service your sewing machine!

Once again it is time for a post from the series: Project Sewing Room. I was at my new class about free motion quilting (FMQ) last week, and my machine got all jammed up. I was having problems with dropping the transport (and needle) and getting the right tension on my bottom thread. I had a bunch of Kuddel-Muddel on the bottom of my fabric. And then, all of a sudden, it locked itself down! We tried to pry it out, but didn't want to damage the machine. It was time to shut it off, sit back and relax until the class was over. I practiced my quilting by drawing doodles on paper which was a great exercise! I think most Long Arm Quilters do this before they start with a new pattern.

The next day, I took my machine to the local sewing machine dealer/repair center to check it out. I also inquired about routine maintenance, because it had been a while since it was last serviced. I was actually thinking about this the last couple of weeks, because I have been so hard on my machine recently. It was starting to look a little ragged and shabby. So, the repair man just broke down the machine and serviced it which means, oiling, blowing out all of the threads, making sure the tension is correct for the top and bottom thread. He, Hr. Fuchs (that translates to Mr. Fox in English), was extremely fast with the maintenance; I picked up my machine the following day and was ready and rearing to go.

Here it what my Kuddel-Muddel looked like. This is the bottom side of my quilting sample.

So, it is very, very important to have your machine serviced or maintenaced every so often. How often should it be done? I asked and was told," the more you use the machine the less maintenance it needs." Now, I am not so sure about that, but when you start to notice that the machine just isn't running as smoothly as it used to, you should think about having it tuned. I think I have my machine maintained every two years and costs about 60€ which includes tax. It is so nice to get your machine back, and it is all shiny and free of fussles again. That lasted about a half a day!

How often do you have your machine maintenanced or what type of service do you periodically perform on your machine? We would like to know, so please share. Thank you!

frogging it

Have you ever had one of those days when you were sewing along nicely, and then you realized you did something really stupid? That happened to me the other day!

Some of your might know or remember seeing this quilt featured in a picture about acronyms. It is a quilt I designed for my niece with 1/2 yard cuts she picked out. I put together most of the quilt while I was away on my quilting retreat in a convent. I started quilting it a with 50 weight 100% cotton thread; I normally use straight polyester for simple sewing. Well, dumb me, when I started quilting, I completely forgot about that! And needless to say, I forgot to check my bobbin tension! If you know what happened, please raise your hand. My thread was not pulled all the way through to the back of the quilt. It looked perfect on the front and was just floating on the top of the quilt backing!

Now, this quilt does not have to be perfect. I know that. I can get pretty particular about certain things, but when the quilting doesn't hold the quilt together, it just ain't gonna hold! OOps...a little southern accent is showing through today. Did I mention we ate barbecue spare ribs with homemade creamy coleslaw on the weekend? That must have done it. ;-)

Since I am doing very little quilting on this one, it has to hold all three layers. What to do? I put this quilt on hold for a while trying to get my other projects done, because when you have a brain fart like I did, you simply have to put it aside and come back when you have forgiven yourself! My deadline was the first week of April, but better right than not. I pulled it back out today and started the ever dreaded process of "frogging it." Do you know what I am talking about? Rip it, rip it, rip it. For those of you who don't know this phrase, it means that you take your beloved seam ripper, my best friend, and rip those seams out by cutting through every fourth stitch to remove the thread. On the other side, you can usually pull the thread out in one long pass. I have to rip about 75% of what I quilted which is about 1/4 of the quilt. I am going to have so much fun!

Now, we would like to hear from you! What do you do on days like this? Please leave a comment and tell us all about it.

cutting strips from directional print fabrics

Do you sometimes use directional print fabrics or plaids and need to cut strips? Here is how your should be cutting those strips to ensure your print stays the same or your lines are relatively even on your plaids.

I was reminded of this problem just a couple of days ago when I needed some strips from this gorgeous turquoise and white fabric (with small repeating dots). When the fabric was folded, everything looked okay, at least on one side. When I flipped it over after cutting, I realized it was not very well lined up. I pulled on the fabric trying to get the grain in line again, but it just wasn't lining up right. It is frustrating when you just want things to go smoothly and speedy. Hhhmmpf.

So, here is what I did to correct it. I unfolded the fabric. Yes, I did. It can be liberating when you don't follow rules. I got the fabric as straight as possible on the cutting mat after ironing and stretching to get it lined up better. I evened one side with the  rotary cutter as much as possible. I extended my ruler to the other side of the fabric and evened it up at the same dot lines as the previous cut and continued cutting. It is that simple you say!? Yes it is, but this is one valuable step you shouldn't be skipping. If you want everything straight and perfect, this one step that should not be forgotten. You could get a little fancy and fussy cut your strips, but that seems like an overkill, at least for my project.  {Fussy Cut DEFINITION: Every piece you cut looks exactly the same - the design in the fabric will create a design in the block.}

Okay, now were are rolling on. Once my strips were straight, I cut with my 6" square ruler to the size I needed.  I am working on a nine-patch block (I see it as a five patch) for the Doll Quilt Monthly and wanted all of my dots relatively straight. This is how it ended up. (Foto left)

This method doesn't always work though! Usually when working with plaids, I have to get out the old scissors and cut along the lines, because the fabric will never be straight enough to cut with a rotary cutter. It is a little more time consuming, but well worth the effort.

Enjoy your weekend. The weather is great! Summer has finally arrived. It almost feels like North Carolina weather here in southern Germany!