No quilting today, but I spent several hours in the sewing room yesterday. More time was spent ripping out than sewing. I wanted to see how the sewing machine quilt would look with the red inner border that I had cut out. So I decided to go ahead and tack up a flannel-backed tablecloth to make a design wall - something I've been meaning to do for a long time. Once I got the quilt components up on the flannel, the red inner border did nothing for the quilt, black would look much better. I decided to use the black for the inner border and the binding. I attached the inner border to the pieced border. Then I made the spool blocks for the corners. I had to fiddle with the pieced border to make it fit. Didn't take nearly as much fiddling as I expected. But once I got the top assembled, it just didn't look right. I decided to redo the spool blocks using a black background instead of cream - it makes the spools pop and will give a more finished look. I made the new blocks. Next sewing session will begin with ripping out the old blocks and replacing them.

I don't think I will start another pieced top until I get a new sewing machine. The one I'm using has been good for small projects, but it just isn't up to more precision work. The tension is tempermental and seems content to adjust itself at inopportune moments. It is no good at all for machine quilting. I enjoy hand quilting, but would like to have the option available for machine quilting. If - no, when - I get a new machine, I'll probably leave this one in Florida. Then I won't have to lug a machine with me everytime we go down.