I hope that you will check out my video on moving into to strange new frontiers (to me) in combining colors. I had a 20% Hancock's coupon, and I wanted to get some solids from their Kaufman Kona Solid Mystery Packs. I received many strange and wonderful colors. Some would seam unusable UNTIL I started delving into my fat quarter stash.
With my LeMoyne Star compound diamonds, a little bit of strange color can go a very long way when paired with print that includes the color.
Over the weekend I finished the above Hunter's Star Quilt. I moved it from my "Quilting" column to "Done". The next move is to gift. I'm gifting this to a friend of mine. I did a post on this quilt which you can find here. I've made two of these quilts (one a baby sized), and I will definitely make more. I just love it.
I bound it using the August Wren Madras Plaid in greens, dark grey and teal. It was a perfect marriage of the front material and the back material. The front material was a closeout of batiks for 2.50 a yard. It was a Leah Day collection. It was high quality and the blue and green were prints I used in many quilts. The back is
I did NOT do my usual good job with the binding.....but let me regress.
I partially quilted the quilt top testing out QuiltMaven Dave's technique of affixing the top to the backing and quilting. It was a great way to lessen bulk through my small machine space (7.5"). I had long ago finished that, but I had not finished the backing, then I lost the backing (it is somewhere), so I elected to swap out my pieced backing (where are you?) with a whole cloth back.
Here was a perfect opportunity to try out my Juki Kirei with some straight line quilting. I used the Juki Smart Feed which was easy. I did not need a walking foot for any of it. I felt like I had moved from a camper to a mansion in terms of the bed space. While this quilt is not that big, it would have seemed so on the Bernina. It flowed through the machine beautifully. In fact, I did not need to use my quilts suspension system. I just stitched in the ditch. It was VERY easy to sew straight with the Smart Feed System. I did not have an interest in doing anything fancy--straight stitching was a perfect way to set off the lovely piecing on this quilt. And frankly, there is NO ONE in my life who would appreciate fancy quilting.
I used the blind hem foot for the binding. That was a total mistake as I did not have a great line of view. Total user error. I would have been better off with another foot.
The one thing that I absolutely HATE about this machine is the chicken-shit feet. They are cheap. Look cheap. Act cheap. Feel cheap.The quarter inch gated foot is useless. Not my best effort...but I'm not selling the quilt, I'm gifting it (and really sort of covet it for myself).
But there are so many things to love. Even doing something so simple as straight stitching to have it run straight and true through the machine was a joy. Having the automatic thread cutter made moving to the next row easy. No tension problems. The bobbin had regular 50wt cotton thread, and I had 80 wt Decobob in the top. I've not tried Decobob in top and bottom. On both my Bernina and my Kenmore, I had to tinker with the bobbin adjustment to achieve the perfect stitch. Will look to see how this performs. (P. S. I did look at this, and magically there were NO tension issues--I expected to see some). I also note that the regular 1/4" foot works just fine.
So my disappointment with my presser feet is eclipsed by these useful features and huge real estate. I have perfect feet and machines to do my piecing. And it felt very good to get a quilt top finished.
Overall First Impressions:
My first impressions is that the quality of the needle lift and bar are not at the same level as my Bernina. Of course, you pay for that quality. Same can be said for the and crank, foot controls. This observation is not a criticism. The same can be said in comparing any European brand to a Japanese brand whether it be cars, motorcycles or sewing machines. It is how you get great features at an affordable price.
First Sewing Impressions:
Conclusions:
My objective was to spend less and get more. This machine will be perfectly serviceable for my intended use, and I will be more comfortable in my FMQ. I still havf
First, I want to start with an aphorism I heard from "Aunt Em" of Aunt Ems Quilts:
Worry is a waste of imagination
You gotta love that.
I am currently experiencing a backlog in quilt tops that I need to quilt. Though my quilt suspension system helps a great deal in distributing the weight of the quilt, I still have to foist it though 7.5" of throat space on my Bernina B 530. And while it has a BSR, it still is just 7.5" of work room which is not much. The quilt suspension system helped, but.....
I've daydreamed a bit about getting a sit down long arm. But the truth of the matter, becoming a FMQ diva is not in my game plan. My goal is simply to have a more comfortable experience on a domestic v purchasing a machine dedicated only to quilting. Plus, I'm just don't want to make that level of investment for the latter.
So I was cruising through models, thinking about benefits and trade offs. I saw that Juki had a sit down quilting machine--and it was affordable but still an investment at $6,000. I found the Juki Kirei (HZL-NX7). It is a top of the line Juki offering (though I think that it is been eclipsed by the Kokochi in the QVP line). Kirei is currently selling for $$3,000, down from the $4600 retail. I negotiated 1500 for my purchase.
What was attractive to me was getting this at 1/2 off the current offering (though used) from a dealer that took it as a trade in. Yes, there is some risk with that, but there is a 30 day return.. It has 12" of space to the right of the needle which I am confident will give me more comfort in my quilt sewing.
My UPS text states that it will be here today.
It has many, many features in addition to the 12". It has built in even feed, mega stitches, thread cutter. Also, the advanced foot control with the pivot function (with automatic foot raise) has some real advantages. Now this whole purchase is a bust if it does not FMQ very well. So even though it has SO Many features, I'm still just buying bed space. And I SURELY don't mind just straight stitching my quilting (grid) and having the space to do it.
So when my machine arrives, I'll be putting it through the paces, and I'll return it if need be.
Above is my Youtube video of my LeMoyne Star on Point that I just finished. Those compound Lemoyne Stars are very time consuming. I pieced the insets traditionally. But the design possibilities are endless. I had original planned to have these on point with alternating dark/light. My eye did not like that so well. I elected to use the square in square. My blocks finished at 9.5". I calculated the CST's for the squares cut on diagonal. To do this, I used the following (slightly oversized for trim down)
The real math is this: Finished Block/1.414 + .875 = size of the square to be cut on diagonal.
The mere mortal math is this: FB/1.414 + 1.5 = size of the square to be cut on diagonal for NO MORE TEARS trim down
I learned early on that bias = wonk. Accordingly, anytime I have bias in a block I employ slightly oversizing with trim down.
In addition to pleasingly framing the blocks it amplified the size of my 9.5" blocks to 13.5".
💡Setting a complicated block on point is an easy way to (1) showcase the block and (2) get a larger footprint.Most of my blocks are different, but I happened to cluster a few of the same together. I could have avoided that. Sniff.
💡Hint: Use your phone's view finder if you cannot get back far enough from your design wall. While I did not spy the "eye jolts" on my design wall, I saw it the instant I looked through my phone to take a picture. I wasn't going to unpick any seams. This is for my son, and neither he nor anyone else would notice.
I likely could spend the rest of my quilting life making these interesting compound LeMoyne Star clocks. There is something delicate and elegant about them. To my eye anyway.
I have several quilt tops that I need to get basted and quilted. I really enjoyed making this quilt top and experimenting with the many intricate ways to make these blocks while just using a few fabrics.
Note to self: If you think that you are going to remember when you started something.... you won't.
I'm on day ? of my sourdough starter project. (Grumbles to self per above). (Well, I'm a full week in at least given I tarried on writing this post).
My home is so fricken cold (by choice) that things that need a balmy environment will be disappointed. Not having a reliable warm place, I had to make one. I took my crockpot liner and set it on heating pad set on the lowest setting. It was perfect. My sourdough starter, which I started with whole wheat flour and fed with AP flour seems healthy a bubbly.
If there is one good thing that came from COVID it was that people came to understand the domestic arts and the importance of having the simple reliance on their own skills to eat. Further, many many talented folks began videos. In fact the quality and variety of videos on how to do stuff is amazing to me. I surely rely on such.
That bread is so endemic to thousands of years of agrarian heritage--when what was first cultivated--yet so mysterious is a a wonderful paradox. Sourdough in particular has become lifted from a simple artisanal endeavor to something elevated to sublime.
Perhaps in search of the perfect "anything" is akin to chasing unicorns and pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. The essence of being human is to achieve perfection--or at least codify the steps to achieving such an impossibility and cultivating guilt and frustration along the way.
However, it is this very quality (and I believe it a quality as opposed to some of our other, lesser traits), that creates the rich field of sharing knowledge, creating social connections on similarly minded.
I have more recently come across folks stating overtly what I have said many times: most any type of endeavor engages not only our mind but our senses. Cooking certainly engages all of the senses. Sewing...not so much the need to smell unless you are ensuring your iron isn't setting your sewing area on fire or you have a cat that has made a naughty in your stash. But you get what I mean. And any of the engaged senses (however many or few) have to be taught/trained/refined.
I am happily doing something new in the kitchen (not that!). Making pasta. My maiden voyage fared extremely well. I then moved to making spinach fettuccini. It was magnificent though I had a moment doubt.
Here's my Captain's Log for this week:
By the end of the week, I'll have a chance to make some sourdough break.
