Juki – No Idle hands here

Improving the sewing machine

I remember the days when I could easily thread my sewing machine with no extra tools or gimmicks. Yes, I was in my 20s and had young eyes.

But even when one is young, having good lighting on the sewing machine only makes the job easier. Here is my sewing machine light looks like.I wasn’t trying to enhance this photo – just show it like it is. The light throws more shadows than actually lighting up the machine bed.So this is how I work, add more light from a standing Ott light. Better but still throwing shadows.

Then while reading my favorite blogs I came across this post. Enhance your lighting, yes creative blogs are great enablers. But when a new tool or technique comes along – no reason to resist.

I have Amazon Prime so was thrilled that I could save the shipping cost on buying this item through Amazon.

And here is what came in the package.It took all of five minutes.Working from the back of the machine I attached the strip of lightsI placed the power strip on the side of the machine and….Look at that great bright sewing machine bed!View from the back, with the wire held neatly out of the way.

Of course I’ve yet to actually sew on the machine since I am still furiously working away on the hexie quilt. But I do have some projects I need to do on the machine and will report back with my experience.

Meanwhile, just to show you how easy this is, take a look at the video from IspiredLED

Leah

Quilting

Have I mentioned how much I love my Juki TL2010Q? The quilting was just so much fun.Here is the section of the background. Doing swirls and circles. It just went so smoothly. I used Aurifil thread. Yes, it’s the go to thread for quilters these days and I’m on the band wagon.When I quilt, things are much more bunched up, but hey, here you can see quilted vs. the unquilted section yet to come.I used a special quilting ruler and a special quilting foot to get the straight lines.I did not switch to the walking foot, two many turns. I love all the other quilters and crafters with blogs, I learn so much about the different tools out there. This ruler and 1/4″ thick quilting foot really make a difference. Using quilting gloves helps as well.I needed a special quilting foot as well. The one on the right came with the machine, you can see it has a thin narrow foot that sits on the quilt. It would just slip under the ruler and that defeats the whole purpose. I paid a lot of money for the foot on the left, simply because it stated that this is for the Juki, I am being very careful not to use something that might damage the machine. As you can see, the foot part is 1/4″ thick itself and glides smoothly next to the ruler.Quilting done! My SIL mentioned that the straight lines reinforce the box-car while the swirls look like smoke.I bound the quilt with the solids, a nice colorful touch.Spiderman has place of honor on the back. I put a line of box cars there as well, I actually like how they blend into the background fabric. And of course, the remainder of the train tracks.Just a close-up of the quilting from the back.

The spray-basting worked! I don’t have creases on either the front or back. I have since learned a few new tricks that I will use on the next quilt I need to baste. Always learning, there is never a point where I can say I know it all.

So it appears the project is done, not quite. I need to make a label as well as do a final wash. I really want to see how pre washing the batting affects the quilt. That will happen very soon.

Linked at Freshly Pieced

Leah

Basting the quilt

It didn’t take long to finish the top.I don’t have a design wall to pin up my quilt. I use the floor, yes a messy floor with the fabrics lying all around. This way I can see if the distribution of colors is working. As the quilt grows I do have to move out to the living room for more space.Box Cars on the Rails, I think that will be the name of this one. I went outside to photograph in natural light. Hence the shadow of the camera. I have no interest in learning photoshop – I’d rather be sewing, so the shadow stays.Over at Mama Loves Quilts Nicole gives a very good tutorial on pre-washing and drying cotton batting. Since I like the idea of a smooth quilt with well defined stitches I gave it a try. Of course I also pre-washed the fabrics. I’m hoping that this will take care of the shrinkage so when I wash the whole quilt – there won’t be too many changes.Assembling the items for basting. One thing that is missing is the masking tape. It’s there, just not in the picture.There are quite a few quilters out there who have posted about this kind of basting. I’m not sure I like doing this for a large quilt. One of my big problems was that the batting got heavy and pulled away from the wall. So I moved to the grass.I think I should have tried to smooth the batting out more, I was able to smooth out the top and the backing, but there are some creases in the batting which hopefully won’t be noticeable once the quilting is done.

I try and use as many of the fabrics from the top in the backing, I’m sure you noticed a new fabric that has nothing to do with trains or Mickey Mouse. Yes, that is Spiderman. Aytan is loving everything Spiderman right now. I didn’t want Spiderman on the front, I’m hoping this quilt will last a long time, so I figured, the back is the place for him. That way in five years Aytan can look back and remember what his favorite thing was from when he was four. At the moment he seems more excited about the back, he wanted to take it home, luckily I managed to get it away from him without tears.Looking good, now onto the quilting itself.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday

Leah

Urban Nine Patch – finished

I sat down, quilted, binded and put on the label. Oh and of course took pictures.Here it is in all it’s glory. This picture was taken before I washed the quilt. Yes nice crisp lines. Here is a close up, you can’t really see the quilting on the prints, except for the straight lines in the large grey areas. Yay for a walking foot and a machine that cuts the thread itself. I’m talking about my Juki.The back is made up of the leftover fabrics from the piecing. So once again, quilting is not obvious.You get the idea of what the quilting looks like. Initially this quilt was meant for me. I had made the blue/grey quilt for Joel so this was going to be my, cuddle up quilt. I was posting pictures along the way on FB and before I knew it, a good friend claimed it. It is her colors! She wants this quilt and is willing to exchange a piece of art for it.

I don’t sell my quilts. I have given baby quilts as gifts but this is a full size quilt and the time and effort put in are much more than a baby quilt. An exchange, now there is an idea, I said yes.

If this were a wall hanging, there would be no need to wash it. Since it will be used as a quilt should be – I washed it. I don’t want the new owner to have any surprises if down the road she decides to wash it herself.Here it is washed. What’s the difference you ask?The top is unwashed, the bottom, after washing. Now you can really see the difference. I didn’t prewash the fabric, I used 100% cotton batting. Then threw it in the washing machine and dryer and this is the result. The quilt shrunk a little but it is also much softer and cozier. You can see the quilting in action, how it makes everything much more three dimensional.A quilt isn’t really finished until there is a label. It’s the artist signature, name and date.This is why I still need the Babylock machine. It does basic embroidery, which is a nice easy way to make a label.

Next week I will show this off to my Quilt Guild and then it’s going across the country to Connecticut to my friend Lynne. When I get the artwork from her, I’m sure I’ll post about that as well.

Leah

The quilt that ‘killed’ the sewing machine

Well, not really, I was improperly inserting my needles. Tightening the clamp too hard until the screw wore down to a point and wouldn’t hold the needle in place. But this quilt is what finally caused me to just go get another machine.

Here it is quilted finished and labeled. Ready to go to a baby boy. It’s nice that friends are having children and grandchildren.

I love tools of the trade, anything to make the project easier or more interesting. I discovered this wonderful Quick curve ruler and had to start playing.

As a quilter, I have a stash, a lot of fabric on hand. I was lucky to be given this wonderful car fabric, what better for a little boy, add some solids and we have a palate.

Jenny started a QAL (quilt along) with wonderful instructions and a

Flicker ModOlive Quiltalong group

Of course I joined, and off I went.

As I went along, I played with the color layout.

All well and good, until I got to the quilting part. The missing clamp for my Babylock is supposed to arrive at the end of March. Who can wait that long?? No idle hands here! I must be creative all the time. So I broke about 15 needles, struggled with a very difficult FMQ (free motion quilting) job, but I did it!

My backs are always pieced, another way to highlight the fabrics. In this case you can really see the quilting stitches as well. Despite the effort the result is beautiful.

Final step

Now I get to play with my embroidery threads. I found this cute image of a flower, easy to turn into embroidery. Of course name and date and even enough room for the parents to write the name and date of birth of the baby.

I love the quilt, but that was it, I couldn’t quilt with this machine as is and I have quite a few projects on the docket. Joel agreed, I am always working, I should have the right equipment. When I tested the Juki, it was amazing how easy and smooth the quilting was. Of course I was working on a small sample, but I have no doubt, even with larger quilts – I am going to love working on it.

Leah