Oops, I Did It Again

Now there is another thing to add to the quilt top closet. I would rather make a top than do the quilting and finishing. Some self discipline will be needed to resume the free motion quilting project that is languishing on my other machine.

Building A Log Cabin

Today might be National Quilting Day. Even if it's not I'll still work on building Log Cabin blocks. I'm doing a zigzag setting this time. The first Log Cabin quilt, which I made in 1990, used up my entire fabric stash. That quilt is just about worn out and has been repaired several times. It's time for a new one, but I'm not going to hand quilt it this time. Years ago, I used to hand quilt all of my quilts, those days are long gone. I don't have the patience anymore and my fingers are too old and stiff. I don't know what kind of quilting design to do on this one when the time comes, I'll have to put on the thinking cap.

Refurbishing The Millennium Quilt

It's hard to believe that Y2K was 21 years ago. I've been working on my Millennium quilt to give it a new lease on life.

I didn't like the machine stitching on the binding, so I picked it out and restitched by hand. There was a tear on the edge, so I replaced a section with new binding. The spliced in section isn't the same fabric, but it's close and hardly noticeable.

There was another hole along the edge of the binding and continued into one of the squares. I sewed a small label over that section.

Last of all, I sewed a small quilt block over a section where the dye bled from the front to the back. Now the quilt is all gussied up and ready for another 21 years.

No Longer A UFO

About a month ago, I was sorting through stuff in the sewing hole and I discovered a bag with 106 batik blocks in it. I worked on these around 16 or 17 years ago. At the time, I got carried away and constructed enough blocks for just about two quilts. The first quilt was completed many years ago. The blocks were set on point and I named the quilt "Cobblestonia". I felt a little ashamed of myself for having so many "PIGS" (projects in grocery sacks). That spurred me on to dig around in the batik stash and make 46 more blocks. After the top was completed, I did some simple quilting on it, using a pea soup colour of Sew Fine thread. Linda H provided me with the cute Mary Engelbreit fabric for the back.

That Was Close

I was free motion quilting and a few threads of my glove got in the way of the needle. Good thing it wasn't my finger. Note to self: "Watch out!

Table Runner By Linda H.

Linda created a new table runner a few months ago. I have a fondness for the simple design and fresh colours.

Old Singer Machine

Last fall, a friend saw many vintage sewing machines stacked up near a building. They were free, which was irresistible. He grabbed four and asked if I wanted them. I couldn't refuse an offer like that, so I took them. Since I knew parts would be required, I picked one machine to start working on, a Singer 319K. It was completely caked with dirt and ancient oil. After a few sessions of scrubbing and polishing, the machine looked a lot better. With a thorough oiling, the machine worked. A regular sewing machine needle was too long, it was striking the bobbin case. I did some research and discovered that this machine requires a shorter needle. I ordered some needles, a new power cord, a zigzag foot and some bobbins from sewingpartsonline.com It took about a month for the parts to arrive. The new, shorter needle still didn't seem to work in the machine. I had to take the whole bobbin area apart, it wasn't lined up properly. The Singer is finally running, but it needs a new belt and more fine tuning. One can never have too many sewing machines.