Sunday, July 24, 2011

Crying in my tea cup

So.... .. ... if you read my post yesterday, you saw I got lots of stuff done on FNSI, and I was pretty proud of myself.
I got up, got all my morning cleaning done and happily sat down at my machine, fully prepped, excited and ready to start. I ironed my runner to get the drawn lines to show bolder - got my Fast Fade pen out and touched up all the spots that had faded overnight, re ironed and turned to my threads. I decided I would do not only lots of feather quilting on this runner, but I wanted it to be bold as well. I picked thread colors green and a red wanting to use them on the opposite color of the piece to make them really stand out.
Here is that runner again:
The completed top - made at the last Seba Beach quilting retreat.

If you click on the picture, you may be able to see my drawn quilting lines better, the pattern of the green fabric makes it really tuff to see, but my drawing is in purple.
OK, ready set make bobbins! Made just one of each. Ready to thread my machine, I tapped the pedal to get the needle in the correct position - but wait!!! ERrrrrrrCH!! There was a very loud spark noise and billows of thick yellow/grey smoke started to plume out of the top of my baby!! AWWW, the computer screen was still on, but was blank, I shut the power switch off so fast it was like lightening! The smoke stopped, but the whole house smelled of burnt out electrical and melted plastic. I screamed for Mr. Hunter - my reaction being like I just witnessed a horrible accident - and this was horrible. He told me to take it straight to the shop.
Yes of course - take action! So I rushed my baby into the car and drove straight to Johnson's Sewing Centre. The gentleman in the back listened to my story - I did not cry, he plugged it in, flipped the switch and instantly even thicker smoke then when it sparked started to plume out of the machine. Now my eyes started to water - but I still did not cry. He turned it off as quickly as I had earlier and advised me this had to see his specialist on the south side.
My heart sank - of course I knew me machine could not be fixed right away - but now I had to wait until Monday for someone to even look at it! At least I know it is in good hands. I just need to be patient.. ... not really one of my virtues, but I can try.
In the meantime - my pattern I drew on the runner has faded away. Third times the charm though right? As this was the second pattern I have drawn on there. HA. At least now I can work on my hexis and draw out my table runner patterns I have made up in my head!!
Cheers,
Carolyn

7 comments:

  1. That is so terrible! I had this very thing happen to me once many years ago. I totally understand the shock you felt!

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  2. Wow! I've never heard of smoke coming out of a sewing machine before. I would have been panicked and screaming for my husband as well. I hope it turns out to be something inexpensive and easy to fix. Do you have a backup machine to use if it's going to be a while?

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  3. Oh, no, Carolyn!! I know exactly how you feel! My wonderful sister has three machines, though, and let me borrow, so I high-tailed it over to her house. I hope it's quickly fixed for you!

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  4. I thinking you are working too hard. I hope your machine gets fixed real soon. Your quilt looks fantastic. Love the colors and pattern.

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  5. Wow!!! That doesn't sound very good, does it? I hope you hear from them soon.

    The lines look like they will be fabulous when quilted.

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  6. Don't you hate when that happens? I hope your machine is fixable and that it won't take long. Our car caught fire last week. It was parked in front of my husband's business. Thank goodness someone saw the flames and dialed 911.

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  7. UGGH!! I would be crying in my Tea Cup too! Can that fix something that bad? Because that sounds REALLY bad. Well, at least you have a positive attitude. And guess what what? I'm not a follower! Can you believe that? Here I've been reading all this time! Well, I'll go fix that. Love your table runner and I really wanted to see those feathers quilted on it.

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