*Side note - This all started before my back issues....
I am still taking it easy and haven't done much of anything because of my back, which is starting to get 'back' to normal. Whew.....
My:
must have thought it didn't need to do much of anything either because I had to take it in to be fixed.
It started to 'eat my fabric' again and continually had 'thread threw up'! It's been doing the same thing as when I first bought it (winding the thread around the bobbin post), very unhappy....
Not only that but the:
would just 'take off and go a zillion miles a minute without moving any fabric....which lead to even more 'threw up'!
I am wanting to sew a darker thread on the top in the colored fabric areas but the machine would not let me adjust any tension so this is what the back looks like:
It's a good thing I am not entering this quilt in any shows. I am so upset with the stitching (already 1/4 stitched out) I am tempted to rip out all the quilting.....NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!
Maybe I should have just meandered the quilting because it started with me wanting to design my own quilting pattern. I am not very proficient at free motion so I draw out the design and stitch over the lines. Because I needed 16 of the same design I figured I would draw it on dissolving paper. 'Wash-Away' to the rescue. I drew the 16 designs using a blue Sharpie marker so I would be able to see the lines:
and put them on the pile for the evening....must get up early for work....
As I was showering; it's the greatest place for me to think, I thought 'what if the Sharpie 'bleeds' onto the white fabric? I would die after all that hard work because I wouldn't know until I washed the quilt to dissolve the paper!
I made a test piece. The marker didn't 'bleed' onto the white BUT it did into the thread!
Back to the drawing board, this time using a 'Frixion' marker:
This worked well, I could see the design and if any paper was left on the fabric after tearing it away before washing the quilt I could just steam away the pen markings, (still afraid of colors bleeding into thread).
I pinned the papers in place and started quilting. WHAT?!?! I could hardly move the fabric for not being able to hold onto the slippery papers!!!
Back to the drawing board so to speak.
I finally cut out a stencil and put the design on the fabric the old fashioned way - chalking....
Old ways seem to be the best ways at times....
Speaking of entering quilt shows......
I went to my guild's quilt show. They kept advertising they were showing 200+ quilts.
I will give them that on a technicality because a quilt is a sewn sandwich.
But really?????:
I counted 38 bed quilts. I saw mostly throws and wall hangings.
(Venting here):
Maybe I'm being biased here because I volunteered to be the quilt show chair. I was for 3 months but the 'show board' did not want me to be chair person and made it next to impossible for me to do my job, so I resigned to the satisfaction of the guild president (at the time), treasurer, and program chair.
Four years ago when I was quilt show donation chair, the show took in just shy of 100 bed quilts, with wall hangings, throws, etc. bringing the total to well over 200+!
Me,envious?!?!?
Enough of that....
I think this was my favorite quilt of the show:
All the little pieces and it looked like they embroidered the quilt motifs. I do want to try that in my life time.
If you want a stencil in a certain position and have to mark it to make sure it is in that position, put a piece of tape on the stencil and draw on the tape. When you are finished using the stencil for that project just remove the tape and your stencil good as new!
Have a great week!
D.G. L
I am still taking it easy and haven't done much of anything because of my back, which is starting to get 'back' to normal. Whew.....
My:
It started to 'eat my fabric' again and continually had 'thread threw up'! It's been doing the same thing as when I first bought it (winding the thread around the bobbin post), very unhappy....
Not only that but the:
I am wanting to sew a darker thread on the top in the colored fabric areas but the machine would not let me adjust any tension so this is what the back looks like:
It's a good thing I am not entering this quilt in any shows. I am so upset with the stitching (already 1/4 stitched out) I am tempted to rip out all the quilting.....NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!
Maybe I should have just meandered the quilting because it started with me wanting to design my own quilting pattern. I am not very proficient at free motion so I draw out the design and stitch over the lines. Because I needed 16 of the same design I figured I would draw it on dissolving paper. 'Wash-Away' to the rescue. I drew the 16 designs using a blue Sharpie marker so I would be able to see the lines:
As I was showering; it's the greatest place for me to think, I thought 'what if the Sharpie 'bleeds' onto the white fabric? I would die after all that hard work because I wouldn't know until I washed the quilt to dissolve the paper!
I made a test piece. The marker didn't 'bleed' onto the white BUT it did into the thread!
This worked well, I could see the design and if any paper was left on the fabric after tearing it away before washing the quilt I could just steam away the pen markings, (still afraid of colors bleeding into thread).
I pinned the papers in place and started quilting. WHAT?!?! I could hardly move the fabric for not being able to hold onto the slippery papers!!!
Back to the drawing board so to speak.
I finally cut out a stencil and put the design on the fabric the old fashioned way - chalking....
Old ways seem to be the best ways at times....
Speaking of entering quilt shows......
I went to my guild's quilt show. They kept advertising they were showing 200+ quilts.
I will give them that on a technicality because a quilt is a sewn sandwich.
But really?????:
I counted 38 bed quilts. I saw mostly throws and wall hangings.
(Venting here):
Maybe I'm being biased here because I volunteered to be the quilt show chair. I was for 3 months but the 'show board' did not want me to be chair person and made it next to impossible for me to do my job, so I resigned to the satisfaction of the guild president (at the time), treasurer, and program chair.
Four years ago when I was quilt show donation chair, the show took in just shy of 100 bed quilts, with wall hangings, throws, etc. bringing the total to well over 200+!
Me,envious?!?!?
Enough of that....
I think this was my favorite quilt of the show:
All the little pieces and it looked like they embroidered the quilt motifs. I do want to try that in my life time.
If you want a stencil in a certain position and have to mark it to make sure it is in that position, put a piece of tape on the stencil and draw on the tape. When you are finished using the stencil for that project just remove the tape and your stencil good as new!
Have a great week!
D.G. L
1 comment:
Hope your back gets all healed. I almost bought that machine last month, but when I went to play with it at the shop, I just didn't feel so good about it. I quilt with a Bernina 153 that is about 15 years old. It is such a great machine that I often think that Bernina can do no wrong, but I feel like I dodged a bullet by not buying the new Bernina. What do you think? is it just a glitch? Hope it behaves better for you.
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