Featherweight Carrying Case, Cont'

 After a break of a few days to catch up on longarming quilt tops, I am finishing my Featherweight Carrying Case this weekend.  I dry fit the case to make sure it fit and it fits perfectly! I made it with Bosal foam to give it cushioning.  I found the 1950s era fabric on Etsy.  I used a 40 inch double pull zipper which was also from Etsy.

2 hours later:  It's done!

Featherweight Carrying Case

I bought a Centennial Featherweight last year and it has a carrying case. Both are nearly 80 years old! I decided to make a padded case to hold the carrying case to protect it during travel.  I measured the Featherweight box and then added 2 inches. There is a book here that teaches patternless sewing and I used ideas from that book to come up with a pattern. Singer Featherweight carrying boxes weren't always the same size through the years so it's important to measure your own box.

For the base of the case I chose to buy black cotton canvas for a sturdier bottom

than regular quilting cotton.

I have a Janome embroidery machine so I decided to put my
monogram on the cover.

This will end up being the front of my carrying case.

13 Quilt or Sewing Shops near Raleigh NC

 Quilters know a dangerous truth: buying fabric and using fabric are two completely different hobbies.

Around North Carolina’s capital, that distinction becomes very easy to understand. A Road Trip is close at hand!  Click the link below for a list of 13 great shops!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace - Durham

 One of the ministries I support is Sleep in Heavenly Peace.  They build beds for children who sleep on the floor because they don't have a bed of their own.  My quilt guild supports them as well.  The members make twin size quilts to donate to SHP.  

This photo shows one of the quilts I made.  It's made with a Jelly Roll and yardage.  I made it while on a quilt retreat last year.  After a quilt is donated normally we don't get to see who the quilt was donated to.  I was thrilled to see this photo on the SHP facebook page!  This little girl received my quilt!

The pattern I used is a free download, found here:

Garden Walk Free Pattern: Robert Kaufman Fabric Company

1st Place Blue Ribbon winner

 I was happily surprised to see a blue ribbon hanging on my quilt at the quilt show yesterday!  I used 32 fat quarters to make 560 HSTs.  I was able to do most of the sewing while my husband and I were on vacation at Williamsburg, Virginia.  I took breaks from all those triangles by going to see the sites!

The pattern is called Triangle Star by Edyta Sitar from Laundry Basket Quilts. The pattern has been retired and is no longer available.  I was fortunate enough to find what I needed a couple years ago and I finally got around to making the quilt last year.  I finished it 2 weeks ago. 

QUILT SHOW TOMORROW!

 Friday & Saturday 9:00am – 5:00pm Sunday 10:00am – 3:00pm

280 + Handmade quilts of all styles, genres, & techniques

Judged & non- judged, Youth, Challenge Quilts

17 Vendors of quilting & non-quilting items

Children’s(of all ages!) Activities

Demonstrations

Exhibit by the African-American Quilt Circle

Raffle Quilts & Raffle baskets of fabric & non-fabric items

Used quilting books & magazines

Silent Auction quilts with proceeds going to the CORA Foodbank of

Chatham County

Boutique with hundreds of handmade items for sale

$10/person/day

12 & Under Free

Maximum $25/family/day

Mebane Arts & Community Center

633 Corregidor St.

Mebane, NC

Under my needle

 This quilt was finished quickly. I used a pattern called Bossa Nova.  

The customer was very happy!

5" additional backing on each side is important

A customer recently brought a quilt top for longarming but included backing that was only 

2-1/2 inches wider on 2 sides instead of 5 inches.  I took photos to show why there is a need for 5 inches.

In the first photo below you might think this is plenty of extra fabric.  In the second photo you can see the bed of the machine is actually 1-1/2 inches beyond the needle area.  If the backing is too short, what will happen most likely, when the machine hits the clamps holding the backing, the needle will break causing damage to the quilt top.

The third picture shows that I was able to still use the short backing by simply moving the design farther away from the edge.  But as a result, I had to begin the stitching by tying a knot within the quilt body, something I try to do outside the quilt body when there is plenty of extra backing to do it. It's better not to have knots on the quilt.