What to look for in a sewing machine

A friend of mine has been looking for a sewing machine for several weeks. She's researching brands, trying the new ones and also looking at used machines.  I found a blog that has WONDERFUL advice for anyone looking for a sewing machine.
What to look for in a sewing machine

I've had several brands of sewing machines through the years, including a Featherweight 221 and 222. Currently I use a 1951 Singer 15-61 Centennial, a Bernina 640, a Tin Lizzie 26" longarm quilting machine and a 1501 SWF embroidery machine with 15 needles.

I thought I'd share a photo of my Singer. I restored the top recently.  It looks beautiful, I keep it by the front door. I call it "the tank". I'm using it this weekend to reupholster our doctor's chiropractic table. The leather he chose came from a huge, huge cow! It's gigantic! It's also very thick but the tank will handle it nicely.

You can see the leather in a pile on the floor and the pieces from his table can be seen in my dining room.  The blue bin you see on the floor are my worms. I keep the attachments for the tank in the suitcase.  I found the machine on craigslist for free!

Then there are the Singer Featherweights, wonderful little machines.  A few years ago I bought a 222k as a doorstop.  It lived outside in someone's back yard for 2 decades, and was not a pretty sight.  I bought it for $40 and restored it.  An automotive shop repainted it for me, and then I replaced or repaired everything else on the machine, including the decals.  I used it for a year or so, and made a few quilts.  I sold it for $1,200 on ebay (it had every attachment known to man, which is why it went for so much).  The new owner absolutely loved it. 

I need to get off the computer and sew! ... until another day my friends, may you have no thread nests.

( .....What?.... you don't keep worms in your dining room??? ) 

Quilt basting sprays are fabulous!

There is a great discussion on the quilting board today!  I've learned so much from this great group of women.  It's a wonderful place to visit with other quilters.  I've really enjoyed reading the thread about basting sprays.  I thought I'd add a blog post to recommend using the basting sprays according to the directions on the can.  It'll save you money this way.

The ladies on the quilting board were discussing Patsy Thompson's Basting Spray How-to Video  which explains her quilt basting spray method. You'll need to fast forward to the 6 minute mark for the spray tutorial.

Patsy's video is good, and the method she uses will work.  But it's important to note that she is using 505 incorrectly.  She calls it "505 basting spray", but if you're looking for it online it's called 505 Spray & Fix Temporary Adhesive.

1. In Patsy's video, she holds the can only 3-4 inches from the fabric surface. (The directions on the can state you should hold the can 10-12 inches from the fabric surface)

2. She states "you WILL get a glob on your needle", and she shows you what the glob looks like in the video. Yet, the can states you will NOT get a glob on your needle. The reason she gets globs is because she is holding the can 3-4" away from the fabric. When you hold the can this close, of course you get a thick, concentrated amount in a small area.  In fact, as you watch her spray the quilt in the video, you can see the adhesive turn white on top of the fabric, she really puts a lot on there.

3. Patsy says the sticky "will last up to 5 years". But the can states it is TEMPORARY. The reason she gets 4 to 5 years worth of sticky is because she's spraying a thick, concentrated amount on her fabric. When you spray a ton of adhesive on the fabric it WILL be permanent, not temporary.

My take on it is this: If you want the thicker sticky to last forever, spray the adhesive 3 or 4 inches from the fabric. You'll use the whole can up on a queen size quilt that way.  If you want the spray to be temporary follow the directions on the can.

Since 1999, I've used 505 for quilting and KK2000 and KK100 for machine embroidery.

When used as directed on it's label, 505 will stay around for roughly 2 months, but you can wash your fabric and it will disappear in the wash.

KK2000 and KK100 only lasts a few days.   Note: DO NOT under any circumstances wash fabric that has KK2000 or KK100 on it until it has dissipated. It WILL become permanent.

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Cooling off

The quilts are in the mail!  My sister will be able to move back home this weekend and I wanted to get the tabletoppers to her by then.  She knows I made one for her friend, when she opens the box she'll find out I made one for her too.
Whew, I was a stitchin' machine over the weekend! My machine needs to cool off this week (smile).  Here's a photo of the second tabletopper.

I'm excited about a trip I'm planning with a friend.  We're going to the Mid-Atlantic quilt festival in Virginia. I went to this one a few years ago and had to pick my jaw off the floor more than once.

Comin' and Goin'!

This is one of the tabletoppers I made this week, they went together fast!  It's a pattern I came up with after getting ideas from quilting magazines.  I call this pattern "Comin' and Goin'".  The pinwheels look like they can go any direction!

Here's why I chose this design... My sister's house caught fire January 12th.  Enjoying a day off from work, she was sitting on the floor of her 2nd bedroom, filing tax paperwork piled on her lap and around the floor. Then “someone” told her to go get something to drink. She thought she was going crazy for a minute, and didn’t want to move because she had just sorted things. So she decided to say back ‘I’m not thirsty, I don’t need anything to drink.” And the voice said, “Yes, you do.”

So she moved everything she had just sorted, went to the kitchen and saw puffs of smoke blowing past the kitchen window.  She ran to wake up her son, grabbed her cat, and the tax papers.  As she was headed outside, on the phone to 911, a man in a red truck pulled into the driveway. He yelled out the window “are you on the phone to 911?” She yelled back “yes!”. He nodded, pulled back out of the driveway and left. She still doesn’t know who it was.

I said "Isn’t it cool God sent back-up just in case you decided you weren't going to get up?  He's got you comin' and goin'!"   And that's what I decided to name this design.  I made 2, one will go to her friend who is taking care of Sushi (the cat).

Progress!

My sister's house caught fire 2 weeks ago, while she was home.  The firefighters arrived quickly and had the fire out before much was damaged.  She lost the roof and but nothing inside the house was damaged.  The electrician she hired a year ago did some shoddy work in her attic, he's in trouble now.

The power has been off since the fire, so she's staying in a motel until her house can be repaired.  A friend of hers is taking care of her cat while she's in the hotel. 

I took a break from the scrapbooking to make a table topper as a thank you gift to the friend for helping my sister, and while I was at it I thought I'd make one for my sister as well. 

One can be seen on the far left.  The second one is nearly assembled.  I'll add the borders and get them quilted this weekend.  I need to get them in the mail by Tuesday!

The.... NEEDLE (theme to Jaws playing in the background)

My 10 yo son experienced his first rusty nail yesterday. In the doctor's office he ran circles, paced, jumped up and down, squeezed the goop out of the hand sanitizer, danced, ran the water in the water fountain, flipped the light switches all the while asking "Mom, why does the air in my lungs come out like this".... displays the air coming out of his lungs...."Mom, why do the cords on my neck look like this when I do this".. displays the cords on his neck...you get the picture... for nearly an hour while we waited for.... THE NEEDLE.

And when it went in, he looked at me and said "MOM, THAT DIDN'T EVEN HURT!"

His mother went home and had a very strong Bahama Mama.

Civil War

The kids are in bed, dh is working and the house is quiet.  I love scrapbooking during this time.  A friend and I are visiting a new fabric store in the morning so I should get to bed but it's sooo nice and quiet right now.

I'm honoring my great, great grandfather James Monroe.  James fought in the Civil War from start to finish.  He enlisted on 6 Jul. 1861 in Company D, 4th Iowa Infantry. He fought in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou; Arkansas Post; First and Second battles of Jackson, Mississippi; Champion Hill; Siege of Vicksburg; Brandon, Mississippi; Chattanooga; Mission Ridge; In the Atlanta Campaign and in the battles of Jonesboro & Savannah. He was wounded in the head by a piece of shell at Chickasaw Bayou and was shot through the clothing at Vicksburg. Honorably Discharged at Davenport, Iowa 6 Aug. 1865.

I'm off to bed now... thanks for visiting!

Using fabric in a whole new way

A woman in Oregon makes these using chairs from a garage sale.  They're beautiful!