I thought I didn't have any major horror stories, and then Palm Sunday came along. The sister of a friend called me. She never called me before and I was a little surpirsed. She had a quilt top she finished to raffle in church and she needs a quilter to quilt it for her. I said sure, bring it on. The top was beautiful. Mostly WHITE with hand applique flowers. The applique wasn't perfect and neither was her piecing, but in general was very nice.
I started working on it the very next day. I do all my quilting with a very old Bernina. I had it serviced a few months ago and have used it a lot since then, so I figured, it is safe to use.
Well, it wasn't. My machine made a sound that I think sounded like a sneeze. Yes, sewing machines do sneeze. Along with it, the poor old machine had a little problem holding it, you know, weak bladder, and it wet itself, on the quilt. Yes!!! a drop of oil fell and landed on the very center square and Did you know that against white fabric oil looks black?
I never noticed that before. Maybe because it never happened before.
I ran, took the quilt out of the machine and took it to the bathroom. I found nail polish remover and poured it on the spot and the stain just vanished. I was worried because I still could see a shadow of it, but when the quilt dried the spot dissapeared.
I opened my machine and found a puddle of oil just waiting for white fabric and drip again. I cleaned the machine well and finished the quilt. On Easter Sunday she picked it up and I don't want to see that quilt again.
Maria