Therapy needed - go shopping!

I broke a tooth that held part of a bridge in my mouth.

I will be missing two teeth for a MONTH!

It doesn't hurt anymore but it sure did when they had to pull out the broken one.

So what does one do when feeling sorry for oneself? 

Why she goes therapy shopping, of course! 

I ONLY went to get some elastic to redo some waistbands on some slacks and a pair of jeans. 

Somehow NINE balls of yarn accidentally fell into my cart too.

I wonder how that happened?

This is the latest scarf pattern that I tested for a designer:

I laid out this donation quilt in preparation for pin basting:

Remember me talking about using those mini notebooks for quilt guild gifts? I used some blank address labels and printed "Thank you sew much" on them. I then put one on each notebook. I had gotten a bunch of stickers when I bought that elastic and added them to the covers too. I think these turned out kinda cute!

I also purchased some new floss for the embroidery project when I got my elastic.

See the water fountain on the left? I have now ripped it out and will start it over again with some different floss. It just wasn't looking right. I won't work on it anymore until I have done the water around it.

 
Now you see it . . . . . . . . . . . .now you don't!

This was another area that I experimented with, regarding water. 

Nope, that wasn't going to work either.

In this picture you can see the start of the new floss that I got.

 I am liking the water much better now:

Since I'm talking about embroidery I thought I'd mention some things about my embroidery frame. Because I am cheap frugal, it is mostly hand made. With a lot of help from my husband, bits and pieces were cobbled together to make a personalized frame for just this project. It has evolved over time and gets better and better!

The last thing I tried to improve upon was the side tension. I bought these plastic clips that worked somewhat until you tried to move them. Then they broke into pieces!!! Not good. My husband suggested binder clips. I said they wouldn't really hold the edges without slipping a lot. He said he'd rough up the parts that pinch the fabric so they'd work.

He brought the clips home but hadn't roughed them up yet. At the same time I was doing some research on embroidery stitches and came across a picture of a lady using an embroidery frame that had round dowels on the edges for stability. The idea popped into my head that I could use some chopsticks along with the binder clips and maybe that would work?

Guess what? IT DID!!! 

The chopstick is just sitting loose, under the fabric and the binder clips are around the fabric and the stick. 

I was amazed at how well it held the edges! I am a happy embroiderer again. 

Abby has had her ups and downs too. 

Life goes on...

Till next time, happy crafting, happy life!