What I Did Yesterday

I taught Free Motion Quilting! Twelve enthusiastic quilters attended a 9 am to 4 pm workshop (with an hour-long break for lunch) in Spanish Springs, in The Villages, FL. We had a large, well-lit, open room in which to work.

We really appreciated and used the generous table space.

I especially liked the tilted-mirror table on which I could show everything that the group needed to see, including a picture of all of us. Hi friends! How handy is that?!

I always take along sewing machine cleaning supplies when I teach a workshop like this. 

1) a bristle brush, for removing lint in crevasses

2) a soft brush, for picking up lint

3) a square of an old t-shirt for wiping off everything, including covering my fingernail to wipe out grooves in the bobbin case base

4) canned air, for blowing out lint deeper in the machine

5) Tri-Flow, a three-in-one solvent, oil and lubricant.

Personally, I use these items to clean and oil my machine every time I have to wind a new bobbin. Years ago, a trusted Bernina tech told me to do the "every bobbin" thing, so I do it.

In room full of sewing machines, inevitably there's a particularly noisy machine, or one with tension problems. That's my opportunity to give a brief lesson about how to routinely care for your sewing machine. 

This is Joyce's old Singer. We all giggled and remarked about the lint she collected. Good-naturedly, she endured our ribbing, and then told us that bobbin area hasn't been cleaned out for 30 years! 

I did what I could to remove the obvious lint, but we concluded that her machine needs to be serviced. I take my machines in once a year. When was the last time you had your machine serviced?

After a long day of "work" (ha!) teaching quilting, I treated myself to a stop at our new local quilt shop - Simply Sew Boutique. I was tickled that owner Cathy listened to my request for Art Gallery Fabrics (designer Pat Bravo lives here in Florida). I found bolts of the new Angela Walters "Legacy" collection, and these are the favorites that I came home with. I love the colors in all of them, but that curved text brackets print on top spoke to the writer in me.

Could that teal color be a hint of things to come? Carolyn Friedlander (also a Floridian) has teal-colored prints in her new "Botanics" collection. Maybe teal will be the 2014 Pantone color. Linda