Sunday, June 30, 2013

Jingling Along

I finished set four of the Jingle Belle quilt. One block is appliqued and one is pieced. I am glad I am keeping up, so far, with this project!



Then I had the crazy idea of starting another hexagon quilt. They are so easy to tote along and work on when out and about. I think Jaye, over on her artquiltmaker blog is doing a version of this. I have three colorways of the spotted fabric below that I thought would work for the outside parts. I am thinking about using a yellow for the center.

I played around in photoshop with different center colors:

I still am not sure which way I want to go with that center color. I actually sewed one set together. It was a pain in the butt to do!!! I don't think I will be doing this project any time soon. I am not sure what I did wrong, but it sure went together badly. I will put this idea on the back burner for now.

I also worked on making a quilted case for my husband's small traveling harp. I don't have a pattern so it is slow going, but I think I know where I am headed with it. Photos will follow when done.

Speaking of photos...my computer recently crashed. When I reloaded the programs onto to the new hard drive we had to get, I loaded the newest version of photoshop that I own. I am slowly learning how to use it. The best news though, is that it isn't as much of a pain to get photos from my camera to the computer and edited for use! I am not only a happy sewer tonight, but a happier photo transfer-er.

That's it for tonight!
Happy Sewing!


2 comments:

Rebecca Grace said...

GASP! Sherri!!! Okay. I recently bought a Featherweight, cleaned her up, had her serviced and adjusted by my local Bernina/Singer machine tech, and TODAY I gave her an inaugural run. Tried out a couple of different after market 1/4" feet that many recommended, and although the straight stitching of my FW is delightful, I am not so happy with the feet and had trouble getting my seam allowance exact, since my pieced units were at first finishing too large, then too small. I went to the Yahoo FW group and searched past topics to look for other quilters' best practices, found your post asking about "feets," clicked through to your blog from the link in your message, and saw that you are working on the EXACT SAME Jingle BOM that I was working on today! What a small, freaky world is this Internet, isn't it?!

Your pieced blocks are so lovely and precise. Are you sewing them on your Featherweight? What ended up working best for you? Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. I'm used to the fancy new whirligig machines and having trouble without my crutches like needle stop down, the FHS knee lift for the presser foot on my Bernina, and the low lighting isn't helping much, either. I'm especially struggling with crossing bulky seam allowances because my FW won't sew as slowly as I usually do when I'm doing nitpicky piecing on other machines. Help -- I really want to love it! I'm only on Pieced Block #3 of the Jingle BOM and I have to start over now because I realized my block was coming out too small by the time I had the inner star pieced.

Sherri said...

Hi Rebecca! SEW glad you stopped by! I will try to answer your questions as best I can, but I am no expert.

I have yet to try different feet on my FW. I am in no rush to do so. For piecing any quilt, I try to work on the same machine so that all the seams will turn out as close to the same as possible.

This is why I did a whole quilt top with the FW. I only used the FW, so all the seams would be the same. Too wide or too narrow, they would always be close to the same if done on the same machine.

If I wanted to keep a true quarter inch seam allowance on the FW, I would put some tape along the right side to guide my sewing. There are several types out there that won't mar the surface of your machine.

What a hoot that you are doing the Jingle BOM too! Erin has such neat patterns. Do you know that a lot of people have struggled with pieced block #3? I wrote about it in a posting here:

http://lazyquilter.blogspot.com/2013/06/three-times-charm.html

I could make that center part but the outside part was really hard to get right!

You are so sweet to say my blocks are so precise! Of course I can point out every single flaw, but I would not see flaws in someone else's work! I am using my Juki 98e for that project. It only does a straight stitch at a very fast speed...faster than I can go! When sewing with the FW, it seems very slow to me because of the speed of the Juki.

Using different machines effectively and smoothly, comes with time and practice. It is second nature to me to ease off the food peddle to go really slow, or to automatically reach out and give the wheel another half turn to put the needle down.

I will be using my FW for odd projects, just to keep it in use. I feel it is good to use a machine to run the oils and fluids through it every so often. I would also take the FW with me, as it is light, for going to guild or classes or such. I have a suitcase that has a handle extension and wheels to transport it with.

I hope I've answered some of your questions! The FW group is a great resource. I'll watch for your progress on the Jingle Belle project too!

Happy Sewing!!! And thanks again for such a nice comment!