I’ve failed to keep up with the two quilt-alongs because – well, nothing major. I set my new-to-me Juki up for machine quilting, put my favorite cotton thread in it, and started on a practice piece. The thread kept breaking. Last time I had trouble with thread breakage, a worn foot was the culprit. After watching to see where the thread appeared to be rubbing and fraying, I peered really close at the throat plate (with a little help from my husband’s reading glasses – I couldn’t find my little magnifying glass) and it looked worn along the edges.
Then I priced new throat plates and decided maybe I should try a bigger needle first. I haven’t done that yet. Instead I moved the Juki to a different table and set the Pfaff (my preferred piecing machine) back up. But I haven’t managed to figure out how to jury-rig the Juki’s temporary table for an extended flat surface to free-motion quilt on, so I’ve been piecing instead.
I decided to ignore all the pending basted quilts and work on a snuggle quilt using these blocks I started 10-15 years ago. 
The center horses are cut from my childhood bedspread, which my mother made for me. I’ve been sewing strips on in a roughly wonky log-cabin style, using up scraps so far, though I’m running short.
Yesterday, as I was ironing the strips over, my iron gave a little phzzt noise that wasn’t a steam-fart, and released a little puff of smoke that smelled like burning plastic. I immediately thought “uh oh, my iron just died,” so I was not at all surprised when it cooled off and stopped steaming. I grabbed my reserve iron to finish ironing that set of strips, but it promptly reminded my why it has been my “dry only” iron. On steam it hisses and spits like it’s about to explode. I suspect an internal leak. What do you expect from Walmart anyway?
With no usable iron, I had to quit sewing for the day. Today we were at Costco and I bought another iron. They only offered one choice, and I’m not sure I like it, but it works, and that’s what counts.