More Kindred Spirits, Cooking, and a Quilting Conundrum

I forgot the chart when away from the house, but was still able to stitch--thank you border! :D Usually, I pack EVERYTHING but the Needle. :)



Out of season, but these steam-fried yams were so good! The recipe calls for a black sesame garnish, but I used fresh-grated nutmeg and cinnamon instead. I glugged in a little extra oil, and they did come out too oily! As the recipe says, it REALLY only needs one tablespoon. They won't get too oily if you do over-use as the potatoes are surprisingly non-porous.



I took the good advice of Myra, Nancy and others and tried making a little sample bit of finished machine quilting.



I think I really need some supplies such as gloves for grip and a slide-facilitating plate to put down around the plate. It'd be even better if I had a sewing table which puts the plate on the level of the whole table. I could only have one if it folds up, however, due to space constraints. I hope they make one, but have doubts due to the likelihood of stability problems for a collapsible table. Do you, gentle readers, know of any?



One side is muslin, and one cotton. The quality of the quilting is dubious and inconsistent, but it will hold and may make a decent needle roll. I told Marc my stars look scared. :)

But, here's my real conundrum:



This was the walking foot, which I tried in the hope of preventing this sort of thing from happening at the end of a row! :P



Here's the ditch-quilting foot which helps you follow a line closely, and it's a little cinchy. It was my first attempt, but it was "off" enough to make me try the walking foot.



Here's the other side of the seam; the problem here is less severe but can also be seen.

Do I need more pins? Did I not iron the top flat enough and so it's too large for the base? I begin to see why a binding is put on at the end of a quilt. :) But, this little scrap-lab called for a turned finish to conserve fabric. I may just resort to hand-quilting, although I wanted to learn/use machine.

Hope everyone's enjoying a fine and relaxing long weekend (US readers)!

--Berit