Week in Review 2015 - 10/23

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

The pebbles and rays free motion quilting is my practice
piece before sitting down to start on Deconstructed
Sunrise #3. Note the oil blotch in the lower section of
the sun's center. This is why it is vital stitch on scrap
fabric when you first start quilting after a long absence
from your machine. My George has a tendency to ooze
oil down the foot of the machine if it isn't oiled properly or
if it sits idle for a long period of time. 

When I started quilting back in the Jurassic era (late 1980's) I was clueless about everything. I struggled to select fabric, to use a rotary cutter, to match my seams and even how to get the bobbin thread to pop up through the fabric. I wish I had my first log cabin quilt to share to prove just how clueless I really was. I made it in a community ed class taught by following Eleanor Burnes's Quilt in A Day method. Our instructor gave us a shopping list that included the yardage for light, medium and dark fabric. Let's just say I bought only small calico prints and got the lightest lights and the darkest of darks. I even remember the color scheme was red, white and blue, not for patriotic reasons - more to fulfill the light and dark requirement. If that wasn't bad enough I inserted a lace ruffle trim. The miracle is that I was proud enough of this debacle/master piece that I put it my children's school auction and someone generously bought it. That isn't where my cluelessness ends, however. I had no idea how I would have to learn to properly clean and care for my sewing machines.

The sun kissed clouds are fused and the edges
stitched down using the Bernina's
buttonhole stitch. I fused various scraps left
over from making the quilt top to Steam a Seam
then cut used my rotary cutter to free hand cut
long skinny, but undulating clouds.

My Bernina 1230 is my workhorse. This is the machine I piece with and do the vast majority of my free motion quilting. It has one draw back and that is its throat. This is the space between the needle and the motor. What I love about this machine, beyond the fact that it feels like a natural extension of my hands, is just how easy it is to clean. All I need to do is brush out the lint every couple of bobbins and oil the bobbin case every few cleanings. Five years ago I treated myself to the George, APQS's sit down long arm. I had been salivating over long arms for over a decade. It really is a treat not to have tug and shove large quilts through a small throat. However, cleaning and oiling the George is a little trickier than the Bernina. I did a thorough job prepping the George this week before starting to quilt Deconstructed Sunrise #3. I had learned that I hadn't been oiling it correctly in the past. Now, hopefully, I am doing precisely what the George needs. I can say that the quilting went very, very smoothly. I'm in love with my George again. 

My tip this week - love your machine(s) and they will love you back. 

Oiling sewing machines may not be my favorite way to spend my week, but the pay off is definitely worth it. Here is what I was able to get done:

1)  Deconstructed Sunrise #3 (Due November 30, 2015)

Let the quilting begin!

a) Stay stitch clouds in place - done!
b) Prepare quilt for quilting - done!
c) Start quilting - done!

2) Free motion quilting practice. - done!

3) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015 - 87/126

4) Perform a random act of kindness - done! 

Next week I will be narrowly focused. It is time to leap frog ahead and make major headway quilting Deconstructed Sunrise #3. Naturally, I'll squeeze in a few other projects. Here is the plan:

1)  Continue quilting Deconstructed Sunrise #3 (Due November 30, 2015)

2) Free motion quilting practice. 

3) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015

4) Perform a random act of kindness 

I am now linking up to two blogs on Fridays. The first is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays and the second is Free Motion Mavericks.

Week in Review 2013 - 08/16

 Tips, Techniques and Thoughts:

Detail of this week's quilting of Companion Oysters.

This week my mind is turning to my sewing machines. My very first machine was a Viking with cams. It was an unsolicited gift from my mother-in-law. She was an avid seamstress, adept at making her own clothes and stunning clothes for all the Barbies owned by her granddaughters. She also made my wedding dress. I rarely took the Viking out of its case for the first 10 years I owned it. I made a few clothes for myself and my daughter. Then in 1988 I started quilting. That Viking was heavy a machine, a real pain to bring to classes. I looked longingly at other people's feather weights, but also at their Bernina's. The more quilts I made the more I knew I needed a sewing machine with its own cabinet. I test drove a Bernina 1260 and it just followed me home. It worked really well for piecing and just as well for free motion quilting, so long as the quilt never exceeded crib size. I know Leah Day and others assure us that even king size quilts can be free motion quilted on a home sewing machine. I just knew that it would be so much easier on an industrial machine with a large throat. The more I read about the George, the more I sensed it was what I was looking for. So, when we moved to Wisconsin and that move included in a new, large studio with room for a George, I bought the George. My George has yet to feel like an extension of my body the way the Bernina does. It tends to be a tad fussier. However, when I manage to wind the bobbin not quite to capacity, lock it into place and all key parts are lint free and well lubricated - what a workhorse that  machine is. Companion Oysters, at 42" square is being quilted on the George. I could do it on the Bernina, but I can see so much more of the quilt as I am quilting and no scrunching is necessary no matter how I turn the quilt.

You can judge for yourself how the quilting is coming, since I spent 100% of this week free motion quilting.

The backside of Companion Oysters.
Click on the image to enlarge it.

1) Companion Oysters (due August 27, 2013)

I spent some time studying how different sections of an
open oyster shell have different textures. Then, with
a heavy dose of artistic license I interpreted the textures
with my free motion quilting.

Start the free motion quilting on Companion Oysters. - Done!

I am particularly pleased with texture achieved
on the outer deep plum rim. 

2) Leah Day's weekly assignments:

Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next. - Done!

Free motion quilting feathers does not come naturally to me. It looks so simple when I watch others swoop and return around the curves, yet I get lost. So, I was grateful Leah assigned us a feather to work on this week. I added it beside the smiling faces from last week. I wanted the added challenge of coping with other motifs to work around.

Feather with pebble stem.

3) Pictorial Painting - Face Canyon - Continues to be wishful thinking.

My plans for next week are:


1) Companion Oysters (Deadline 9/01/2013)

a) Finish quilting Companion Oysters.

b) Square up the quilt in preparation of facing it.

2) Leah Day's weekly assignments


Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next. 

3) Pictorial Painting - Face "Canyon."


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.