Anniversary and piecing.

Today is our 14th Wedding anniversary! Where has that time gone, literally flown by. Having too much fun to notice its passing perhaps. We are going out to dinner to a lovely Italian restaurant tonight. They do a wicked Calzone there and a bunch of gorgeous risottos plus the usual delicious fresh pastas and pizzas. Yum!
This week I've had a busy schedule, on Sunday we had two classes back to back, Machine Quilting which is always a delight, and Beginner Patchwork-the excitement as they begin often their very first quilt is just fantastic, and I love to see them grow into the craft.
Monday was a day at quilting group- we had a fundraiser for the Cancer Council with a yummy soup and homemade bread lunch, heavenly pavlovas, cakes, and a trade table. I found this fabric from my friend Di's stash, for sale to raise funs, with the pretty flowers in pink and yellow, orange and purple. Had to be snaffled.


The marbled fabric next to it was my lucky door prize. Its bright and juicy and delicious!! Also donated by Di. I never win lucky door prizes, and think only did as there were perhaps seven drawn!!

I pieced this little blue and cream block (and it does need pressing and trimming...) as we sat in Judi's little custom designed and built quilting cottage near her pot bellied stove, drinking tea and coffee, nattering and stitching or for some, knitting. Both these are hand pieced. No applique. Brenda Papadakis' philosophy applies to my blue one,"finished is better than perfect!"
Jane's quilt is not perfect and mine won't be either!! That's fine by me for this quilt.

A lovely day off quilting then. The brown and cream block next to it is almost finished now.
I'm enjoying these little blocks so much when I want to sit and relax.


Tuesday UFO class in the morning, shopping for a gift for husband for anniversary (a new leather wallet as his last one is barely held together. That one was found in Italy when we were traveling there in 1997 and has lasted very well indeed), and in the evening a Block of the Month class to teach. We're doing Simply Delicious by Piece o' Cake designs. They are producing beautiful quilts too.
Came back from shopping and found all three of my furry friends asleep in different positions on the bed, in some sunshine. Nushka sleeps in the standard curled up cat position. Chaucer had his tongue sticking out.


And Isabella appears to have taken relaxation to a whole new level, in this position, belly up to the sun whilst snoring quite loudly! Beginning to stir.
How cute are they?


Last night I couldn't resist adding a metre of this lovely Kaffe Fasset fabric, love the overblown roses in the urn. Last piece off the bolt.
And had to have some Brandon Mably to play happily with my Kaffe stash.



These little scraps from the scrap bin are interesing- a nice bit of oriental and some very old Kaffe snippets.

I also bought these two remnant pieces-the blue last night and the pink spots some weeks ago...I found it giggling at me this morning inside a bag I don't use quite so often.

Today is day more or less off. Look at how the day started out! This is the sports field through the trees below our yard, photographed early from my deck.

Warmer though than yesterday when it snowed. Its been cold, cold, cold for a few days but at least now we have snow and a pretty frost. Shame the car does not have a garage and we must de-ice its windows in the morning with a watering can of cold water and a plastic scraper! I once saw a blog that had a picture of a quilt covering a car, and whilst that is perhaps going a tad far, I have thought about something, even a blanket, covering the windows on cold nights.
We are out to dinner tonight, in-laws are babysitting-yay! There will be sewing on the horizon today, I plan on finishing joining up some rows of a scrappy quilt started during summer.


Gail asked in her comment which machine I use for piecing and so I thought I'd share some thoughts.
I have a variety of machines and all of them can be used for piecing. From the simple and humble handcrank and treadle to what was top of the line embroidery machine of its day.
Its just a matter of setting them up to achieve the desired seam allowance and to handle the requirement of piecing with fine cotton fabrics.
I also use a 70, 75 or 80 sharps or patchwork needle (NOT the universals sort) and 50 weight cotton thread to piece, and brush out the bobbin area, under the throat plate, and under the bobbin casing area, and between the feed dogs, then oil only if the model requires it-this is nothing mysterious, as all manuals will direct you to do so for best results. It really does make a difference. I also refuse to use poor quality thread.
This gives the best possible stitch quality short of adding a single hole throat plate to the machine, which is so worth the expense if you really want easy piecing. There is just no where even the sharpest of sharp needle can push the fabric down into the machine. I use a machine with this on for piecing my Dear Jane blocks if I am machine piecing because the pieces for that quilt are truly miniscule.

Having said that some machines just do seem to have better stitches in terms of the way they form or are adjusted to form by the mechanic, than others. I now use only great quality machines. Sometimes they are not expensive because they could be vintage models, or purchasesd second hand-but in their day they were the top of the line or great mid range machines, which would have been very expensive in their day. The precision with which a machine is made, the finish of the parts inside, and quality of its build, are all important if you want to produce excellent stitching for the long term. If you just want to sew together something simple and don't sew much then a lesser pedigree and less expensive machine will probably get the job done. Its a matter of how much you will use the machine and how fussy you are about stitch quality to a degree.

I do like using a machine with IDT for piecing border to a quilt, which means for the true IDT a Pfaff, or my Designer 1 which has Exclusive Sensor System technology-the fabric is fed beautifully through the machine either way with less shifting of layers. The ESS from Husqvarna certainly adjusts the tension on the stitches as it goes through each of the seam allowances because it senses the thicknesses of the layers involved, which as far as I know is not something other brands have cottoned onto yet. However there are other models from Husqvarna that incorporate the technology- the Sapphire and I think Topaz too.
IDT is of course a Pfaff invention and versions of this are now appearing on other brands despite its patented technology being re-registered with a change of its name. Some work a little differently to Pfaff's and I've heard and seen some are more bulky and less effective at preventing shifting of layers. Some have awkward application of extra bits that have to be attached as they are not integrated into the machine.
IDT for the uninitiated, has a little black foot at the back of many Pfaff machines that will work away, behind the specially engineered presser feet, to control the top layer of fabric and prevent shifting of layers. Its brilliant! I find I need fewer pins when piecing long borders to a quilt than I would on a machine without the technology. You can get a similar result by using your walking foot but they are wide, bulky and sometimes, difficult to attach to the machine. You may find you simply don't need a walking foot for piecing if your machine is functioning well and is well made and you are happy to pin securely.
I know I am going to love my Bernina Aurora 440QE when it comes home, which might be sooner than later. I decided to sell my small Pfaff 2027-which is incidentally a lovely little machine- and a student will be happily giving it a loving new home in around a month. It was really just surplus to need and I have limited benchspace at present.


But....I do piece on other machines, such as my vintage Singers, as I often set up more than one with different coloured threads. Simply so I am not forever unthreading and re-threading with different colours and wasting time and effort. One machine might have black, one might have ecru, and another might have blood red. In competition quilts judges look right into the seamline and look to see if there are visible stitches in a poorly matched colour, and if so, marks off for that quilt. Sometimes caramel or medium grey are not the best options, to stitch all seams....it really depends on the quilt. If your quilt is not for exhibition or show it matters less the colour of thread you use then, and could use one colour on one machine to piece the same project. Or use many colours but take longer to un-thread and thread often when changing colours.
I also spend some time to test and makes sure they are all producing the same seam allowance and do not rely on the use of quarter inch feet to be exactly the same, because they are not necessarily. Backtrack to an earlier posting about quarter inch feet to read more!


Also part of the reason I love some vintage machines almost as my clever new ones is that they come fitted with straight stitch throat plates and straight stitch presser feet as just about standard. Some of the early ones did straight stitch only, no zig zag- such as my 201k, so its throat plate is of course straight stitch only as it its presserfoot. You can get all sorts of other feet do to other tasks such as hemming, zipper insertion, gathering and ruffling etc, for these old machines. My 319k was set up by my guy with throat plates for both zig zag, for decorative stitches, and straight stitch only throat plates. I've also added a seam gauge to the 319 with its straight stitching equipment in place and really like piecing on this set up so long as I don't have loads of pins hanging off the side of my patchwork- the gauge works best for strip piecing with no pins.
Or I'm finding that pinning from the other side is ok too but requires the brain to think more when pinning pieces together.
The other thing about these gracious old girls, apart from their beauty, durability, history and general charm, is that if well maintained, many models produce stunningly beautiful straight stitches and will do so until they die. The ones I have and I think most from the early days, have adjustable presser foot pressure. That's good to have on any machine and can help prevent uneven feeding of layers too by adjusting according to the fabric you are using. Some modern machines no longer have this adjustment but many still do.
And of course modern machines have features that sometimes old ones do not, it all depends what you want and need your machine to do.
There are also of course modern machines that will also produce perfect stitching when set up correctly for piecing. And there are plenty that produce less than perfect stitches. Again it depends how fussy you are and how much you sew. And what sort of result you want inevitably to produce.
For me too, I add machines to my collection because I have started to collect old sewing machines. Not indiscriminently though, they have to be the model and or colour I am searching for, and I am in no hurry. I do not want one of every brand and model ever built, or even one of only one type of machine such as hand cranks. And I do want to be able to use it so am selective and run a mile if there is rust or many missing parts. I want to be able to have her serviced, maybe hunt for cams or feet, and be able to use her.


If you talk to a room full of skilled quilters you will find many preferences for the machines they like best, and probably they will tell you they like machine A for piecing, or machine B for quilting, best. And for applique it could be another machine again. There is certainly personal preference here and sometimes a degree of closemindedness-they can be emotionally attached to a brand or machine their ancestors used and refuse to consider anything else as if "if it was good enough for her so it will be good enough for me". They can be stubborn and illogical and are best ignored. Sometimes too recommendations are based solely on the only machine someone has ever used, in which case it might not really be of much value, as without comparison to something else it is truly difficult to know what is great and what is not. Perhaps the best thing you can do is hunt down people who do work you aspire to, ask them what they prefer and also ask them what they would not ever sew with again...and steer clear of that?

Cheers,
Stephanie.

Pottering and Nina

I've been pottering, taking this week more or less off.
First thing I did on Monday was finish attaching the borders on this quilt, design is Double Pinwheel by Eleanor Burns.

I began piecing it a couple of years ago to remember my Nana Mabel Manning who passed away, her garden and her home, choosing a simple pattern I could easily piece and using colours that she liked to wear, grown in the garden as flowers, or decorated with in her house. I was quite upset at the time I began piecing this-intially even borrowing Mabel's beautiful old Elna and piecing on it, and found it a really positive thing to think about all the good things about her life, as I stitched it up. Some of the fabric has favourite flowers and gardening gloves and watering can on it, reminiscent of one of her most passionate hobbies. There are also thimbles, fabric and threads depicted- she was a very keen tailor and made the most beautiful garments at a level I fear I may only aspire to. However, I have been given her dressmaking book which is a treasure, with her handwritten notes inside here and there. She also liked the colour brown abit but it wasn't right for this quilt. And the intense bright yellow of her kitchen counter didn't quite make it in either!! But I am quite pleased with it, it has a nice almost Art Deco look to the design and think she would have liked it herself. I think I'll call it Mabel's Memories.

Whilst I was photographing Mabel's Memories, I found next to it, hanging on a coathanger in the cupboard, this top, which is Starstruck, designed by Quiltville Bonnie Hunter.

I made it a few months ago to use up some of the masses of scraps that accumulate and clutter my sewing space, and to have something totally brainless to sew to relax. Sometimes its nice to sit back and obediently follow someone else's written instructions for a change! The blocks were joined together by treadle on a very thundery day, just before I began work in earnest on Magellanic Magic-it was a stolen day, a day when I really should have been cutting and cutting, but I just felt like letting fabric run through my fingers under the needle...
I am not sure if I will add some borders, I may not as I quite like the way it is. It is truly scrappy but I also cut up some oldies, some uglies and fabric I wanted to remove or reduce in my stash. Certainly the scraps are used up and I can confess only a slight reduction to the very healthy bulge that is the green and blue drawer in my stash. I will probably practice frame quilting with something like this.

Whilst sewing the little bow-ties on the corners, I double sewed the corners and so have many tiny weeny half square triangles awaiting in blues and greens and creams...and am doing the same now with another quilt in pinks and creams. Maybe one day these tiny pieces will come out and play together in a little quilt all of their own. One thing is for sure, I feel virtuous using up every last bit of fabric, abit like Laura's Mamma in Little House on the Prairie.

Virtue does have its rewards, today when I was in the shop (investigating stitch regulated quilting machines) I found this beautiful Jane Sassaman fabric and simply had to have a metre. And could justify it totally by being so thrifty with all those other little bits and pieces.What was most definitely NOT thrifty, but is wise for where I am heading, was putting a whacking great deposit down on a Bernina 440QE! (and I decided to invest my prize winnings and a commission cheque into it at the outset, which has frankly make it far more affordable that would otherwise have been. Something about seeing less an amount remaining to be paid feels better than other way round!) It will be a machine for use in exhibition pieces for show in o/s exhibitions, where the judges have extremely fussy standards and obsess over stitches. To level the playing field, as so many quilters are exhibiting work using this machine. I've had a couple of people, some of whom are accredited judges, tell me that if I want to exhibit o/s, and they think that I really should, that it would be to my advantage to use the same equipment that others are already using. Certainly the husband agreed and his only question was, should it be on a 440 or 820 (bless him!)
I looked into both machines and actually quilted in store on a large quilt. I could fit half of a King size quilt dimension into the 440- there was 1.5m of quilt pleated and tucked inside the harp. I was stitching out 5 inch diameter gerberas quite easily. I think the 440 is misleading in appearance, it looks small because it is boxy in design, but when I measured was only just over an inch less than the width of my Mega quilter. It is not as high though. I decided the 440 is quite adequate for the size quilt I will make to show, up to 2.5m square, and that because the 8 Series is so new, I'd rather wait anyway until any problems that may surface are ironed out...that and the nasty big price tag.. It is a lovely big beast but it is more than I need.
The 440 Aurora is a known quantity and it is affordable.

Now, stitch regulation is something that I've never had and until recently thought I wouldn't even need to have, since I quilt for a part time living on a non regulated machine and my customers are very happy. If I wasn't taking the plunge with o/s work, I might not even have been investigating it. I try very hard, produce a lovely stitch on an unregulated machine, and have won more than one award for my quilting on my own and customer's quilts, but I am sadly not perfect. That's been good enough for local and interstate customers and judges, but would not neccesarily, as I've been told by more than one wise one, be for the o/s ones. I also have eyesight that is less than ideal, and am not getting any younger by the year. What I found to my surprise is that BSR irons out the occasional kinks in my stitching-I mean stitch length here, not the shape of the curved line I am creating- because I already do nice work. It minimises those ocassionally less than perfect stitches. It too is not perfect but it helps. And the biggest surprise of all was how relaxing I found working with it in either mode. I wasn't sure if I'd even like BSR as I've heard both good and bad. Bad comes from those who think that they won't need to learn the skills of FMQ at all, and that BSR will immediately make their quilting appear god-like, negating the need for them to learn to fmq! They probably think the machine will make their coffee and cook dinner too though! I've heard and read much good from skilled and unskilled alike who are prepared to learn to work with the system.
It is not a silver bullet-you have to work with the parameters of BSR to get good results that are consistent. A beginner can learn to fmq and find it improves dramatically with BSR engaged, from what I'm told. What it has meant for me is that I can just think more about where I want to stitch and not also so much about how I am stitching -the brain can relax abit. I think as I age this could be a huge benefit, especially if I am quilting in a somewhat tired state. Which for me with young children, is quite often!!
And how else do I love my impending 400QE, let me count the ways! Beautiful, beautiful straight stitching, killer applique stitches, great quality white lighting (if you ever visit me in my dark dungeon like studio you will know why this appeals), easy to navigate layout, and vertically positioned bobbin that I can get into in case of thread jams and really thoroughly brush out! Of course there's the knee lifter so very well designed and comfortable to use (some knee lifters I've tried require a very awkward hip movement when sitting in front of the needle) and one very strong motor tucked under the hood. It feels really nice and comfortable to use.
I can't wait and in a way, now I've committed to this, there is no wiggling out of the o/s show thing (which if I stop and think about for too long, suddenly becomes big and scary), because Nina will, I imagine, glare at me from her spot in my sewing room and tell me off if she thinks for one minute I might not use her to achieve greatness, lol! I'm excited to join the Bernina family, soon!

The bonus from all this is that I'll be able to put my Mega Quilter onto the frame for most of the time, unless I am making a truly massive quilt for myself, and even then it may be on the frame. No more getting husband to come and help lift her substantial weight off the carriage and put her into the cabinet, to protect my back. He's already very happy about this! And I shall be able to use some beautiful thick quilting cotton to FMQ in Nina without stamping of little feet or throwing of hissy fits, as her dietary preferences appear to be broader than Brunnhilde's.
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What else have I been up to this week? Earlier in the week, mostly of the evenings I've been playing with Jane.
See, here is evidence! Hand pieced and or appliqued.

And I forgot this little sweetie which was made before the three you see together above.

They're such fun to sew and in the case of most of these, very simple to sew in front of the tv by hand, or by machine piecing as in the image above. What I am itching to start on are the wedges in the border of the quilt.


I've also come to a realisation recently about my Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0.... It really does not like 40 weight cotton, no matter how expensive and extra long staple cotton from Egypt or what particular brand it may be, for FMQ. Doesn't matter even if I am using the spring foot and the best needles for the job, such as Jeans or Topstitch in the correct size for the thread, it stamps its rather large foot, skips stitches or jams the thread. Grrrr! Funnily enough, it doesn't mind these heavier threads one bit for straight line quilting when feed dogs are up. Good thing it can handle that as it is the main reason I bought it I guess, or I'd be really rather cross. I was abit surprised though to find it so fussy as the model I test drove was great as I quilted and bound a small wallhanging with 40 weight Superior and Signature thread. It turned out beautifully with no problems. No reason to be suspicious that it couldn't handle what I was asking of it.

I have found however it has no problem at all to FMQ with finer threads such as 50 weight cottons and other fibres. Which just means if I want to enjoy its enormous space and lighting I should use a finer thread. Often I am finding with intricate, small scale work that I simply have to use finer threads in order to be able to stitch the design out anyway, without the work looking thready. With the sensormatic or the spring foot it is fine, with 50 weight thread, no skipping stitches, just reliable stitching. Brunnhilde has a delicate stomache, I guess, and wants a fine diet suitable for her somewhat fussy taste.
I guess this is the reason so many quilters, sewers and crafters have multiple machines, there is really no affordable machine that does everything we ask and to a high standard.

This weekend will be busy, we have sports for the children, a bonfire afternoon/evening and BBQ at Church, and Sunday is full with two classes to teach. I'm not huge about working Sundays but sometimes it can't be helped. The classes are two of my favourites to teach, Machine Quilting, and Beginner Patchwork. Our ladies and girls that come are just lovely and I love working at Frangipani Fabrics!!

Dinner smells delicious, and off I go in search of yummy goodness!
Cheers,
Stephanie