In knots

On to the potholders and my first foray into quilting. On to knots and broken needle! I am discouraged.

Now then, I am trying to figure out this quilting thing on my own. I have used the quilting foot on my sewing machine once, but not for quilt-related activities. Unfortunately, I have no friends or family members that quilt and can sort me out. But it all seems simple enough: make a cotton batting sandwich and sew - what ever could be the problem? Silly, silly me.

Actually, let's start with the good part - this is the top panel of the potholders. The fabric cutting went off without a hitch and the seams matched up [on the second go-around]. In fact, I am very proud of my center seam!

And then, the trouble began. Back to my batting sandwich - I did some test lines and got a variety of mediocre results. These are all sewn with different tension settings. Shortly thereafter the tip of the sewing machine needle snapped and hit me in the middle of the forehead. I began to fear the sewing machine.I replaced the needle. I donned the Boy's clear-lensed biking glasses for eye protection, and I bravely returned to the needle-throwing machine, with which I was now in a big fight.

And then... this chaos. Aiyiiii! What is this madness? Note, this did not happen only once. Do I need a different needle? Thread? Project?

For the moment the dear sewing machine is going back on the shelf and I am sticking to knitting needles, which are far better behaved.