Friday, August 14, 2015

August Week Two Wrap Up

 I think I read somewhere that it is good to clean your machine after every 4 to 8 hours of use and I wish I could say that I remembered to do this all the time.  I don't.  But as I was working on projects this week I noticed a bit of lint building up at the top of my needle and thought maybe it's time to stop and clean this baby out.


My husband purchased tiny little attachments for our vacuum cleaner that I can use to suck the lint from the machine.  Well worth the investment.  But I also find pipe cleaners work well for getting in those hard to reach spots.  What are your favorite tricks for cleaning your machine?

Monday was our guilds monthly meeting.  Since I'm fairly new to the group, I had yet to make my official Quilters at Heart name tag.  One of the ladies was nice enough to bring a small pattern of the heart that everyone used to make their tags.  I chose to paper pieces mine from scraps left over from the Modern Building Blocks quilt I'm working on.  I went with bright colors and of course added some quilting bling to it.  All that's left to do is sewing a backing on.  Hello my name is...


I also decided to mark the second block for the whole cloth quilt along I've been participating in on Face Book being lead by Ren at Free Motion Quilting with Ren.

  

Oliver insisted I point out that when I marked the feathers around the heart, I used a printed template that Ren posted for us.  It made this task a bit easier, although I had been practicing and could have probably free handed it.


When I marked the chevrons, I ended up drawing them across the heart to make sure everything lined up as it should.  Hopefully I can remember which are quilting lines and which are not when I start that project.  Thank goodness for water soluble pens, is all I have to say.  So what made me decide to work on the second block?


This little delivery from the mail man.  As most of you know, I have a long love affair with Aurifil threads.  I swear we didn't have a fight and I am not quitting them.  I've been hearing great things about Wonder Fil and thought maybe it's time to check them out.  I ordered:

Deco Bob--80 wt cottonized polyester
Invisa Fil--100 wt cottonized polyester
Konfetti--50wt cotton

I'm pretty excited to give these bad boys a try.

This little piece of paper haunts me everyday at work.  It's an evil little reminder of all the


quilt tops stacked in my back room waiting for my attention.  It has been killing me that I haven't crossed one off my list this year.  So a few weeks ago, I broke down and sent one to a long arm quilter.  I got the much awaited phone call this week that it can be picked up!  So hopefully, in a few more days I can mark one off this list and share a finish with you.

And lastly, (I hope you are still with me) I signed up for yet another blog hop this week.  


It is the Dog Gone Cute quilt a long at Sew Fresh Quilts.  Lorna will kick off the quilt along September 1st and the blog hop will start in October.  If you would be interested in participating or would just like to get the pattern click on over to Sew Fresh Quilts.

Other than finishing my block for Kat at Kat and Cat Quilts (read more about Kat, her cause here and the block I finished here ), that pretty much sums up my quilting week.  Hope everyone has had a productive week in all of your adventures.






10 comments:

Unknown said...

You never seize to amaze me in your adventures. Read your blog all the time. You have taught yourself to free motion quilt and are constantly trying new projects which all look fantastic.Would love to know if you have to have a special app or how you set up your blog. Guess I am not very tech savy. When my knee heals from surgery, I hope to start sewing again. Getting pretty antsy. Keep up the good work!!! Love reading your blog and seeing your new projects.

Salmagundi said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and checking out the quilt show. All 37 quilts displayed are ones that I designed, made, and hand quilted over many years. I've enjoyed perusing your blog!! Sally

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I just made me a list of quilts I'm supposed to be working on, too, My list is about 4 times as long as your list. There is hope for you, not sure if there is hope for me or not;)

Stitchin At Home said...

I use pipe cleaners also to clean my machine and clean my bobbin area after every bobbin change. I have tried wonderfil thread and am now wondering what your experiences and thoughts will be using it.

Gina said...

I've signed up for the Dog blog hop aswell. I couldn't resist as soon as I saw the quilt

Hannah Jennings said...

Pipe cleaner in a straw... I love the template you used for the heart! Can't wait to see it completed!

Sandra Walker said...

I clean my machine every second bobbin change. However, there is STILL gunk in there (this weekend found a metallic thread that had been there for oh, a loooong time, and it had some more fuzz stuck on it, like how...?) I should see aobut little attachments for our vacuum... Leah Day has a great post on cleaning your machine. The wholecloth next block is going to be fantastic. Love Oliver's involvement. :-) Will be tuned in to hearing your thoughts on this thread, new to me.

Brianna said...

You know you 're a quilter when... your sewing machine has a better makeup brush than you. That's what I use to clean my machine, it reaches down far and gathers the lint up pretty well. I have a Pfaff too :) Mine needs done now as well!

Cheryl said...

I clean my machine every bobbin (the bobbins are large, about 2-3X a normal one). My machine tells me if I don't (if it does not get cleaned out and feed oil every bobbin it starts to make unhappy noises).

Lorna McMahon said...

Your new name tag is looking rather fabulous, Tish. Looking forward to hearing what you think of your new thread. And seeing your quilt fresh from the long armer.

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