2nd Swim Suit--6th Finish for 4th Quarter Finish-A-Long (FAL) 2017

Broken ruler foot

I was quilting my scrappy placemats when my ruler foot broke. Talk about an unbelievable moment! At first, I didn't realize that the foot broke. Rather, I thought that I had somehow bumped the lever that attaches the foot to the machine. Then, my brain registered that the bottom of the foot was separate from the top of the foot! I texted my local Bernina dealer--now I knew she was out of town vending at Houston Quilt market--and I didn't expect a reply. But, within 10 minutes, she responded. She outlined a replacement plan which would happen when she returned.

The short of it was that there was a flaw with this foot for it to break in such a manner.

I didn't want to work on another quilt project until I finished the placemats, so, I took out one of the swimsuits that was almost cut out and worked on it. I needed to cut a back of both lining and swim fabric. I had to purchase some black swim fabric to cut the back. Now, I have one finished suit which I'll take on our vacation to Hawaii next summer.

Finished swim suit

A friend who stopped sewing her swimsuits, gifted me her leftover fabrics a couple years ago. I once had a similar fabric. . .but, that was probably 30 years ago! I used a different pattern for the suit. At that time, I had purchased a bundle of ready made straps and the pattern was the perfect option for those straps.

I remember that there were many fabric prints of this type. I would make more suits from a print fabric yardage because I made a plain back for each print front!

Last week was the end of a five week session of teaching swim lessons to three to five year olds. It was my first actual class of students in many years. It was fun. When the last day arrived, I was excited for the parents to watch class and see how much their child had increased their swimming abilities. I was also a little sad as my "friends" may be off to other activities.

This week, I begin another five week session of lessons. I always enjoy the first day of class when I find out who is enrolled. There is a mix of returning and new students. It is kind of like an old friends reunion mixed with meeting new friends.

This was goal number 17 on my 4th quarter list as my plan was to stitch three swim suits this quarter. It is the sixth finish for the quarter so far! It brings the total fabric used to 38 yards from my stash since I used about a yard and a half of fabric for this project! I'm inching closer to the 50 yard goal!