Purging and organzing continue at my house. Today was spent going through two file cabinet drawers. One would think that wouldn't demand much time, but going through every page of paper consumed most of the day. The result is a 16" pile of papers in the green recycle bin, a basketful of shredded paper, and two empty file cabinet drawers. Rah!
Quilting-wise, I pin-basted the Riverside quilt and have started free-motion quilting. It's nice to work on something smaller than a queen-size quilt.
But, how to quilt around embroidery? This 12" block needed to be secured so I quilted along the top of the words, and around some of the major elements like the trees.
Then I quilted in the valley around the perimeter of the embroidered block. Do you use your walking foot to quilt straight lines? I used to use the walking foot but now find that quilting straight lines with the free-motion foot gives me more maneuverability.
In the pieced Flying Geese around the stitchery I quilted wavy feathers.
I love the look of feathers, and they're fun to quilt too.
For the first time, I quilted these without marking the veins or feathers!
How often do you stop to clean your machine?
My Bernina technician suggests doing so every time the bobbin empties. Even though I sew with high quality Aurifil thread, lint still builds up. I brush it out and follow that with a blast of canned air.
My finished cutie this week is Josephine Jellyfish, the January "Under the Sea" block from Willowberry Designs. I appreciate Cheryl Goss' design talent, and that she's giving away this pattern... how nice is that!?
I hope your week has been productively satisfying.
An old t-shirt, cut into small pieces, works well for wiping off lint and excess oil. The last step before reassembling is to put a drop of Tri-Flow oil/lubricant on the hook race.
My Bernina fairly sighs with contentment after a fresh cleaning.
My finished cutie this week is Josephine Jellyfish, the January "Under the Sea" block from Willowberry Designs. I appreciate Cheryl Goss' design talent, and that she's giving away this pattern... how nice is that!?
I hope your week has been productively satisfying.
Lovely quilting and I'm doing under the sea have both Jan and Feb's block finished must take photo for next weeks flaunt.
ReplyDeleteYou have been very busy doing many varied things. That's probably why we have so many UFO's - we like trying different techniques and working with different fabrics. Thanks for the reminder, I will have to clean my machine tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI still have a drawer or two to go through but I've lost my drive to do it. Maybe I can talk DH into doing it?
ReplyDeleteUsing an old t-shirt is a great idea. I keep forgetting exactly where the oil goes and need to take a picture.
I always wonder how to quilt embroidery too. I like your idea. The feathers look great. Looking forward to seeing the whole quilt.
ReplyDeleteI do use my walking foot for straight lines. I find the free motion foot moves to easily off my line. Probably just need to practice more with it.
I usually clean my machine after 4 bobbins.
Thanks for the reminder to clean my machine! blessings, marlene
ReplyDeleteYour quilting looks wonderful. I use my husband's old tee shirts for a lot of things. I cut off the sleeves and use them just like you do for the sewing machine cleaning. I thought I was the only one that used those things.
ReplyDeleteI had never thought of quilting along the lines of the stitchery but it seems the perfect way.
ReplyDeleteHow long did it take before you achieved the evenness with your machine quilting... very frightening exercise at the start.