And one to go!

Select fabric for the Secret Santa gift (holiday stocking)? Check! Design an alternating block pattern of reindeer fabric? Check! Fussy-cut star strips for aforementioned blocks? Check! Engine trouble? Check!

Scotty: Captain, I don’t know how much more emergency power we can take before we start to break up.

You guessed it; my machine started dropping stitches while I was working on projects for my 24-hour deadline yesterday. Then, with only 2 seams left to fight for on my BAMalot block, my Husqi decided it had had quite enough of my forward momentum and locked in reverse!

I still had the stocking to finish, so I checked my alternate machine and found it stuck on zigzag. Seriously? Both machines needing repair meant there was nothing I could do except hope to figure out ‘plan C’ and complete everything in the few hours I had in the morning. Sigh!

Thankfully, bright and early the next morning, my neighbor kindly came to my aid with her new Singer.

Within the hour, I had finished adding the last teal & orange border for my BAMalot block. Previously, I’d mirrored the last frame design and set it top & bottom opposite the 4-patch from the last addition. It’s a nice bit to blur the lines. Put a pop of hot pink in the corners and called it done.

Ah, yes! Back to the stocking…

(NOTE: MY addition to this funky block is JUST the extended inner colors on top & bottom, plus the blue double border with hot pink corner. I would have loved to keep this one!)