Needle vs. Safety Pin

Have you ever been backing up and heard a sickening crunch? The sound that makes you curse... out loud unless there are kids in the car. I heard it today while I was sewing! Immediately everything came to a screeching halt. I had been quilting with my BSR (Bernina stitch regulator foot) on, and was blithely meandering along when the crunch happened. The quilt in question had been basted with safety pins.

The needle was pulled out of the machine, and I could see that I had hit the safety pin. As I disentangled the thread and metal, I realized that the needle had won! It had gone cleanly and completely through the head of the safety pin!

Here's a peek at the quilt. It's lap size, and has been a lot of fun quilting in spite of the needle/safety pin battle. And now, I've run out of thread. This is the largest quilt I've made in the long time, and the largest one I've ever machine quilted, and I'm pretty pleased with the way it's turning out. I hope to have it in the shop by the end of the weekend.

Work in Progress

Finally, a post with meaning! ;-) I've been working on a duffel bag for Laura using one of the Taylor Made Designs pattern books. I've only used one other of hers (Cindy Taylor Oates writes these)... the one for the pajama pants. It was really easy and informative. Kyle, my 17 year old son, even managed to make a pair of pants for his girlfriend.

Back to the duffel bag. I was going along pretty well until strap time. The directions failed to say that the measurements, ironing and batting width all had be exact or there will not be enough overlap. I could see it coming, but thought I could fake my way through and this is what happened:
Not good. Four options. 1. Leave it. No, it's the strap, that won't work. 2. Rip it out. Not happening. I only rip out if there are no other options. 3. Start over. Too much time and a waste of perfectly good fabric. 4. Cover it up. That's my choice!

I did the math, cut out a 1-1/2" wide strip long enough to cover both straps, pressed under a 1/4" on all sides, and applied a strip of heat bond. This strip, by the way, is the main fabric, and has the added advantage of being dark, which will help the strap stay looking nice longer. OK, we're up to here:The heat bond stuff is great. I applied it over the offending strap, and then using my edge stitch foot, sewed it on. Now it looks like this:

Sooo much better. I was hoping to have a picture of the finished bag tonight, but, alas, I ran out of thread ... again. The machine quilting, and triple stitching that I'm using to apply the strap to the bag are eating up the thread! Maybe tomorrow.