sewbizgirl

Very good, Bev!

carriem

Great job just jumping in Bev!! I tried taking my Janome 6600 apart once and they don't come apart easily that is for sure! I just let someone else clean it from now on...too bad you aren't closer, I have a 4120 that is due to be cleaned one of these days soon. Just letting my daughter finish quilting with Minkie on it before I take it in. She needs to go around the borders and get the binding on...

Last week my mom and I went to a local quilt show. It was a lot of fun...especially watching Mom enjoy all the different aspects of quilts. She is not a quilter and doesn't have much desire to start, but had lots of questions and just kept saying "how do you decide which pattern, fabrics, etc??" I got a couple mini quilt patterns...one w/wool that I will machine appliqué and the other little 3" paper pieced log cabins. I can't wait to start, but have to get hired projects done first...

Today after I get house cleaning done *I am* going to sew. Maybe even have some pictures to share by the end of the day.

givio

Bev, Did you have to buy special tools to open up your machine? My husband repaired my mother's Elna with ordinary tools. It didn't open or close easily. He got it to work, and got it put back together again, but it didn't look so pretty after that effort.

dublb

Thanks SBG!
Carrie, that Janome is a sweet machine.
Givo, Part of my tuition covered some tools. Most of 'em are basic tools. The screw driver set has some allen drivers & star drivers along w/regular Phillips head & Slot head drivers. While there are some specialty tools available for some brands of machine all ya need to get into 'em are those screw drivers. My problem w/my Janome is all the hidden screws that are so very hard to find. & getting 'em all back. There are a ton of 'em!

I worked on my FW yesterday. I gonna do it again today. While it's clean now I still am not clear about the bobbin assembly.

oksewglad

What fun to discover the workings of all these machines! Enjoy this new adventure!

Not much going on here...worked 2 days in a row and that wears me out...have off until a week from Friday...hope to get something accomplished!

carriem

I'll be busy rest of the week but this is what I've been working on. I was given a couple yards of the barn fabric and given free rein to design a wallhanging. The churn dash block is also called "hole in the barn door" so I thought it was appropriate. I still need to sew the outer red border on but wanted to share. It will finish about 36"x36"...oh and I have to make two. All the blocks are made for the 2nd one, just need to assemble. It will have a black binding to finish it.

sewbizgirl

Love the barn quilt, Carrie!

This is what I am working on:
https://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Des...ion_decimals=1

I bought the pattern and all the batiks to make it when I was in Paducah for the show last Fall. They have been sitting in the bag, guilting me. I saw the quilt made up in person, at Hancock's, and it was gorgeous. The picture doesn't do it justice.

So, the Pony Club quilt is guilting me also, but I don't know what it is... I just can't get motivated. Maybe it's the paper piecing. One day, before we all die of old age, I'll shock everybody by finishing that quilt!

dublb

My PC is also calling my name & there are 2 other samplers that have joined in the chorus & right now I'm not sure which one I will drag out first.
One of the sewing machine instructors said that he is a piecer & not really a quilter per say. He usually lets the robotic Long Arm quilt his quilts for him. However about half the time he will piece a quilt on a serger. Then he doesn't have to quilt it. I guess it isn't a quilt anymore when done that way but more of a coverlet or light weight blanket. Anyway after I figured out the FW this morning (the bobbin assembly wasn't on the shaft properly) I worked on my serger. Now that it is running great I started reworking the few blocks I have on that Irish Chain I started months ago. I feel like a newbie that can't find that elusive 1/4" seam! The Serger doesn't have a 1/4" foot. I"d like to get this done in just a month or so.

sewbizgirl

Hmmmm... interesting about the serger , Bev. I made a ton of my kid’s clothes (knits) when they were small, all on my serger. I can tell you, the machine is not designed to stitch good seams, but rather to finish the edges of the seams. When you use it to seam, you have weak seams that don’t hold up to wear. I was constantly repairing my kids’ seams on their clothes until I started sewing them on my sewing machine and then serging the edges. So for the purpose of a quilt, especially one that won’t be quilted, it’s not going to hold together long. There is a lot of “pull” on a quilt when in use, so I wouldn’t trust serger seams alone.

dublb

Hmmm something to think about SBG. This one will be on the guest bed as a bed spread. It won't get that much use. I'll know more about how well it stands up after it has been washed a bit. I'm never afraid to experiment & that is what I'm doing. Now that ya have brought this to my attention I think I'll double check the tension on the left needle. As that is where the seam will get the most pull. Thanks for the heads up.