Bring On the King-Size Quilts: My Q-Matic is Finally Here!

Today's big news is that my Q-Matics computer robotics that has been backordered since May finally came in and was installed on my machine yesterday!

Q-Matic Computer is Here, Up and Running on My 13' Long Arm

Now I can finally get to the Queen size quilts in my queue whose makers have been waiting so patiently.  I can now quilt anything up to 120" on my 13' Big Girl frame (Bernina calls it the Large frame, but I am calling it my Big Girl Frame after being restricted to the dinky little 8' frame at the Bernina store that couldn't handle anything bigger than a Twin).  Not only can I get caught up with larger customer quilts now, but I'm finally going to quilt my enormous 120" x 120" California King pineapple log cabin quilt -- if I can only make up my mind about how to quilt it!

It took my dealer about 5 hours to install my Q-Matic, and I managed to piece two more blocks for my Retro '80s Building Blocks sampler quilt while he was working in my studio.

Progress on my Sampler Quilt Project

Since my Featherweight was still set up from the LeMoyne star blocks I made last week, I chose two more blocks containing Y-seams (in the original Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt, these were made with flying geese units, but I redrafted them to have fewer seams).

Back to Beware the Ishmaelites: Foundation Paper Piecing Plus Y-Seams

Good morning, Fearless Quilters!  Happy First Day of Spring to those in the Northern Hemisphere, and I suppose Happy First Day of Autumn to those South of the Equator.  

Yesterday I pushed myself out of my news-induced funk and into my studio for a few hours. I had a lot of clutter accumulated on my cutting table that needed to be cleared away before I could cut borders for my Spirit Song quilt, and one of the things I unearthed there was the foundation papers, templates, and precut fabrics for the next block of my son Anders' "Beware the Ishmaelites" quilt.  Since I prepped everything for this block SEVEN months ago and it's been sitting on my cutting table, ready to go, ever since, I decided that I should take a detour to sew this block together before I lose any of the pieces. 

Next Block In Progress for Anders' MBB Beware the Ishmaelites Sampler

To recap, Beware the Ishmaelites is my version of the Moda Modern Building Blocks sampler quilt from a few years ago.  

Beware the Ishmaelites Rendering, 94 x 104

Here's the Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt that I started out with:

Moda Modern Building Blocks, 84 x 96, Free Pattern Available Here

When I was first smitten with this quilt and decided to make one like it for Anders' bedroom, he still had a deep pillowtop Twin mattress and the Moda quilt was not the right size.  So I recreated it in my EQ quilt design software, shrinking the width to fit a Twin mattress and adding striped borders at the top and bottom of the quilt to get the length I needed.  I figured, as cool as those little blocks on the top and bottom edges look when this quilt is displayed on a wall, they would be a wasted effort on a bed where the top edge is hidden by the pillow and the bottom edge is tucked under the mattress.  Of course, resizing the quilt this way meant that my blocks were no longer ruler-friendly -- they would all need to be cut out with templates or foundation paper pieced -- but I was okay with that.  I was able to find almost all of the MBB sampler blocks in my EQ8 Block Libraries, but I replaced some of the blocks in the original design with others that I thought would be more interesting to make, such as today's block, which will go in the lower left hand corner of the quilt.  I also recolored my quilt using Kona Solids (nothing against Moda, but I have a swatch card for Kona solids that makes it so much easier to match colors and order online).

First Block, 30 x 30, Completed in August 2019

So I started out making the first giant block, and then I got distracted and set the project aside...  and meanwhile my son hit puberty and started growing like bamboo...  and I had to get rid of that Twin bed and get him a Queen bed because at 16 years old he is now a 6' tall GIANT.  Well, I'd already made that first big block and it came out so nicely, and I'd purchased all of my fabrics for the entire quilt in the right quantities for the way I'd downsized all of the blocks, so I didn't want to resize the blocks again even though it would have simplified the cutting and piecing for a lot of them.  So I added the striped borders to the sides of the quilt as well as the top and bottom to get it to the size I wanted for Anders' current bed.  His bed is a black, very contemporary platform bed from Ikea and his bedroom walls are white now, except for a retro geometric wallpaper in his bathroom vanity area (I color-matched my quilt fabrics to the colors of that wallpaper).  

Three Blocks Completed So Far...

Now we're all up to speed!  Back to Block Four, the one I started piecing yesterday.

Foundation Paper Piecing in Sections

Since piecing inaccuracies add up incrementally in complex blocks, and because I have a low tolerance for points that are chopped off or that don't meet up where I want them to, I am foundation paper piecing as much as possible.  The seams within each of these paper pieced sections are guaranteed to be 100% accurate.  When I upgraded my EQ software to the newest version 8, I was delighted to discover that now the foundation papers print out in COLOR instead of in grayscale, which is awesome.  Much less chance of sewing the wrong fabric where it isn't supposed to go!  

Foundation Paper Piecing on my Bernina 750QE

I completed all of the foundation paper piecing and trimming before I called it quits for the day yesterday.  In case anyone's interested in the nitty-gritty details, I did the foundation paper piecing on my Bernina 750QE using 50/3 Mettler cotton thread, a Schmetz size 90/14 Quilting needle, straight stitch plate, presser foot 97D with Dual Feed engaged, and Piecing Straight Stitch #1326 with stitch length REDUCED to 1.5.  The larger needle and shorter stitch length combine to perforate the paper nicely along the stitching line, making it easy to remove the foundation papers later, and the 50 weight 3-ply Mettler thread gives the seam a little extra strength (compared to the Aurifil 50 weight 2-ply thread that I use for traditional piecing).  Ripping away the paper puts a little stress on the seam, so the heavier Mettler thread is my "insurance" against thread breaks.  Foundation paper piecing automatically compensates for thread bulk anyway, so there's no advantage to using the finer thread for that reason.

This Is As Far As Foundation Paper Piecing Takes Me

The next step is to remove the foundation papers and join these sections together using traditional piecing methods, so I'll be switching to a smaller Schmetz size 75/11 Quilting needle, my super-fine 50/2 Aurifil cotton thread, and increasing my stitch length back to 2.0

As you can see in the diagram below, this block has set-in seams, or "Y-Seams."  Yes, I could have transected those black and pale blue QSTs and made them with a pair of HSTs instead to simplify construction of this block -- but I kind of LIKE sewing Y-seams, and I DISLIKE unnecessary seams in my blocks.  I don't like having extra seam lines cutting through the fabric where they don't need to be, and I don't like the added bulk of those added seam allowances, either.  

Let's Get Ready For Some Y-Seams!

However, I prefer to sew Y seams on one of my vintage Featherweights instead of on my computerized Berninas.  When machine piecing a Y-seam, you need the control to stop and backstitch EXACTLY at the point where all three seams intersect.  Sometimes a computerized machine will take one additional step forwards before reversing, but the ancient, all-mechanical Singer Featherweight reliably reverses direction immediately as soon as I flip that lever.  My Bernina educator friend Kari has explained to me that I need to make sure I have completed a full stitch on the Bernina before it can reverse directions, or something like that, so this is probably some kind of user error that I'm doing.  But honestly, it's easier -- and also somehow satisfying -- to get out my Featherweight when I have something fiddly like this.  

Bette, My 1935 Singer Featherweight, Will Be Assisting With Today's Y-Seams

That's Anders in the background of that photo, by the way -- quite a few years ago!!  Well, once again, my "quick little update" post is approaching Russian Novel Length!  I'm headed upstairs to get her set up and ready to go.  Looking forward to having a completed block to share tomorrow, if all goes well, and then it will be on to the Spirit Song borders!

I'm linking up today's post with ·       Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation  .  Have a great day, stay safe, and happy stitching!

Christmas In July at the Charlotte Quilters Guild Sit-and-Sew

I am pretty sure that Christmas cookies have ZERO calories if you eat them in July, when it's over a hundred degrees outside.  At least that's what I'm telling myself, because I ate at least four(teen) tree-shaped sugar cookies dusted with green sprinkling sugar at my guild's monthly Sit-and-Sew yesterday afternoon!

Although some of us were working on our own personal projects as usual, the Outreach committee had precut kits in holiday themed fabrics ready to go for those who wanted to put together charity quilts.  I brought Bette, my 1935 Singer Featherweight whom I've been neglecting for far too long, and gave her a good oiling before I started to sew just in case anything was binding up from sitting too long.  I need not have worried -- she purred like a kitten and sewed like a dream.

Bette the 1934 Featherweight Came Out of Hibernation for Christmas in July

I took a kit of 25 squares cut from two different novelty prints and got my 40" x 40" top sewn together by the end of the afternoon.  While Bette and I were working (and between shoveling cookies in my mouth), I got to visit with another guild member and get to know her better.  Meet Rona of Rona the Ribbiter Quilts:

I Love the Bag Rona Made With these Gorgeous Kaffe Fassett Fabrics!

Rona is a teacher, blogger, and pattern designer with a great sense of humor and a fondness for frogs.  She's currently serving on our guild's Board as one of two Programs Elect Chairs, which means she's shadowing the current team to learn the ropes and will be lining up our guild's lecturers and workshop teachers for next year.  

I am hoping Rona will teach a bag making workshop for our guild, because I was really smitten by this bag she made using Kaffe Fassett prints.  You can't really tell from the photo, but she incorporated some of her machine's decorative stitches on the bag and found really nice gunmetal hardware to complement her fabrics.  Pop over and say hello to Rona on her Hoppy Quilting blog at Rona the Ribbeter Quilts.

Alright, you guys -- I need to leave the house in one hour if I'm going to make it to warmup for the early service at church this morning, and I'm sitting here unshowered with a giant cup of coffee in front of me...  Have a wonderful Sunday!  Happy stitching!

I'm linking up with:

·      Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com 

·      Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts http://www.cookingupquilts.com/

·      Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/

·      Moving it Forward at Em’s Scrap Bag: http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com.au/

Farmer's Wife Block No. 6, Big Dipper

I snuck off to my studio yesterday for just long enough to make ONE little 6" quilt block.  It has been a hectic week, so I am calling this a win!

Farmer's Wife Block No. 6, Big Dipper

This is another of those 6" sampler blocks that I've been working on intermittently.  Some of the blocks, like this one, are from the original 1920's Farmer's Wife Sampler book by Laurie Aaron Hird, some are from her 1930's sequel book, and then I started just making other random 6" blocks to mix in.  In the midst of my other really slow-going projects, it just feels like a treat to pick out ONE block design, select fabric for that one block, cut it up and sew it back together again, and then stick it in the box with the others.

Traditional Piecing on my Vintage Featherweight Machine

Many of my sampler blocks have been paper pieced, but this one was a pretty straightforward candidate for rotary cutting and traditional machine piecing.  I used my 1935 Singer Featherweight with the original multipurpose presser foot and vintage Singer Cloth Guide screwed to the bed, shown above.  I have tried just about every aftermarket generic 1/4" foot out there, and this is still my favorite way to achieve accurate piecing on this machine.  The original foot is a solid fit with NO wiggle and NO play, precisely aligned with the narrow feed dogs on this straight stitch machine.  Once I have the seam guide positioned where the raw edge of my fabric needs to hit for that 1/4" seam, it stays firmly in place where I've planted it, despite the machine's vibrations.  And I just leave the cloth guide installed on this machine, so every time I take it down, it's ready to go for perfect piecing.

Spiraled Center Seam

I opted to pop the seam allowance CAREFULLY at the intersection of each QST (Quarter Square Triangle) unit so I could spiral my seam allowances around the block, reducing bulk, and I did that at the very center of the block as well, once I had joined all four QST units together.

The Newest Block, About to Join My Other 6" Sampler Blocks in the Project Box

As you can see, my fabric choices are quite different from the ones shown in the book.  That's part of the fun for me, Supreme Fabric Nerd that I am -- I like those bright colors, wild prints, and picking things that turn a block that bores me into a block that makes me happy.  I used one 2 1/2" jelly roll strip of the black and purple Kaffe Fassett print to cut the 8 QSTs for this block, and then selected the pink striated batik and similar-looking blue tonal print to draw out the accent colors in the KF print.  

Not the Most Exciting Block, But It Will Play Nicely With the Others!

Meanwhile, I started in on two other ginormous pineapple log cabin blocks, bought a few more Accuquilt GO! dies for other projects, FINALLY scheduled my longarm training with my dealer, and have been brainstorming about how to quilt my class sample project in a way that will be achievable for beginner students, but not too boring...  Hopefully now that I have a plan, I may be able to get that done over the weekend.  

Today I'm linking up with:

·       Whoop Whoop Fridays at www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com

·       Off the Wall Friday at Creations: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/ 

·       Finished Or Not Friday at http://busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/

Happy Stitching, everyone!

I'm Sew In Love With Craig's List!! Check Out My New Serger/Featherweight Desk!

Craig's List Score!

I'm not just excited, folks -- I'm GIDDY.  But let me back up: Unless you're brand-new to my little corner of the Internet, you know that an APQS Millenium longarm quilting machine on a 12' frame followed me home last month, and I've been working on purging and reorganizing my studio not just to make room for the longarm machine but to create a new setup that works for me both visually and functionally.  I need to maximize space without piling up so much furniture that I feel like I'm working in a storage closet.

In addition to my new longarm machine, I've got 'Nina the Diva (the Bernina 750QEE that is my main machine for sewing, piecing, and machine embroidery; predecessor to the current B 770QEE), a Bernina 1300MDC serger named Sergei, and a Juki MCS1500 coverstitch machine named... Juki.  The coverstitch machine is just for garment sewing, but I use my serger for garments, home dec sewing, finishing the edges of applique blocks so they don't fray while I'm stitching them, and serging the edges of my Minky backed baby quilts to make it easier to attach satin binding (and to help the quilt survive the inevitable satin binding replacement once the baby becomes a toddler who drags the quilt everywhere he or she goes).  I've also got two vintage Singer Featherweight 221 sewing machines, the 1951 machine named Judy that Anders uses occasionally as well as the 1935 machine named Bette that I like to use for really fiddly piecing, like the tight curves on my Rose Dream sampler block, or for Y-seams, partial seams, and things like that.  If I'm going to do any patchwork sewing away from home, I'll grab one of the Featherweights because they are so much lighter and easier to schlepp around than the Big 'Nina.

My Studio Back in February.  Green Chair was my Secondary Workstation.

So I don't need to have ALL of my machines out at once, but most of my projects do involve switching back and forth between two machines.  The problem is that the ugly but serviceable desk I was previously using for my "secondary machines" (see above photo) had to move to make room for the longarm frame, and it really didn't fit anywhere else in my studio.  I've only got 51" of wall space to the right of the window where I want to be able to use these machines (one at a time, not all at once), and the yucky desk that probably came from Staples was 60" long with zero storage. 

Old Desk Moved to Wall, Blocking Window, NOT Working!

Yet my "handy" husband, who built my red sewing cabinet for 'Nina and my giant cutting table, is recovering from a recent heart surgery and will not be doing heavy carpentry for awhile, so I knew that no custom Featherweight/Serger cabinet was going to materialize in our garage any time soon. 

I looked at Ikea first, because I know a lot of crafty folk have found great options for sewing rooms and craft spaces at reasonable prices by way of "Ikea hacks."  But I just didn't LOVE anything I found there that was the right size, primarily because their desks looked so flimsy and sewing machines working at high speed create a lot of vibration.  I don't want to put them on a dainty little desk that turns into a trampoline when I switch the machine on and sends my sewbabies bouncing off the desk and onto the floor!

Briefly Considered IKEA Alex Desk

I though of looking at the Habitat Restore and Goodwill for a used desk in the right size with a drawer or two, but I drive a little convertible now (VROOM!) and Bernie's car is a sedan -- even if I found something, I'd have to rent a truck to get it home.  Big hunt, big hassle, and no instant gratification.

Same deal with Craig's list, right?  Except not this time!  Something compelled me to check Craig's list anyway, and the second listing that came up was this lovely solid wood desk that the seller described as "early 19th century." 

Bette the Featherweight is On the New Desk, Sergei the Serger is on the Cutting Table...

It looks more early 20th century to me, but I could really care less what year it was made.  It fits perfectly against the wall where my ironing board used to live, and I can keep all my Featherweight accessories, serger accessories, and all kinds of other goodies in those fabulous DRAWERS!  I didn't even bother to go look at the desk in person.  I could tell from the photo that it was heavy, sturdy, and that any rough edges that might have snagged a delicate fabric have long since been worn smooth by the passage of time.  Best of all, the nice man selling it offered to DELIVER it to me tomorrow for an extra $25! 

...And Judy the Featherweight and Juki the Coverstitch Machine are Over Here

The drawers are the best part:

Paper Pantograph Patterns for Longarm Machine Go in This Drawer

Accessories for Serger and Coverstitch Machines Go in this Drawer

Featherweight Accessories Go in This Drawer

Temporary Fabric Markers, Tailor's Chalk, etc. in This Drawer

Accuquilt GO! Baby Cutter and Dies Go in This Drawer

Reworking my studio for the longarm machine was a much bigger project than I originally realized, but I'm so glad now that it's done.  My new setup makes much more efficient use of space, with tools and supplies stored neatly out of sight near the locations where they are used most often.  The smaller desk and elimination of clutter has actually made my creative workspace feel larger and more spacious than it did before the longarm machine arrived!

So now, FINALLY, I'm ready for some sewing again.  I'm all caught up on my clients' interior design projects and business paperwork and the laundry is done, so I'm headed up to the studio for at least a couple of hours today.  My goals for today are:

• Piece together a King sized practice quilt and load it onto the longarm frame
• Add borders to Butterfly Bear Paw quilt and set aside
• Start a new pineapple log cabin block
• Pin the last two petals on my hand applique project

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Custom Embroidered Monogram for the Singer Featherweight Carrying Bag

Custom Monogram Embroidery for My Featherweight Bag

Before starting another paper pieced pineapple block or making more sawtooth star blocks for the bear paw quilt, I had one more bit of machine embroidered itch to scratch.  I am SO happy with the way this monogram came out on my Singer Featherweight carrying bag!

Both of my vintage Singer 221 Featherweight machines came with their original carrying cases, but I don't use them because: 1. They are made of wood, so they are heavy.  2. They are old and stinky.  3. They have no padding.  I spent a LOT of time looking for a cute, stylish soft carrying case for my Featherweights, and the best I could find was this plain black padded nylon bag from Allbrands for $45.  (It also comes in red, but it's not the perfect Singer red you want it to be -- it's more like McDonald's ketchup red).  So I got the black bag, and it fits a little Featherweight machine with its power cord, foot pedal, a little case of accessories, and maybe a little bit of fabric.  Functionally it was exactly what I wanted, but there was nothing exciting about it.

So today I spent a great deal of time playing in my embroidery software, looking through all of my monogram designs and experimenting with different combinations until I came up with this:


Monogram Design Image from Bernina Sofware

The gold medallion motif was custom digitized for me several years ago for an interior design client's project by Richards Jarden, the professional digitizer behind the gorgeous designs of Embroidery Arts.  (You can read about the original project we used this design for here).  Richards does such amazing work -- I highly recommend his retail designs as well as his custom digitizing services.  The medallion motif, based on an historical textile from the Hearst Castle, reminded me of the ornate gold decals on my early model Singer Featherweight machines.  I think I ended up selecting one of my True Type fonts to digitize within my Bernina v6 Designer Plus embroidery software for my initials.  The thread color is that iconic Singer red like the vintage Singer logo, the red felt spool pad, and the funky red and black houndstooth reproduction cloth cord that my husband used to rewire my 1935 Featherweight's original foot pedal:


Bette, my 1935 Singer Featherweight, with Red Reproduction Cloth Covered Cords

Of course, as great a machine as the Featherweight is for piecing quilts and for teaching kids to sew, she does NOT do machine embroidery.  That was a job for 'Nina, the Bernina 750 QE.

The hardest part about this project was getting this wood bottomed, bulky padded canvas bag secured and supported properly for stitching.  For me, the bag was inexpensive and ugly enough plain for it to be worth the risk of ruining it, but I would NOT recommend my methods for your favorite designer handbag!  I tried using that adhesive stabilizer stuff that everyone recommends but this bag was so heavy that it popped apart from the stabilizer while I was attaching the bag to the machine.  I had marked the center of where I wanted the design in chalk beforehand and I ended up just eyeballing that it was straight and holding the bag out of the way while my machine basted around the hoop perimeter, securing the bag to the hooped stabilizer.  I got really lucky -- I think it looks pretty darned good.

Holding the Bag Out of the Way During Stitching

See?  I stitched my design sideways, and I used large safety pins (diaper pin size) to pin up anything that might get caught while the embroidery module was moving.  Also, because my bag was so heavy, I held the weight of it up by the strap with my arm resting on top of the sewing machine throughout the entire 35 minutes of stitching.  (As you can also see, I'm wounded from crashing my bike into a post last weekend, but that's another story for another day).

Finished Embroidery

I really could not be more pleased with how my bag came out -- this is a great example of what a huge impact machine embroidery can make.  Note that I probably spent at least four hours working on the design (thinking about what I wanted, researching, playing around with different options that I ended up discarding), another hour or so fretting about how I was going to get that bag in the hoop and complaining about how come all of my ideas have to be so complicated, and then about 35 minutes of holding that bag up by its handle while my sewing machine stitched out the design.  So no, I am not going to monogram your purse/laptop bag/backpack/floormats in your car for you.  Don't even ask.

I did manage to get this done for Anders, though:

Personalized Bible Cover for Anders

Anders starts confirmation classes this year, and he will be presented with a new study bible at church tomorrow morning.  The kids carry their bibles back and forth in these zippered covers.  Again, this project was more of a pain than you would imagine -- I used one of the built in alphabet font stitches on the 'Nina 750, but the strap of this readymade bible cover doesn't have a lot of slack and it was dicey getting the feed dogs to work properly with the strap wrapped so snugly around the free arm of the machine.

I had a fleeting thought of monogramming the kids' backpacks as well, but I'm all embroidered out for awhile.  Tomorrow, I'm going back to quilting!

UPDATED 7/19/2016: I'm linking this post with Val's Featherweight-themed Archives Linky Party today!  Be sure to check out Val's post for links to even more Featherweight inspiration.

Sewing Machine Review: The Iconic Singer Model 221 Featherweight

"Bette," my 1935 Singer Model 221 Featherweight


Since my sewing machine review post on my Bernina 750QE has been so popular, I thought I'd do a similar post for my vintage Singer Model 221 Featherweight sewing machine.  

I have owned two Featherweights, the 1935 issue pictured above and another one made in 1951 pictured below that I eventually sold (my husband had been saying unhelpful things like "HOW many sewing machines do you NEED?!").  These vintage straight stitch machines are the perfect complement to my modern computerized Bernina machines.  

"Judy," my (previous) 1951 Singer Model 221 Featherweight

·      

The "Light as a Feather" Singer Model 221, Made from 1933-1957

Singer's portable Model 221 sewing machine debuted at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair and 1.75 million of them were manufactured and sold around the world before production of this model ended in 1957.  My review pertains only to these original used, vintage machines (not any of the newer reproduction Featherweight sewing machines currently on the market).   For a thorough history of when different features, paint colors, etc. were introduced and which of these features impact the resale value of a particular machine, I recommend Nancy Johnson-Srebro's excellent book, Featherweight 221 - The Perfect Portable, available on Amazon here.  (Please note that this post contains affiliate links).