Sharon Gets a New Machine

In 2007 I got my first Janome sewing machine.  I'd been itching for one -- I wanted to make pillows and  other things for our home.  And I did.  My Decor 2007 really served it's purpose.  It's a good machine.

Then last year I got the quilting bug.  I did what I could with my machine, but it had it's limitations.  So I started looking at other sewing machines.  I looked at Consumer Reports (not too helpful, it was out of date), I looked at a lot of sewing and quilting blogs and the one Janome everyone talked about was the Janome 7700.  If Bernina machines are the Mercedes-Benz of sewing machines, the Horizon is an Audi.  Lower key, less money, but a well-made machine.  During last summer's shop hop, I found the Horizon at various stores and looked at it with envy.

What did I like about it?  The work area between machine and needle is 7 inches.  No more squishing things up.  I knew how to use a Janome, I just needed a friendlier environment.  A better sewer could handle the DC2007, I'm sure.

It has front wheel drive... that's what I call it.  I'm sure it's called something else.  The feed dogs just sort of take the fabric and drive it through. It's a wonder.

Isn't it pretty?




And look at that plate!  I think it is virtually impossible for me to mess up a 1/4" seam with this machine (operator error has been reduced to 25%).  It has markings in every direction!   Gorgeous.



So, since last summer I've been looking at this machine from afar.  In March, I went down to my favorite Janome dealer and asked about the machine.  She showed me the features and I fell in love with it all over again.  The bobbin pretty much feeds itself.  You have to place it in the holder, secure the thread, but press a button twice, and viola, threaded.  I didn't buy it then.  I wanted to tell my dear husband about it.  DH is fiscally frugal and wanted me to wait.  I was disappointed, but determined.  I may have to forgo my designer hair, but I was determined to get this machine.

I did.  Memorial Day weekend.  It's beautiful and has the ability to do more than I'll ever understand.  I love my new machine and look forward to using it!

The Janome Horizon doesn't need a foot pedal to sew... press the start button, the machine goes.  Press the stop button, it stops.  Done, press the scissors button, the threads get cut.  I love this machine.

Hippity Hippity Hop

I'm finishing the Northern Illinois Three Month Quilt Shop Hop. I went to about 8 shops in early August and wrote a long shop-by-shop discussion about each store with pictures. Well, 22 stores is a lot to blog about and I'm too pooped. Truly, I gave up on take pictures. The rest of the 14 shops deserve a better presentation, but I just didn't have it in me.

 On Tuesday, September 13th I hit the following shops: 1. Judy's quilt N Sew in Hampshire, Illinois. I've driven passed this store countless times and I'm glad I finally went in. They sell Bernina machines and were quite busy the day I visited. I would go back to this shop for the classes they hold. Also, full color newsletter. Glossy paper. Tres professional.

 2. The I headed north, way north ... so north the smell of autumn was in the air. It turns out the smell of wood burning was from a wildfire in northern Minnesota. Huh. Sawdust and Stitches in Elkhorn WI was a little far for me but you really never know when you'll need fabric, so it's good to know they're there. I remember seeing lots of wool there as well as more traditional fabrics. I thought the bolts of fabric looked like elephants feets, sort of scrunched.

3. Back south to All My Stitches in Belvidere, Illinois (link goes to a Facebook page). This is a sweet little store with lots of fresh fabrics. She has some beautiful 1930's reproduction fabrics. I'd go back to this store for the fabrics.

4. The next two stores were easy to get to. Quilter's General Store in Rockford, IL was worth the trip. You have to go to this store. It's in an old farmhouse and gorgeous. There are mostly traditional fabrics, but a whole porch of batiks. Wool. A room of wool / felt. Bolts of them. Upstairs are the more contemporary fabrics. They have classes. This store turned out to be one of my favorites in the hop.

5. Quilter's Haven was just down the block and also in Rockford. It's tucked in the back of a shared building. Cute. There's all kinds of fabrics there and I remember drooling over some bolts of chenille.

6. Yikes! I was hoping to be home before 5 but I really wanted to get to Basketcases in tiny Clare Illinois. It's located in a barn. A majority of the fabrics were upstairs and I really enjoyed this store. I liked the fabric selection. According to the websites, Basketcases has lots of crafting options. I just know I liked the relaxed feeling the women there presented. They were busy sewing and chatting and were very welcome. My husband (and dogs) joined me in the next leg of the Hop: Saturday, September 24

7. Leaf River Quilt Company is on the outskirts of Leaf River IL, which would be left of Byron. Does that help? Located on a farm, the store is warm and welcoming and filled with wonderful fabrics. She has a lot of those pre-cut bundles that are so popular. I enjoyed this store.

8. Not far from Leaf River is Pecatonica, Illinois. Watch your speed while driving through Peck-ah-tahn-ih-ka... on your way to Lucky 2-B Quilting... the police want your money. The shop is an interesting mixture of contemporary fabrics, 1930s reproductions, and the more traditional quilting fabrics.

9. Back to Rockford for Quilter's Haven. Quilter's Haven is also in an old farm house, and when I say this store is filled with fabrics would be an understatement. But the fabrics are lovely. I would like it if they had better lighting. QH also sells machines (I don't remember which one).

10. Acorn Quilts is on the northern side of Rockford. Oh, how I loved this store. They have beautiful fabrics. It's contemporary in style... chic really. Did I mention the fabrics? Yum. They had many pre-cuts. I even liked the manner in which they bundled their kits. Details matter. This was truly one of my favorites (way to go Rockford, 2 of the 4 stores there are on my Go-Back-To List)

Sunday, September 25
11. My husband (sans doggies) joined me again and we went to the Prairie Stitches Quilt Shop in Oswego,IL. My, my, what a year they're having. They're featured as a top ten quilt shop -- and their quilt is on the cover. They have oodles of fabrics -- from contemporary to Civil War reproductions to 1930's. Lots of fabrics. And wool. Wait til you see the wool wall they have. It's lovely and I want it. They also have a lovely wall of patterns. Nicely displayed.

Tuesday, September 27 Dave and the doggies again joined me. We had a road trip!

12. Phat Quarters in Galena. Galena had floods this summer and Phat 1/4s got hit. They are in a new location and still selling Berninas.

13. Sew Generously in St. Charles. Another Bernina store... and this is the store that is giving away the Grand Prize... yep a sewing machine. In a strip mall, the store was bright and cheerful. They had a lovely quote on the wall:

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'. Erma Bombeck

I really liked the variety of fabricss they had there. I was hoping for some 30s reproduction but they didn't have any. That's okay I found something else I really liked.

Wednesday, September 28

14.  My home shop. Prairie Stitches Quilt Shop in Batavia, IL. This is the shop where I learned about this hop. I took my one quilting class here.  It feels like home.  She has a good mix of contemporary and traditional fabrics.  On either side of the shop the walls are filled with goodies: one wall is almost exclusively patterns.  The other wall has doodads and notions.  There is a great space for classes as well, it's very open.

2011 is the year I am learning to quilt, that is, I'm exploring what it means to Quilt and be a quilter. The shop hop was a great experience. I'm learning fabrics. I'm getting lingos and meeting people who quilt. I've definitely refined my likes and dislikes. It's been a great experience and I got some great fabric (mostly fat quarters) in the process.

And now for my purchases from the last 14 shops of this hop (see previous post for those purchases):

 It's clear that I like those blues...

French General (most).  This is my next project.

I just want to swim in these colors.  My favorite from all 22 shops.

In summary: I'd highly recommend beginner quilters participating in something like this.  It's helped me immensely look at stores in a new way (i.e. not just looking at the fabric).  I think the next time I participate in something like this, I would have projects in mind... Look at those blues. If I knew then what I know now, I'd buy yards of those fabrics.

My favorite stores (in alpha order -- it's the librarian in me):

• Acorn Quilts in Rockford, IL 
• Material Girl in Crystal Lake, IL 
• Prairie Shop Quilts in Batavia, IL
• Quilter's General Store in Rockford, IL 

Look, Ma, Whirligigs! (Project #2 Completed)

I started this project on 5/17/2011. I imagine four months is a long time to make a 36 block quilt. And I took my time. But, look! It's done!

If you were to go over this little throw (table topper?) with a fine-toothed comb you'd find errors. You might even be able to find the errors from this very picture. This was a learning process. The first thing I wanted to learn was to know if capital-q Quilting was something I wanted to pursue. The whole process. Looking and buying fabric and building a stash? That's the easy part. But I also found out that I liked the methodical process of cutting things out, then sewing things together, and finally building the rows. And ultimately creating things like this little throw.

Let me tell you a little bit about this part of the process: I fixed the little blip of gathered fabric from my previous post. I re-sewed that little bit. Next, I made the binding using Clover's Bias Tape Makers. (This is a miracle tool! Really, if you don't have one, get one.) After I finished machine sewing the binding, I noticed a few mistakes. I ripped some seams out and resewed it. Showing it to Dave, he noticed another section that needed to be re-sewn. Easy to fix. That's where the not-so-perfect comes in: binding cute, just less than perfect.

Somewhere along the way this summer someone asked me, almost with derision in her voice, "Why would you want to quilt?" Okay, there was derision in her voice. I've been thinking about that question and I can answer that:

I want to quilt because I've found I can express myself the most creatively with fabric. I'm not great. I won't write books about it, but I like it. Using a sewing machine inspires me to make more things. And make them pretty.

Here's a picture of the whirligig quilt's back. I find this fabric absolutely yummy.

I'm already thinking about my new project.... fabric I've collected from this shop hop I've been doing. Hopefully it won't take four months to complete -- I'm going small again.

I've been devouring quilt blogs for almost a year now and every blog entry on most blogs has the Folded Quilt Shot ... who am I to stop the tradition?

Machine Quilting 101

When I started learning to quilt, I looked at blogs and read lots of books. This helped me decide what I did and didn't like. Project #2 and the yet-to-be completed Project #3 were found online. These sources helped me piece together a quilt top. Blogs helped me learn how to properly make a quilt sandwich and finish my quilt. But I knew enough about my sewing skills that I knew I would need help with the actual quilting of my projects. A local quilt shop, Prairie Shop Quilts, held a Machine Quilting class this weekend led by the very capable Elvia Illig.

Elvira had a list of supplies we were to bring to class, including a prepared quilt sandwich of muslin and batting. I purchased my muslin at a different store and unknowingly, or perhaps ignorantly, purchased 2 yards of very w-i-d-e muslin. 92 inches to be specific. Well, I figured it out and made my 1 yard muslin practice quilt and drew the very specific grid Elvira requested for her class. I used the purple marker that says the ink will vanish in about 48 hours. Here is my work:

Assuming the ink was light sensitive, I folded the muslin up and immediately put it away. (I did this Friday morning for a Saturday class.) Did you guess what I'm about to say? Yep, when I got to the class all my markings were gone. 48 hours? I laugh at the 48 hour time frame, ha! No bother, marking it up was easier the second time around.

During class, Elvira gave us some great hints.

• use thread that matches your fabric
• use monofilament thread when quilting "in the ditch" It's invisible and won't interfere with the fabric.
• If you're having problems with your quilting, do some diagnostics: re-thread your machine and your bobbin; change your needle
• In the middle of your stitching, when it seems like what you're doing is horrible, keep going. There is beauty in abundance.
• To start and end your thread do the "bobbin trick." Pull the bobbin thread up through the batting. Practice this. A lot!
• A fast needle and slow hand movements are the key to machine quilting.

These are the stitches that Elvira demonstrated and we "learned":

• How to use the scary foot (aka walking foot)
• In the Ditch
• How to use the free motion foot (feed dog down)
• How and why to use quilter's gloves. Use them once and you'll know why.
• Meandering. Stippling (Meandering, Jr.), and microstippling (Meandering III)
• Loops, Loops and Stars, Pebbles (small circles), and circles
• Flames, Heartbeat, and Waves (I never did try Waves)
• in the border: Alphabet (l's and e's) and Continuous Leaves in a border
• Tear drops (graded) and Baptist Fan
• and lastly McTavishing

This is my attempt at circles, loops, and pebbles.

Things I learned:

• I thought I knew how to use my machine. I mean. I do know how to use my machine. But machine quilting? All bets are off! If I threaded that machine, I threaded it 25 times. Truly. As I was getting in the groove, the thread was gone. Get in the groove, snap, the thread broke. I was very frustrated. Elvira did what she could to diagnose the problem... re-threaded the bobbin, changed the needle. Snap. it was frustrating. After I got home, I showed Dave my attempt and told him how frustrated I was at the thread continuously breaking. Nonchalantly he said, "change the thread." Says I, "the instructor said the thread was good." As I was practicing in my sewing room, snap goes the thread. At this point, it wouldn't hurt to change the thread... and if I can actually see the thread wouldn't that be good? It worked. The thicker thread stayed in the machine and I learned a little more about how to machine quilt.
• I need an extension table for my machine. The small surface is hindering what I'm able to do. I found a project on e-How to make an extension table. If I continue to quilt, I'll need a new machine. Until that happens, a homemade table will work.
• I need to find the right needle speed for me. And this might change once I get that extension table. A fast needle and slow hand movements are the key. Fast needle and jerky hand movements = jumped stitches. Jumped stitches are bad. Bad. Uniform stitches are good and uniform stitches are formed with slow hands and a fast needle.
• I need to practice. Rome wasn't built in a day. Quilting may or may not be for me. But I won't know unless I practice.
• I should take more classes. It's good for technique.

Where I Sew

Five years ago I told my husband I needed a place of my own. It didn't happen and didn't happen ... and ... I blamed him. Then I started sewing. And 2011 became the Year I Try To Quilt. Now, finally, a purpose for my room.

This weekend I tackled it. It wasn't hard but took lots of shredding and organizing. I just finished with it and I'm really pleased. It faces west and I love that room.

The Ikea table holds the sewing machine and lots of room to hold material and projects. A plastic storage unit is underneath as well.


Repurposed shelves holds the start of my stash a filing cabinet has misc stuff.


My work table is another Ikea purchase.  There are shelves down there for books, paper patterns, my sewing box, and my cutting mat is as big as the table top!  It's a good spot!

I'm so happy this room finally has a focus and I finally have A Place of My Very Own.

It's my first.

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