Time Sink and So So Sewing

It happened again to me this morning.  Time Sink.  I logged into my computer intending to set to work right away on a new post for this blog.  The feed popped up as it does every morning ...Yahoo 'news' and I couldn't resist being lured into following some of the links.  What could I not resist?

The 5 Things Gynecologists Wished You Knew

Woman Saved From Collapsing Manhole Cover (one of my tiny secret fears)

Woman Flies to Wrong Country (another of my tiny hidden fears) *Note post about being directionally challenged*

Secret Lives of Chipmunks

How Your Birth Month Correlates To Certain Illnesses

What did I learn?  Not much new to me.  Turns out I already knew what gynecologists wish I knew and chipmunk's lives are not all that secret.  Both women were okay in the end, luckily.  But I did find out that my birth month is not associated with a higher incidence of any particular illness.  Phew.

So twenty minutes later I am ready to do what I set out to.

I've been soldiering away with my free motion quilting practice.

My first attempts were so so, truthfully- awful.  I kept forgetting that the cloth would not move by itself, silly cloth ... my hands had to do the moving.  I didn't realize I was so conditioned to having feed dogs do that part.

I've been using the traditional method of practicing by trying to write a cursive alphabet and circles.  Very gradually I can see it is improving.

Yes, I am feeling more controlled as I try to make specific designs.  The gardening gloves help a lot with moving the fabric and I have learned more about tension and stitch length...things that improve the overall look.
 Still early days with this new way (to me) of sewing and feeling better about it. The machine is lovely though so I am very pleased about that.
I officially finished my cross stitched Wren and Magnolias yesterday.  What a lot of bits there were to tuck in, tidy up, and then add yet another outline stitch here and there.

Then I had this bright idea...the lower right side looked a little empty so I thought I would work another of those lovely scrolls to fill it in.  That's a little guide line I stitched there to help me do that.  But when the piece was completed and I took a steady look at it as a whole, I realized it was balanced fine.  Yes, I guess the designer did know what she was doing. Smile.

And here's Herself sneaking a nap in the spare bedroom.  She sure was rescued, wasn't she?

We should have named her Lucky.