October Challenge

To be honest, the real October challenge has been to get anything done amidst the spate of medical appointments, meetings, obligations, and looming deadlines, in the face of flagging energy.  Finally---finally--I have been able to ratchet at least a trial with a higher dose of Synthroid, and perhaps in 3 or 4 weeks I might begin to feel a difference.  I don't understand physicians who worship the lab results without reference to what a patient is reporting.  Thyroid levels are not routinely monitored; no one know what 'normal' is for any one person without a baseline.  All I can say is, if my hair falls out, nails are brittle, skin is dry; if I'm constantly chilly when no one else is; and if I am so tired I fall asleep any time I lie down or just sit quietly in dim light-- I'm not okay!  

Oh, the free-motion quilting challenge.  Oops.  I did what I could.  It's not great, it's not large, and it's the end of the month (given that we are going out of town until November 1st.
 But here it is:

 I was attempting to use different camera settings to get shots, because I used a very fine thread and worked in a small scale.  

This accounts for the slight out-of-focus condition of the next photo.  

The battery is also low, but I can't remember the steps to recharge (and it's not via the USB port.)

Everything is freehand.  It is a mistake to attempt a diamond grid without some lines in place, I have concluded.

 Teri Lucas's nautilus shell and bubble motif is definitely worth practicing and using.  


I used a 70 Sharp needle and Bottom Line threads in the bobbin; the top threads were Bottom Line or Mettler metrosene.