Quiltingboard Forums - crazy quilter

Hello and welcome to the Quilting Board from sunny Nevada!

If you're still looking for quilting ideas, I like your idea of just straight stitching on the striped part, where a pattern wouldn't be noticed anyway. For the blocks, I'd stick with something from Nature. It is a "guy quilt". Is there something he likes in particular that would be from nature? I think I would mix them up as well. A shamrock is lovely, but I don't think I'd like to see a whole quilt full of them. Do a search on "Nature - images" and see what comes up. You don't want the image too complicated. If you find a theme you like, or more than one, you can do individual searches on those. I'll bet you come up with several images to use. Perhaps you end up with 2, 3 or 4 images that you vary across the quilt. That would be nice, I think.

When it comes to sewing machines, I wouldn't recommend a new one for $600. Do you have a Craig's list where you live? The problem with Craig's list is that too many people sit around and wait for something to be listed, and mourn when it's not, or complain if the price is too high. Better to take the bull by the horns. Go the the "In Search of" part of Craig's List (I think that's what it's called. It's where people are looking to buy something), and spell out what you want and how much you can spend. What usually happens is that someone's child or children will see the ad, and get their parents to answer it because they know Mom has a such-and-such sewing machine that works great but is just gathering dust! The parents aren't used to things like Craig's List, but the kids are, so they go after the parents. It's worth a try! And if you come up with nothing, try again in a few months. Me, I love the Janome's. They are real workhorses, and they last forever. I love mine. I know people who've had them for years and won't give them up, because they're so used to them that no new options and stitches can lure them away. But don't just ask me. Put up a post on the Main section, and ask what to look for. You'll get answers that aren't as "biased" as mine!

Best of luck to you! Happy Holidays!