Monday, November 9, 2009

Handi Quilter.....

It may not be so handi after all. I wrestled with this thing on Thursday and got it put up and my older Kenmore machine put in it, you know the machine with out all the new features that my newer one has. I thought it would be OK for quilting because it does a beautiful stitch and I don't have to wrestle with the quilt so I didn't need the needle down feature. I knew that I would have better control of the machine so I didn't need the speed limit feature either.
WRONG!!!! I practiced for a long time on a muslin. I broke needles. My presser foot fell off one time. I made a complete mess.
Today I decided that since I was doing nothing else besides blogging about my old blogs and telling the world how crazy I am that I would go ahead and put a real quilt in there. A real small quilt. Another Moda Charm quilt from Mary Engelbriet designs. I thought that if it was a real project that I would take my time and be more careful and gain some control of this baby. I put the new Kenmore in there and it has been great. I have learned alot from putting the quilt in the frames to controlling my machine and so on and so forth. Nothing like hands on is it?

My stitches have touched in places and made love in places but not many. I am learning! I am getting a feel for how much room I have before moving the machine. I see a longarm machine in my future! The wrinkle in the fabric is only there because I was stopped and had the needle down so as not to lose my place and the machine pulled against the quilt causing a wrinkle. The frames really do keep the fabric taut!!


Not bad for a beginner huh?




I thought this thing was gonna kick my butt. I think I have it whipped now. I better learn something soon because I have a much larger pinwheel quilt almost ready for quilting. See I can finish some projects....if I want to!!!
Look at those really cool blocks of wood (top pic) with holes drilled in them, so the table wouldn't slip off, to raise my cutting table/quilting up high enough that it won't break my back. I have asked for them for years and finally got them Thursday evening after I put the quilt frames together all by myself and didn't bother him ;-)



1 comment:

Lorilee said...

I think it looks great. I love the fabrics too! Mary E. stuff is always so bright and cheerful.
Blessings,
Lorilee