Reworking My Twelve By Twelve

In the process of reworking (adding to) the piece I posted at 9 this morning (previous post) I started looking for something in the sewing room and found the blue which adds the lightness I was wanting.  And since the challenge was over, I could add other colors like the orange and golds I had cut out but hadn't appliqued down.  I hadn't wanted to place the "leaves" on the batik as it was the only place I actually had any sage green.  More of the embroidery lines are covered but they were annoyingly boring and now they just serve to tie elements together.  I don't think it's finished but I wanted to show it to you at this stage in it's progress.

I had to relearn the sewing machine while working on this.  I broke another needle, the tip was wedged into the bobbin case, I couldn't remember how to get the entire case out of the machine (and then back inside), I had to find a brush to clean the insides with, find a new bobbin with thread on it, figure out how to thread the invisible thread into the machine (it has been a LONG time) and then how to get the needle to stay in the down position.  If nothing else, that was a valuable way to spend the first part of the day.  The machine is now purring.  It was feeling neglected, I think.

I am enchanted with that tiny dotted blue.  It was well hidden in a zipped bag of Japanese type fabrics.  If I hadn't had such a mess in the workroom, I wouldn't have ever thought to look in that bag.  I picked it up because I wondered what the hell I had sorted those fabrics for?  Something Japanese.

Found a 2007 recipe for Italian meatballs and sauce from the NYTimes.  Looks delicious.