I have had most of the week to piddle and sew, you’d think I would have been more productive. I have projects in progress, but the stand and stare time has been massive, LOL! Plus, an entire day and a half was spent wrestling with my new embroidery machine. After playing with it for a day, I was ready (or so I thought) to do a label for Quadrille. Ah, but the thread had other ideas.
Thanks to my friend, Mary, I had learned the day before how to back up the needle so I could take out areas that didn’t stitch right and go over the same area again. So I was confident I could fix this. Clipping out the bad section of threads and starting again, it happened again. And again. And again. Well, crap on a cracker. I started it one more time and carefully watched the progress this time and determined that the shredding was happening as it went through the tension discs. It wasn’t the setting, or the needle, or the stabilizer, or the fabric, or the hoop tension. It was the thread, shredding so badly it would unthread itself from the needle and make a mess before the sensor would detect it.
Contacting the shop where I bought the thread (it was a brand new spool of Floriani), the owner said this is a problem with dark color threads across brands. I slowed the speed of the machine, made sure I had a large eye embroidery needle in the machine, and started again. Eventually, it got done. You may notice that I’ve done the label on the same fabric as the backing. Sometimes I like the label to be subtle, to be there, but not noticeable unless you are looking for it.
Emboldened, I started on another one. Lighter color, and now Sulky thread, it stitched clear through without a hitch.
I pinned it on the quilt, and added it to the pile of things that need hand sewing before the Mountain State Fair.
I’ll be working on those along with binding Quadrille today.
Out back, the white rhododendron is blooming although sparsely. Both the white one and the pink one are struggling, not many blooms this year and there are sections that need to be cut out.
On the feeder, the male cardinal is courting again. I’ve seen him feeding a female. This one is a fledgling from earlier this year. His red feathers are almost totally in, except for a couple of patches. He is small and skinny, and should be growing well with the birdseed.
Not skinny is Jasper, who regularly came by this week for sandwiches.
In the front, the hostas are preparing to bloom in tall spires of purple flowers.
There are tomatoes in the garden, but they need time to grow. So, some market tomatoes came home for a tomato pie. I made the vodka crust, rolled it out and lined the pie plate. Because the flour reacts with water to make crusts tough as I learned on America’s Test Kitchen, using vodka prevents that chemical reaction. The alcohol burns off in cooking and doesn’t leave any vodka taste to the crust. But it will stay flaky the next day. I probably should have cut the butter in a bit better, but it came out fine.
The tomatoes had drained on paper towels all day. They went into the crust, then green onions and fresh basil from my garden were added.
Top with the mayo-cream cheese-Italian cheese mixture, then add more shredded cheese.
Baked for about 50 minutes this time, it came out of the oven golden brown and bubbly.
Oh, so good! No water in the plate, and none in the pie dish the next day. For those who want the recipe, see my post Carole’s Tomato Pie.
My finishes for June are dismal, so I thought I’d whip out a lullaby quilt using up some border print fabric from the Hungry Animal line. I measured what I had and divided it by 4.
Then, I cut four equal pieces that length, 20 inches each. I cut the strips to 9 inches high.
I cut 9-inch square corner stones from the leftover alphabet toss middle fabric, then added a square of coordinating animal fabric with a green background.
I found backing, loaded it on the longarm and quilted it in about an hour. Then I cut strips from the backing, made the binding and attached it by machine. Done in one day, and I have a finish for Stashbusters. The next Stashbusters check-in will be this coming Friday., July 7.
I worked on the Christmas project this week too, but I am going to save it for a Christmas in July blogger event coming in late July. Tomorrow, I’ll be posting about a few great sales that are only good for Monday and Tuesday, so watch for that. That post will have July 4 ideas and some free pattern links, too.
If you missed the giveaway on Friday’s post, click on Book Reviews and Giveaway to see my latest reviews and enter by leaving a comment on that post. Entries open until July 4 at 5 pm Eastern time.
What are your plans for the holiday?
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Early sales at Fat Quarter Shop and Sulky Threads start now!
Shop the July specials at Fat Quarter Shop! Sales on Notions, Books, Patterns, and Fabric. This month get 20% off the Basic of the Month Pin Drop by Riley Blake Designs, 30% Off the Notion of the Month June Taylor, Patterns by Thimble Blossoms and see the Precuts of the week. Save on Book of the month Tablerunner Bliss and Cross Stitch Zweigart, and don’t forget the daily Flash Sale!
Visit Sulky Threads for the Red White and Blue specials – 20, 25 or 30% off your order with codes Red, White or Blue, depending on your order size. See link for details.
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From My Carolina Home 
Oh that tomato pie looks tasty….it won’t be long before locally grown tomatoes will be available too.
I learn from almost every one of your posts! Why had I never thought of cutting border fabric in fourths and the adding cornerstones? Sometimes you just need to hear a different perspective! Thanks! I’m trying to “use it up”!
Glad you figured out what was going on with your embroidery machine, but so frustrating to take so many tries before you did. The tomato pie looks so yummy! Love the sweet baby quilt, too. Sometimes a small, quick project can be very satisfying!
I have never heard of Vodka in a crust recipe, that is interesting. Your tomato pie looks delicious!
Tomato pie is a favorite in the summer! I’ve never heard of the vodka crust, I definitely want to try that. With regards to the embroidery thread shredding, I was having that problem and heard about thread lubricant. Stores like Joann’s carry a variety called Sewer’s Aid in a tiny bottle. I actually purchased a quart of Cutex silicone thread lubricant from Amazon and it has helped a lot. I put it into a small glue bottle and then run a thin line of it on my spools of thread. It doesn’t hurt the machine (I have an old 16 needle embroidery machine, an old Pfaff 7570, a Baby Lock Destiny II, and a Baby Lock Solaris – and have used it on thread in all of them). It can be used on any thread: embroidery, sewing, quilting, etc.
I love Tomato Pie, but I’ve never been able to make it myself, that tasted as good as wherever I’ve had it. So I’ve resigned myself to NOT making it, but just letting it be a treat when I go out! LOL! It’s just … not many restaurants carry it. It’s got to be a true, down-home, southern, ol’ timey restaurant to have it on the menu!! 🙂
The last pie crusts I made were leaning towards tough. Thank you for mentioning the vodka! I’m going to check that out for my next try. Your pie looks delicious.
Someone commented about thread lubricant. I have found this helpful on the longarm with thinner varigated threads. Some just put a line of the lubricant on the thread spool before running the machine. Sometimes a burr on the hook can cause trouble too. Your labels turned out lovely. I like the idea of using the backing fabric so the label blends in.
Im glad you found out it was the thread and not the new machine. The new pie crest sounds interesting. Ill look it up.
What a cute quilt! Beautifully done, someone will love it.
I am working on a quilt for my son. He said he wanted mountains. I found a panel and am making blocks to expand it to queen size. He said he didn’t want any “fancy swirly stuff” so I am making blocks with lots of straight lines. He knows I tend to make lots of stars and pinwheels! I’m hoping it turns out well. I don’t have a lot of confidence in designing.
tomato pie looks wonderful – sorry about the thread issue – what a mess to take care of.
You will overcome the difficulties at the embroidery machine. For anyone reading comments, I offer this advice – “check your “thread path” and how your thread is coming off the spool, twisting etc. I like using a thread stand, as it averts the twisting. The embroidery machine needles have a long “scarf” and a bigger eye too. Metallic needles are a good choice if you experience shredding. Color matched bobbins prevent seeing any “bobbin thread” on top. When making labels, I add a piece of batting between the stabilizer and the top fabric, as that helps, and sometimes slip a piece of tear away UNDER the hoop. All those things help with a better label. Believe it or not, the built in letters are not often well done, and buying some nice fonts and setting your label up in Embrilliance may give you a better look.” Embroidery machines can be tough to learn, but once you have the basics, you can do great labels!!
Your labels came out great! I like the idea of using the backing fabric for the label! I’ve used Glide and Isacord longarm threads for labels with good results.
Locally, tomato pie refers to a Sicilian pizza crust smothered in tomato sauce and topped with Pecorino Romano cheese and no other toppings. This is the first time I’ve seen a real tomato pie!
Thanks for sharing. I learn so much from you!
That’s a great way to use a border print, the quilt is so sweet. Thanks for showing us how to make your tomatoe pie, guess you could add a little chopped ham too if you didn’t want to be meat free?
Love that little quilt you whipped up. I am so slow these days, so it is fun to see what someone else has done. Yesterday I had a little sale, as other artists did on the island, and did well. Its quiet for us this week, we travel next week for quite a few days, so I will do what I can and be satisfied with that!
Your tomato pie looks outstanding!
We don’t get really grand tomatoes till later in the summer but this pie recipe looks terrific. And I love your skinny cardinal. You probably won’t recognize him in another month!
You are so organized about your fair projects and getting things done ahead of time. I wish I would do that – I always leave the organizing to the last minute and then make myself crazy before the deadline.
Glad you were able to get your embroidery issue straightened out. I’ve noticed there are some brands of threads my machines just do not like! I’ve made your tomato pie and it is delicious!! Love seeing the wildlife.
I have every color of Floriani thread and quite often had issues with shredding. I never the shredding was actually the thread. I’m glad you were able to make adjustments so you could finish the labels. That tomato pie made my mouth water…just from the photo and description. Thank your for sharing the recipe.
What a frustrating expetience with your new machine. You did a good job diagnosing the issue & you already have experience with embroidery, so you know ew what to look for. I’ve never heard that explanation about darker thread but I have heard that some machines are fussy about different brands of thread. The tomato pie looks divine. It will be a while before homegrowns are ready here, but there’s a rumor at the farmstand around the corner that they’ll have some in a week!
Your pie looks delicious! I like your fast thinking on the quilt finish, too. I’ll try to remember the 7th.
A tread stand is very helpful with dark thread colors. The stand allows the thread to “relax” before it goes through the tension discs. Cross wound thread should come off the spool on the top without spinning the spool while straight wound should spin the spool like toilet paper coming off a holder.