Thursday, November 21, 2013

Practice, practice

My amazing new quilting set up is going to take a lot of practice, but I'm very pleased with how things are starting out.  Now that we've re-arranged and taken care of some leveling issues, my practice pieces are getting better and I've found some fun (free!) pantograph patterns online.  I've been printing, copying and taping into the lengths needed to practice.  A pantograph is a printed pattern that I follow with a laser light as I guide the machine to stitch said pattern onto my quilt.
Below are some photos of my practice work.  Sorry they are dark - it's hard to photograph cream tonal thread on white muslin fabric on an overcast day.  Steve could do it better I'm sure but I was faking it.







Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Sewing Room Upgrade

Last week my darling husband bought me an amazing gift - a quilting frame and mid-arm machine with a stitch regulator.  It's a New Joy Gold standard frame (fully adjustable from 47" to King size) with a Janome 1600P and Quilter's Cruise Control.  God provided bountifully via a very nice couple from the next town who had purchased the entire set-up and never even used it once!  The machine was still in the box with the styrofoam packaging!  She wasn't going to use it and he wanted it out of the house so they gave us a phenomenal deal.  I was just giddy with excitement and anticipation.
It took a few days to get things set up and running, and then we opted to re-arrange and expand the frame to the 3/4 length that will accommodate pretty much everything and anything I will be making & quilting.

Welcome to my newly upgraded sewing room!
From the doorway - Brother Serger & regular Janome sewing machine
The rack in the corner that is over-flowing with fabric is all for our church quilt ministry and will become baby quilts and other lovely things over time (Lord willing).

New Joy frame with Janome 1600P mid-arm machine
This mess of fabric is all mine and needs some re-organizing (yet again)
I've been busy practicing with the new machine and will post some photos of my practice work soon.  Today I started piecing a baby boy quilt for the church ministry and am looking forward to being able to quilt it myself when it's ready.