Artist in background

My view this Saturday morning

 

Juki DX-2000QVP sewing machine

I bought a new machine and thought I'd share a review.  If you want the features of the machines that cost thousands, you can find them in this machine and it was only $1,599!

 I've been sewing since I was 13, that's 50+ years and this machine has the most precise feed I have ever seen. It's the easiest and quickest machine to thread of any I've used. And the thread cutter is wonderful. Push a button, both threads are cut and you don't have to hold the thread when you begin sewing again.

 The operation is incredibly intuitive, especially considering how robust the features and options it has. The stitch quality is perfect, and the machine produces consistently well formed stitches. The foot hovers when you stop or pause sewing, a great feature for quilters like me.  You can also program the machine to turn this feature off if you need to.

You can program the foot control heel action to do what you want it to. I programed mine to sew a 1/2 stitch but you can program it to cut the thread, sew one complete stitch, raise or lower the foot and others I can't remember right now.

And, wow, this feature is fabulous!  By pressing the float button, you can sew with the presser foot slightly raised. By raising the presser foot to float you can sew fabrics without pushing layers or creating uneven seams. And you can sew thick layers without using the walking foot! This is effective when quilting and sewing appliques. The height of the presser foot can be set from 0 to 2.5 mm in increments of 0.1 mm.

The feed dogs function extremely well to move the fabric over seams and variable thicknesses. It makes beautiful button holes that are very easy to do, and perfectly sized by placing the button in the spring loaded holder in the buttonhole foot. Its buttonhole-making features are easy and produce the best buttonholes!

I've successfully sewed zippered pouches, 2 tote bags with recessed zipper, also a ByAnnie tote bag with front zipper pocket.  I'll use this machine mainly at quilting classes now.  It's a wonderful machine and I really should say that this would make a fabulous 'every day' machine, and it's a shame to only use it for travel!

Flower Girl Quilt

 

I finished a little quilt top over the weekend.  It's a Jolly Bar quilt, from the Fat Quarter Shop. When you buy a Jolly Bar a free pattern comes with the package.  A Jolly Bar contains 40 5"x10" strips of a fabric collection.

2 QOV tops to longarm

 I'm longarming, and on my frame will be 2 Quilt of Valor tops.  Both are for the national Quilt of Valor Foundation.  This was the first one...

I love QOV quilts.  I attended our group's last awards ceremony where we awarded over 25 quilts to deserving veterans.  The man I gave my quilt to gave me 3 hugs because he was so grateful.

If you would like to serve veterans in this way you can visit the QOV Foundation website to find a quilt sewing group in your area. There are groups all across the country! 
https://www.qovf.org/about-qovf/whos-in-my-area/

 The search function on their site doesn't work very well if you enter a zip code.  You have better results if you zoom in on your location using their map.

Here's the 2nd one...

Yesterday, I cut out the pieces for a small wall hanging I plan to hang in my foyer/hallway.  It's a Jolly Bar quilt, from the Fat Quarter Shop. When you buy a Jolly Bar a free pattern comes with the package.  A Jolly Bar contains 40 5"x10" strips of a fabric collection.

A solution to leaking irons

I see complaints on the sewing boards about leaking irons and I thought I'd create a post about spray bottles.  Back in the day our grandmothers used a shaker bottle filled with water while she ironed. Of course, they didn't have steam irons back then so they used what worked.

We have better choices than what our grandmothers had back in the day.  The bottle I use happens to be a spray bottle used by hairstylists.  It has a fine mist that doesn't saturate the fabric and it sprays continuously which is a great feature when you have a large area of fabric.  If you have a leaky iron try using a hairstylist spray bottle, there are even some available in quilt themes.

 
There is a new type of iron that is available.  I bought one and in 5 years it has never leaked or sputtered.  It is a steam generator but without the tank of water you'd expect with a steam generator. I highly recommend this iron!  

Reliable Velocity 240IR 1800W Steam Iron - Compact Vapor Generator Home Steam Iron. 

1.   There is an override for the auto shut-off if you want to keep the iron on. 
   
   
2. The Reliable Steam Generator has a sensor in the handle that knows when you are touching the iron.  It runs the steam as long as you're touching it. The steam results on even my most challenging quilt blocks is amazing.  
   
   
3. The steam works really well, and it's conservative in it's water usage, which makes it last longer.  And not one sputter or drip!!  You can turn the steam off, of course, and use it as a dry iron as well.

Ode to Sewing Machines #45

 

Many of you follow my "Ode to the Sewing Machine" posts.  We've all seen the ads on craigslist, ebay and elsewhere.  The clueless sellers give those of us who sew a belly laugh, or two!  Here's installment #45!  

It's the rust that adds to the price of the machine.

You Go Girl!

  I have the coolest family tree!  Full of rebels!  Mercy Jones, born in Massachusetts in Sept. 1654 was arrested at age 19.  Court records show the following:

The colonial laws regulated the subject of extravagant dressing.  In September 1673 the court recorded:“Diverse women at Springfeild presentd at ye Courte in March last for that being of meane estate they did weare Silkes contrary to Law vixt Goodwife Labden , Goody Colton , Goody Morgan , Goody Barnard , Mercy & Hephzibod Jones , Hunters wife ; Daughter ;Abell Wrights wife, & warned to this Courte the six former app’ring in Courte they were admonisht of their extyravagancyes & dismist.


Her sister was arrested as well, and with her name I can imagine she needed to do some fancy dressing to get beyond that moniker. What a cool family!  Besides Mercy Jones, my ancesters include the following:

• King Edward I, aka Longshanks, my 21st Great Grandfather
• Patrick Henry is my cousin, 8 generations ago
• Charles Martel (born in 676 AD) 39th Great Grandfather "Were it not for Charles Martel perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet. . . . From such calamities was Christendom delivered by the genius and fortune of one man." Edward Gibbon: History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Volume 5, page 156 - 157
• Hugh de Courtenay IV, Pirate of the high seas in the 1460s, my 16th great grandfather
• My 37th great grandfather, Charlemagne the Great
• Princess Diana, 21st cousin by marriage
• Prince William and Princess Kate, 22nd cousins by marriage
• Vladimir "The Great", Grand Prince of Kiev is my paternal grandfather of wife of grand nephew of the wife of my 30th great grandfather.
    (note to self: you might need to take a break now...time to step away from the computer...)

After King Edward I, my family tree follows a line through his daughter, Princess Elizabeth, who married Humphrey De Bohun, Earl of Essex.  The royal blood line thins as it reaches the 1700s and then I find I'm related to commoners after that.  When it gets that far away from Royal blood, at some point, does it turn into a rumor? Anyway, I think I'll send an invitation to Will and Kate for the next family BBQ.  They must have, what... a mere 540,000 22nd cousins?