Picking It Up Again

July is swiftly approaching, and the charity quilt is not yet done.  Between being in a bit of a creative rut and a having my sewing machine act up, I've been using the "I'm too busy at work" excuse not to make progress on the quilt. 

Being in a creative rut hasn't meant that I've stayed totally away from crafts.  I have two crochet projects underway (there is sure to be at least a post on each in the near future), but sewing just hasn't interested me lately.

That changed tonight.  I am still not exactly sure why the sewing machine started working again, but it did.  I know that when it acted up a few weeks ago, I tried changing both the bobbin and the needle.  But, when I tried to zigzag around the frogs, well, it just wasn't working.  The yellow thread that should have been on top was just a solid line, while the white bobbin thread sort of made hash marks over the yellow thread.  For whatever reason, changing the bobbin for a second time appears to have solved the problem.  I was able to finish appliqueing on the ninth frog and sew four of the strips together (shown in the photo) before my back said "no more for tonight!" 

Now that the machine is behaving, I hope to have the quilt top finished by the end of the weekend so that I can start machine quilting during the evenings this coming week.