Sewtopia has been a busy place this week. I have been bonding with Baby, needless to say. I am still on page one of the Quilting menu. There is so much to learn. The stitch quality is outstanding. Why did I wait so long to get this machine?
The trimming is the most tedious part of the process to me. Cutting is one of those chores that need to be well done to avoid disasters on the back end. I absolutely flip out when things are crooked. We all know that my Dogs have as many quilts as they need!!!
So the Magic Blocks are trimmed and ready to be laid out. I am not keen on the floor because those four leggers of mine just cannot resist. So, I pulled the fabric over the dining room curtain rods and pinned it all up there. Not ready for the reveal yet, I am not so keen on the thing now. Hopefully, it will look better once assembled.
I wanted to show you what happens when you thread the bobbin on this Baby. When the bobbin is placed on the stem and the thread is tracked through its tension discs the screen changes to this specific bobbin winding function. Setting the speed on the wind resolves my need to speed and warp the bobbin. Another effortless function because the track for winding is numbered, there is an online tutorial as well. I always wind 4 or 5 bobbins at a time.
My favorite marking tool on dark fabrics, the clover chalk wheel. I use this for garment sewing and it dusts away very easily. It makes I nice thin visible line.
And guess what? I started another quilt. I bought this fabric a while ago and I don't remember it's name or where I got it. I am slipping. This one is large half square triangles with off-white backgrounds.
In Sewtopia the Sewist gets tired after about 6 hours of work these days. (they give you pills to slow down your speedy little heart but they slow everything else down as well!) Not much I can do about that except limit the housework so I don't get over tired to sew. :) Right?
I invented another impromptu design wall, the quilt hanging on the back wall of the studio. Please ignore, or try to ignore, the competing prints. Using a Moda layer cake I have made half square triangles, there will be off- white background halfs on all sides, here you only see the top and bottom.
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| two more base blocks |
The long term design is still floating in my head. I enjoy this part of the process most, the fabric sorting, the design plan, the ideas bouncing around in my wee brain.
***FYI: I received a letter yesterday from the powers that be at Coldwater Creek. Seems that they are in big trouble and are closing all their stores and closing their catalog. What a shame. One of the few RTW purveyors who still have a decent quality line cannot survive in this economy of throw away fashion. I have noticed their prices creeping up for the last year and have not purchased anything there for some time. Actually, since my first "Mt. Everest" project from 2012 to 2013. With the second year of this project in full swing I cannot justify spending $89.00 for a simple button down shirt. Just can't, won't. So in that sense I suspect they could blame people like me for their failure but this is a multi-faceted issue. Hopefilly other retailers will take notice. Those of us who sew can stand on our own. Quality items need to be reasonably priced. Sorry it has to end this way.
U Can't Touch This, Hammer Time
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