love a thorough clean and having done that booked her in for a stay at the spa next month. I'm not sure what happened as I usually give her a good clean before I start a new project but obviously that hasn't happened recently. When I'd finished, I re- threaded  and had a test run. She stitched beautifully with no whining and we have spent a great day sewing.

The dress is all finished but since there was no one around I couldn't take a photo. I'll do that when I wear it. Having finished the dress I decided to start on the blocks for my June goal. In the end I only got one made as Katy phoned for a chat and after that I decided I needed a cup of tea and some time catching up on my blog reading. Anyway here's the block I made.

I have the fabrics organised for the next block but didn't get as far as cutting the pieces. Instead I found myself cutting strips of fabric to make a trip around the world block. I was about to piece it together when John arrived home. John needed some bits from the shops so I went with him and when we got home I packed my sewing away for the day as I was feeling tired. Never mind only another 5 blocks to go to complete my goal.

Tomorrow I'm taking Rainbows (5 to & year old guides) to a circus skills day with Lucy so there won't be much opportunity for sewing. I might take some hand sewing with me as there's a show in the afternoon so the girls will be fully occupied watching it and I can add some stitches to Earlene.

I'm off to bed in a few minutes as I've stayed up later than I meant to. I've been reading this evening and I really got into the story.

Lyndsey