Guts!!

Last week when my parents were in town. I took the top panel off of my Juki to see if my dad could figure out where the wiring was off causing the light to not work. (aka a problem not big enough to pay for it to be fixed). 

Janice's guts!

My repair guy at Vogue told me to open it up and see if I could see anywhere that the mechanical parts were rubbing on that wiring circuit. Dad works with electric / wiring etc... so why not? 

Well first off WHOA there's a lot going on in there! I was nervous like a parent would be while their child was in the operating room for a minor surgery. I was worried about things not being put back where they were supposed to be. 

Those little whitish loops up there are the oil wicks. 

The oil wicks are AWESOME! lol. I'm not sure why I didn't think of them looking like that... but they soak up the oil and gently deliver it to the moving parts inside. 

We did not find any weak or damaged parts in the wiring... so it's probably something in that control panel... not worth messing with to fix. It looks like I'll be looking for a new light source soon! 

Hi Dad! 

We got the machine put all back together and tested everything to be sure!

She's working just perfectly - but still no light. 

I'd take a perfect stitch over a light any day!

Nancy's Throne

Finally I have the time to tell you about one of my Christmas presents! While we were back home for Christmas Wally and I spent an afternoon with my dad and my uncle Terry in Terry's wood shop. Yes, creativity is all over my family! I had brought one of the lift-out panels of my sewing table, along with my sewing machine. Dad, with a little help from my uncle, cut a Nancy-shaped hole in the wood. Just right for her to be set into my table! Pretty fantastic!

I love the pictures here... my dad making a template first. 

Wally and uncle Terry chatted as Dad and I got to work! 

Now for the real action! It's pretty awesome seeing those tools cut right through the wood with no problem!

Some supports were added in.

They even used a router to smooth out the edges!

I have to thank my dad and uncle for making this work! I'm not sure how long the machine will last (as I've had yet another problem with it), or how long the cheap table will last, but until then I'll be sewing in comfort! I can't believe the difference it makes on my shoulders!!

Juki

I'm not sure if she'll need a name yet. How many sewing machines are too many? Four? 

Yesterday my CMQG friend Robbi dropped off this Juki for me to borrow (and potentially buy). She had heard me worrying about how in the world I would quilt my swoon quilt (since it's so huge), and offered to loan me this one. The arm length is a few inches wider than my Singer (Nancy), which will be a big help in quilting that huge quilt!

This Juki is a few years old, but with very few hours of use. Robbi bought her from a neighbor who didn't stick with sewing for very long. The one thing she mentioned many times is how fast it goes! :) That's exactly what I'm looking for; a study machine that will sew and sew and do it fast! I've been prepared to trade the fancy stitches for speed, this machine only has a straight stitch. It does have a lot of features that were on my "new machine" list: needle up/down button, thread cutter, knee lift for the presser foot, oh and SPEED! Did I mention she's really fast??

I did some playing around on her last night. Playing around with some piecing and some free motion quilting too. It's really smooth and quick. There's definitely a lot of difference between this an my mid-grade Singer. 

What are things you love or hate about your machine? What should I be looking for in a new one? This one is really a steal - but I can borrow it for a while even if I don't want to buy it. What do you think? 

Look how she dwarfs Nancy (granted Nancy is down in my table. lol. Oh and don't mind my helper's hand there... lol.

Is it really time to start saving...?

For a new sewing machine? I told myself (secretly) that I wasn't going to put much more money into Nancy, my singer Confidence. While I love the machine it seems like I am sewing too much for her to keep up. Today I was 1/3 of the way through a project and had to refill a bobbin. The bobbin winder is not working. The bar that holds  the bobbin isn't engaging with the system that winds the bobbin. The winding system is working fine. Google tells me that it may be the bobbin winder friction ring or belt. lol. Thanks Google. I guess it's a trip to vogue to have it looked at. If they have to check the machine in to fix it I'm not going to do it. $35 is their minimum fee for checked in service (anything they can't do while you're standing there). Plus parts. I'm not doing it. I guess I'll pull out my old machine and wind bobbins with that. Which is really annoying. No, I don't want a side winder. I have too many little gadgets as it is.

My dilemma? Any other machine that will handle this much sewing will cost much more. Money that we just don't have. Sigh.

Potholders.

Yesterday Mary came over to sew, and we decided to make some potholders. It was fun, teaching Mary how to make the wonky 9 patch blocks. It was her first time making a true patchwork piece which was fun. Also, a lesson in broken needles and unscrewing the bottom of the sewing machine at 1am to find the needle that fell in there.... lol. In the end I think we would agree that one layer of the insul-bright batting maybe would have been enough (they were really thick and a little frustrating to sew through). However, I'm sure our hands won't get burnt! Here they are:

Here are the three that Mary made.

The two I made.

Happy Valentine's Day to my Mother-In-Law. (tutorial here)

And of course... a cute pic of the little girl!

Fat quarter swap, quilting machine parts, new fabric store

I just got my email with my names for the Fat Quarter Swap from Sew mamma sew's blog... now I get to go shopping for fat quarters for 8 fun people. I've never done anything like this so it should be fun.

So, tomorrow we venture out to find the new fabric store I've been looking for. (I've only ever shopped at JoAnn's which is fine, but the locations near me are all so small) I asked around (since I'm new to the city), and there's a Hancock Fabrics nearby. Allie and I will check it out tomorrow - hopefully I can find the attachment for my machine which will allow me to quilt. The machine supposedly came with it - according to the instruction booklet, yet it has been years since I got it... no recollection of it coming with extra parts!

I will post soon with pictures of my spoils... providing I find the place, and find pretty fabric!