My Machines!

It's Day 3 of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge and today I'm talking about my machines.

I am a Bernina girl and own four.  Okay, okay, yes I own four Berninas.  We also have my first sewing machine, a Pfaff, and two Janomes my children won in the house.  And I'm getting another one soon.  Is that too many?  Nah....I have friends who own many more (okay, granted a lot of those are vintage, but it still counts, right?).

My travel machine and the one that I use most and that sits on my kitchen table most of the time is a Bernina 570.  It is such a blast to use and I adore her.

I do all my show quilting on my Bernina 770 which sits in it's own Tracey's Table in my sewing room down stairs.  I use this almost exclusively for free motion quilting.

This ad for the new Handi Quilter Capri is hanging on my wall.  It's on order and they're supposed to start shipping this month.  Fingers crossed that I'll have it to play with over Christmas break.  I'm sew excited!  I have four quilts pinned and awaiting it's arrival.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Ambassadors Mini Challenge Quilt 3 - Part 2

I love to Free Motion Quilt!  It's one of my favorite parts.  Here's the back of my Island Batik Ambassador Magnificent Mini about half way through.  Be sure to read all the way through to find out WHY it was finished in the hospital...

The finished quilt.

Picking out quilting thread...Aurifil of course!  The batting I chose is Hobbs Tuscany Silk.  I love the draping help it gives my minis so they're not too stiff.

Look how well the black hides.

A close up of the black pattern is my favorite Webster Clams.

I love how the arches in the center make it look like a snowflake!

Auditioning border ideas...

I decided to go bold and stitch the feathers swags in red.

The finished back!  Time to bind.

I've been working with 1/8 inch binding on these minis and I continue to do so.  It's a bias binding of course.

I sew it on with my trusty Bernina zipper foot.  It works amazingly well for small seam allowances and as a bonus I can use my even feed system on the foot!  Perfect.

All sewn on and ready to hand stitch.

Binding clips are amazing.

The binding's done.  BUT there's a story behind it...

You see I had a very VERY sick child who had to go to Children's Hospital and get fluids.  I knew I would need something to keep my hands busy so I took the binding along.  Once he was settled and comfortable I was able to calm down too and bind.

All done!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Ambassador's Whimsical and Wonky Challenge

This month's Island Batik Ambassador challenge was entitled Whimsical and Wonky.  You could do one or the other (or both I suppose!).  I decided on wonky.  Specifically, wonky Christmas trees using my favorite Island Batik fabrics.  I happened to have these three greens and a burgundy and red out for another project I was working on and I decided they would make fun Christmas trees.  I wanted the red in them to pop out.  

Where did my idea come from?  Our school's first graders!  Check out this awesome art project that was up in the hall.  They used tissue paper to make these fun trees.  I knew I had to try it.  I later showed them my quilt in person and they were so excited they made me a thank you card.  I love kids!

To make my trees I fused lots of small pieces in a big chunk and then cut them out like threes some of which are wonky at the bottom.   I then started laying them out trying to decide how to put them down.  Two rows of off set tress seemed the most pleasing to my eye.  Next the piece was layered with Hobbs polyester batting.  I wanted this piece to be fluffy!

To quilt the tress I used swirls.  I love the texture it adds.  I used my favorite Aurifil thread of course!

Then I had a really fun idea.  What about using white yarn for snow under the trees?  Fun!  I had a Bernina ruler foot with a couching disk insert...this is what happened.  What did I learn?  You have to have enough loose yarn and remember to pull more out of the skein even when you're having a really fun time quilting or it won't turn out how you want it too.  I was a bit excited.  I also learned you can't stay in one spot too long or there are issues.

Here's what the foot looks like.  I had white Aurifil thread in the top and the bottom.

I decided to use the same kind of swirl pattern between the trees too, but in just regular thread.

Then I added one more piece of fun.  The kid had used silver glitter glue on their artwork.  So I decided to pull out some fancy silver thread and try couching it.  It worked great and added a little sparkle.

 Such fun!  I love how it turned out.

And the final quilt.  It's going to be a gift for my Secret Santa on Friday!  I hope she likes it.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

What I'm Working on Right Now

This week I wanted to work on something just for me.  Just for fun.  Just because I'm in the mood to piece (thank you Bonnie Hunter for kick starting that!).  So I designed a quilt while at my mom's house sitting around with my sister and family.  Then mom says, "Why don't you cut that on the Accuquilt?  You can use my fabric."  Well, twist my arm!  So picked out gorgeous royals, oranges, and limes, and cream for the background.  All scrappy.  And I cut the whole quilt out in an afternoon.  Thanks for the help with ironing the fabric mom!

This is my first quilt sewn on my new Bernina 570QE that arrived just before Christmas.  I used the 97D foot (a patchwork foot that has a slot for the built in even feed foot and a guide for sewing the pieces at a 1/4 inch).  It's a dream.  The pieces are coming out the right size and sew like a dream.  I did pin everything.  I am an obsessive over-pinner.  Anyone else pin like crazy?  

As I was sewing my half square triangles my machine decided to pull the tip down into the innards.  This was SO NOT going to work for me.  What to do? I went and bought a single hole throat plate for it.  It's one of my favorite tools.  The needle can only go down in the center position and so nothing can be pulled down into the machine.  I use this always when doing free motion work and piecing, but I didn't have one for the new machine.  Problem solved!  When switching needle position or doing blanket stitch or other decorative stitching be sure to switch back to the regular throat plate or you'll break your needle....been there, done that too many times to count.  Oops.

These are the last of the pieces I cut and haven't starting sewing on yet.  Much more fun to come! 

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

My New Bernina 570QE

It's day 17 of the 31 day Blogging Challenge and I have a new machine!

When I went to International Quilt Festival Houston, I took a class in which we got to use the brand new Bernina 570QE machines.  I have a 770QE and I love it.  It has a fantastic dual feed built in and a huge bobbin system.  I've been waiting for those features to come down to a smaller, portable machine that I can take to classes, retreats, etc.  My 770 is just too heavy.  We sat down (my mom and I) at the machines and I looked at my mom and said, "I'm in trouble."  And I was.  The machine was a dream to stitch on.  So I bought one.  Berninas are amazing!

Since it's brand new, Houston was the first show they were shown at, it took a while before they were available to ship.  Mine came in yesterday.  As soon as I got it home I opened the box!  

Here she is all set up in all her glory.  The fabulous part is that the setup is the same as my 770QE so I understand how most of the machine works.  Or at least, what I"m used to doing anyways.

It came with a 97 foot (it's a quarter inch foot), but not the 97D which has the build in dual feed.  Fortunately my 770QE came with one and I went and grabbed it.  The foot worked like a charm and my seam allowance was perfect!  I sewed some scraps from my Bonnie Hunter On Ringo Lake quilt and they measured just perfect.

Then I put on my favorite free motion foot (a number 24), and tried that out.  It too worked fabulously!  I had no troubles at all.  

This was part of my doodle.  I love these!  I want to use them again soon on something.

I can't wait to sew some more on her tomorrow!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy