Thanks to my sister (I love you, Sandy!), who as left her sewing machine with me until Tuesday, I was able to finish up the Zippity Doo Dah table quilt I jumped ahead on in my online quilting group.
I had a heck of a time with it Friday. I just could not feel the freemotion. I wound up ripping out everything I stitched and did a little double needle play on few squares.
I set my alarm for early Saturday morning so I could give it the old college try before I had to take my machine in for it's spa appointment. Mistake. Had to rip that out as well. I think I was in a big hurry, had crappy thread in the machine, and was just a little too stressed to accomplish anything.
So I packed up my baby, moved my sister's machine to my sewing table, hoping that she had forgotten it was at my house, and started to deal with the onset of separation anxiety. Just before I left the phone rang, looked at the Caller ID....my sister. Uh oh! What if she wants me to drop off her machine on my way to the spa? Keep cool. Answer. Just a friendly call and her telling me that she'd drop by on Tuesday to pick up her machine. Excellent!!!! That gives me a couple days with her Bernina.
I took my machine to Sisto's and was lamenting my separation anxiety to Ron who said feel free to call from Hawaii and he'd put the phone up to my baby so I could say hello (I'm seriously thinking of doing this just to give him a good 'crazy quilter' story to tell). He also assured me that it will most likely be ready before I get back (hmm......you don't think DH would drive there to pick it up and have it all set up and ready for me on my return, do you?....nah!). I spent the rest of the day lamenting my 'loss', self-medicating with copious amounts of retail therapy.
This morning, after making my usual OCD Hawaii To Do and Hawaii Packing Lists, and sorting through travel size toiletries and the like, I finally got into the studio to have a go at finishing the quilting on the table quilt on my sister's Bernina 830 Record.
Oh my!
The first thing I did was call my sister and leave her a voicemail telling her not to bother coming over on Tuesday to pick up her machine, as I was packing it up and we were going on the lam, never to be seen from again.
This machine can freemotion like no other. Granted, Ron had given me a helpful hint yesterday when we were discussing BSRs (though helpful, they aren't magic).....which is that everyone has a tendency to move their fabric around faster than the machine is sewing, which results in long, uneven, and skipped stitches. Get out!! Who knew Ron had been observing me for the past two days!!
Anyway, I knocked out the remaining quilting, hand sewed the binding, and it is done (photo at the top)
The back, with my signature block (which I've learned is called 'Wyoming Valley'):
Close up:
Freemotion close up:
It's about 42" square. It was made entirely of Moda Zippity Doo Dah fat quarters in my stash (which is why the back is 4 different pieces bordering the signature block panel). The front center block is fused applique that I blanket stitched around. The center block is my own design, the rest of the quilt piecing was designed by Tara Kos from one of my online groups. I think it turned out quite well.
Tomorrow night (or Tuesday night), the plan is to label the 3 quilts that were completed in June.
After that, the next fabric fix is scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Honolulu. I've already been on line and mapped out the fabric shops (duh!).
I had a heck of a time with it Friday. I just could not feel the freemotion. I wound up ripping out everything I stitched and did a little double needle play on few squares.
I set my alarm for early Saturday morning so I could give it the old college try before I had to take my machine in for it's spa appointment. Mistake. Had to rip that out as well. I think I was in a big hurry, had crappy thread in the machine, and was just a little too stressed to accomplish anything.
So I packed up my baby, moved my sister's machine to my sewing table, hoping that she had forgotten it was at my house, and started to deal with the onset of separation anxiety. Just before I left the phone rang, looked at the Caller ID....my sister. Uh oh! What if she wants me to drop off her machine on my way to the spa? Keep cool. Answer. Just a friendly call and her telling me that she'd drop by on Tuesday to pick up her machine. Excellent!!!! That gives me a couple days with her Bernina.
I took my machine to Sisto's and was lamenting my separation anxiety to Ron who said feel free to call from Hawaii and he'd put the phone up to my baby so I could say hello (I'm seriously thinking of doing this just to give him a good 'crazy quilter' story to tell). He also assured me that it will most likely be ready before I get back (hmm......you don't think DH would drive there to pick it up and have it all set up and ready for me on my return, do you?....nah!). I spent the rest of the day lamenting my 'loss', self-medicating with copious amounts of retail therapy.
This morning, after making my usual OCD Hawaii To Do and Hawaii Packing Lists, and sorting through travel size toiletries and the like, I finally got into the studio to have a go at finishing the quilting on the table quilt on my sister's Bernina 830 Record.
Oh my!
The first thing I did was call my sister and leave her a voicemail telling her not to bother coming over on Tuesday to pick up her machine, as I was packing it up and we were going on the lam, never to be seen from again.
This machine can freemotion like no other. Granted, Ron had given me a helpful hint yesterday when we were discussing BSRs (though helpful, they aren't magic).....which is that everyone has a tendency to move their fabric around faster than the machine is sewing, which results in long, uneven, and skipped stitches. Get out!! Who knew Ron had been observing me for the past two days!!
Anyway, I knocked out the remaining quilting, hand sewed the binding, and it is done (photo at the top)
The back, with my signature block (which I've learned is called 'Wyoming Valley'):
Close up:Freemotion close up:It's about 42" square. It was made entirely of Moda Zippity Doo Dah fat quarters in my stash (which is why the back is 4 different pieces bordering the signature block panel). The front center block is fused applique that I blanket stitched around. The center block is my own design, the rest of the quilt piecing was designed by Tara Kos from one of my online groups. I think it turned out quite well.Tomorrow night (or Tuesday night), the plan is to label the 3 quilts that were completed in June.
After that, the next fabric fix is scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Honolulu. I've already been on line and mapped out the fabric shops (duh!).
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