Pinwheels and Knots

I am tackling another quilt now that it's been long enough for me to have forgotten how much thinking is involved, as well as time. Last time I just made it up as I went, based on an etsy quilt that was similar. This time I am trying to follow the "rules" of proper quilting. I found this great pinwheel pattern (minus instructions) and decided to try it. This pink and green quilt is for my sweet friend's little girl, Ruthie, who will turn two this month. I am crossing my fingers that it will be ready! She has moved into her big girl room, and one day I would like to make the windmill quilt to match for her other twin bed (although I have already promised a zig zag quilt to Harper). Of course, I read up on all of the super handy tools that all the best quilters use, and I got started rotary cutting all of my 10" squares and 5" triangles just like a pro. THEN, after I cut everything out, I found a little tutorial video on youtube about the easy way to making pinwheels. OMG. I am so mad I cut the 168 triangles instead of sewing two seams 1/2" apart down the middle! Oh well. Now I'll know the trick for next time. I went with four main squares, each with two coordinating fabrics and a background of white. After sewing two sets of six large squares, I decided it would be easier to sew all the tiny triangles, press them and sew them to the white triangles, and then make the large pinwheels. Of course, with more pressing and pinning before sewing the six large squares together and sewing all of those together. Ok, now I am getting confused myself.

My only problem is that my top thread keeps looping itself at the needle, creating a strange triangle of thread with the bobbin thread also knotted up. What is going on??? This happens about every third seam--which is ALL THE TIME! Does anyone know why this is happening?

AND, for whatever reason, the underside of my fabric keeps getting tangled during the first inch of stitching. I am thinking that some of the upper thread is getting caught on the bobbin, but I really don't know. Thankfully it smooths itself out and finishes the seam just fine.

To get out of the house on this rainy day, I went antiquing with my husband and found this unique bedside lamp. Sadly it was $945, but I have never seen anything like it!

And I think I'll be making my own version of this sweet tone-on-tone linen Union Jack pillow. Without the vintage lace and linen, I am pretty sure I can make it for well under $225!

Also, when we finished packing up all of the Christmas decor and hauled it down to the in-laws' storage unit, we found this great pair of end tables that match the wood of my grandmother's china cabinet and our TV console perfectly! They were Philip's grandmother's, and his mom had them for sale at an antique shop that went out of business. I guess we are lucky they didn't sell! The tag said they are French provincial end tables with leather inlay from 1960. And the scale is perfect in our mid-century home. I am thinking we will need to put glass over the leather just in case.