Motor replacements and Bookmarks

I didn’t realize it had been a month since the last post, but been a busy one.
I finished this set of memory quilts using t-shirts, button-ups and ties…lots and lots of ties.

Then there was a niece’s graduation and several walks with my dog.

I took in my registration form for Eppie’s Great Race (which is coming up really fast), ordered and received real invoices with my name on them. I have been using generic invoices, but thought it was time for the upgrade…I got triplicate with glue top…never again, I don’t know what I was thinking…always get tear-a-way. I know better now. I finalized my testimonial form and have given out a few…I even received my first one back from this quilt…

filled with good words. What I expected, but the confirmation is great.
I finished up the following two memory quilts from childhood clothing for 2 brothers.

Now that we are a little caught up, we get to the motor. For a while I have been dealing with a machine that liked to run at whatever speed it felt like and not the speed it was set at. It seemed that the longer I ran the machine or hotter it got, the greater the variance of speed. And then there were the times that it wasnted to go hyperspeed and only stop when I pulled the plug. It got to where I could only work for about 30 minutes at night before the speed would start to go haywire. I was done. A couple phone calls and a week later, a new motor and encoder arrive.

I unpack it, get the new one ready. Take a look at how the bad one is installed….

Ok, unscrew a couple screws, disconnect a couple wires and the old one is off and I get the new one on…to discover that these bolts

Are too long…so after 3 trips, 2 of which are to Home Depot, I finally have enough washers to fill in the space. the motor is installed and it works…but not correctly. I made another call, and yes it needs to be set in a certain way for the needle to stop in the correct location. and with a few adjustments we were good to go. Yay!

Then we did this Carmichael Independence Day Parade float for our Bible Story Time , children’s bible classes, at church.

With the float and the 4th over it was time to work again. I had my faithful companions with me

(Can you tell it’s a bit warm in the garage?)

The machine hums along beautifully…I can trust the speed it’s going to start at even though I still hesitate sometimes before pulling the trigger. I finished these cherries up this week

Along with another t-shirt quilt that I don’t have a handy photo of.
And now to bookmarks…I wanted to have something made to send out as a thank you for my referrals…so I got this idea to make some bookmarks. I got my scraps together