Some of you may remember that I took my trusty Featherweight machine on our family vacation last year to the mountains. Well, I did it again! :) This year, we went to a different location, but I still say that there is nothing better than sewing with the scent of pine in the air! This year, I actually had a specific project in mind. I had purchased this pattern years ago...have any of those? :) I brought all of the batiks with me, but purchased the light turquoise blender for the background once we got to our destination. (Vacation gets even better when there is a fabric store near by!) As you can see, I took over the entire dining room table (which could comfortably seat eight) and got right to work. You can see my QuiltCut on the far end of the table and my ironing station set up in the middle. For this project, there were a bunch of strips to cut and then sub-cut. My QuiltCut helped me make, fast, accurate cuts and in less than an hour, I had everything ready to sew. I apologize for not getting more pictures during the process, but these blocks were so fun to sew, it was hard to stop! :) Here, I'm starting to lay out the quilt. I'm still lacking the four corner blocks. If you look carefully, the center block is different from the other four. Notice anything else a little weird about these blocks? :) The corner blocks are finished and I'm just about ready to put it all together. All that is missing are the sashing strips around the center block. So here it is, all put together! The nine blocks, sashing strips and borders bring it to about 36" square. You're going to see more of this quilt soon! I've done some more work on it since we have been home and I just love it! It is now in the "quilt very soon" pile. Once it is truly finished, I will post an update. :)
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Are you ready for Christmas? Only 10 more days! :) While completing the projects on my Christmas list, I found that my vintage machines needed some maintenance. Nothing too significant, but just a little TLC. When I was doing some FMQ (free motion quilting) on one of my Singer 301s, I noticed the original pedal that I had rewired was getting way too hot. Initially I thought the pedal was going bad and ordered a new one. Well, I was flat out wrong! :) The new pedal did the same thing! Jeanie at vintagesewingparts.com taught me that the original style of pedal gets cooler, the faster the machine goes. Well, you typically go a little slower when you FMQ, so no wonder both pedals got too hot! I ordered an electronic pedal and tried it out this past week and whola! No heat! Its wonderful! I also noticed that the little rubber feet on the bottom of both of my 301s and my featherweight needed to be replaced so I ordered those from Jeanie too. Not a big deal, but over time the original rubber feet get hard, crack or gum up and can make the machine rock when you're sewing. All you need is a flat head screwdriver and a little muscle to remove the old feet. If they're really stuck or gummed up, you may have to pry them out after you remove the screw. Be sure the well is free of any rubber residue before you screw in the new foot. You can usually scrape it out with a smaller flat head screw driver and some patience. :) I finished up my maintenance by oiling and lubing all 3 of the machines and cleaning out all of the lint that seems to accumulate so quickly! Many modern machines do not require oiling or lubing, but they still need to be maintained. Are you having issues with your stitch quality? How often do you clean your machine? If there is a bunch of lint built up in your hook race (where the bobbin goes) or in your feed dogs, it can really mess up your pretty stitches. So pull out your lint brush and try it! You will be doing yourself and your machine a favor! And before I forget, I want to welcome all of the newbies that have subscribed recently! Thank you for joining us and I hope that you find something new here that you haven't thought about but can use in the future! Tell your friends to join us too!
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About MeFiber artist, wife to a wonderful husband and mom to 2 awesome, grown kids Archives
July 2023
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