I briefly mentioned in my last post that my main sewing machine (Nancy) may be broken. While free motion quilting the very last bit of what I worked on at the retreat my top thread broke and wound around the bar connecting the take up lever. I was able to remove the wound up thread, but the lever got pulled to the right side a bit and now rubs against the casing of the machine. I'll be taking it to Vogue in Evanston to have the repair guy look at it on Friday. I sure hope it's something that's easily fixed. Although it's not a very expensive machine (Singer Confidence about $250), I really like her. Luckily all my feet attachments fit on my old singer (Wilma)... but I won't be able to free motion quilt since I haven't been able to find a feed dog cover that fits her.
Alright (lol). That being said I pulled out Wilma this evening to work on a bee block. She's not as snazzy as Nancy. She's slower. And for some reason when my iron cycles on she goes even slower (I'm sure that's not a good thing). lol. We made it through though. I did use my 1/4" foot for the first time ever (my confidence keeps a straight seam easier). I also measured my seams periodically and it seems to me that they stayed pretty strait. It's so weird sewing with Wilma. Not my normal at all!
I did finish my bee block. This month is Elizabeth's turn, and she chose a spiderweb block made out of lovely AMH fabrics. :) Two AMH blocks in a row!! I love it! The spiderwebs took a lot of time, but not hard work. I love the outcome. I haven't removed the paper backing yet or sewn the quadrants together... but I can see that it's going to look great!! (**Edit - I did just remove the paper and sew it together - awesome!)The outcome is certainly going to be worth the extra effort of sewing it up with Wilma.
Love your block! I can't wait to make mine. And it looks like Wilma did a great job. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope your sewing machine woes are over soon! I have an old, inexpensive machine. I think about getting a new one all the time, but I know all of my old machine's quirks and I know how to fix it when it jams. I hate to give up that familiarity!
Good luck with the machine. I hope it's fixed quickly, and cheaply. Give Wilma a try on FMQ. I once quilted 1/2 of a quilt before I realized my feed dogs were still up. It made much less difference that I realized it would.
ReplyDeleteYay, it looks gorgeous!! I sure hope that things work out with Nancy and that she comes back to you soon. I agree with Kati, give Wilma a shot at FMQ - I also have quilted inadvertently with my feed dogs up and found it not to be super duper different. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThis block is beautiful! I'm glad you had Wilma to fall back on.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the lady at one of my LQS's, irons suck A LOT of power...so much so that she's been told that they really should have a dedicated circuit (yeah, like hardly anyone can afford that!). Anyway, barring that, she says that you should never plug the iron and your sewing machine in on the same circuit. Of course, she also recommended this huge surge protector (not those little strips that you can get anywhere), so.... {I haven't rushed out to do any of this}
Hopefully it doesn't take much to get Nancy back to her normal self.
Leah Day, of 365 free motion quilting designs, always fmqs with her feed dogs up. I tried it, and i actually like it better.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorite blocks to make. It took a while, but it was definitely worth it! Love your block :)
ReplyDeleteThat block is gorgeous!! I love all the bright colors.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful block!
ReplyDeleteYour block turned out great. I started mine last night. I had grandiose plans of making the spiderweb block and making a practice circle of geese block all in one night. What was I thinking?! I only got one side of each of my triangles done before needing to call it a night.
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