23 day countdown

Here's what it looked like last night:

My Janome must have picked up my vibes. The walking foot would forget how to walk. The foot guide unreliable. The stitches uneven.

With the stitch-in-the-ditch walking foot and a 90/14 quilting needle I stitched close to the seam lines on both sides to get a heavier line. Would be easier with a twin needle, but the only ones I have are 80/12. I'd offset the needle position and used the foot guide along the seam line. Every once it in awhile, the needle would thunk! as it went through multiple layers. Grrr! Terrible stitches. On one side the stitches would hide under the fold of the seam. On the other side, the stitches would stray. Unsew! Restitched with adjustments to the needle position. Grrr! Unsewed again! The first few lines were unsewed almost as often as they were sewn.

Another tack needed. The guide on the stitch-in-the-ditch foot interfered with my sightlines. Switching to the open toe walking foot and a 90/14 microtex helped. Still didn't like bulky seams, but the second pass was often better. Here's a closeup:

 Once I started stitching, I started making adjustments. The white thread contrasted nicely with the black but not enough with the teal, especially when running right next to it. I stitched all over then went back and stitched more.

It's not there yet. It's not ready for facings yet. More stitches yet to come.