Well thanks to my fabulously talented genius husband, my sewing machine was up and running by the next day! I had cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, but I married the right man, because he can clean even better than I can. First he found another piece to take off the machine to allow more access to the innards. Then he examined it, did many of the things that I did like use the little brush and tweezers to clean out lint. Then at my suggestion, he went to get the vacuum (I couldn’t do this because I was working on it at 2 in the morning and didn’t want to make that much noise). Well the vacuum helped some, but here’s where it is handy to be married to a contractor. He took the machine got his air compressor and used that to clean it out. He got a whole bunch more lint out of the machine that was hiding! I could tell that something was just getting caught…well I guess it was getting caught on all the lint that we couldn’t find and took an air compressor to get out! So it’s been “professionally” cleaned now! It worked like a dream after that. No more issues! It’s good to know I wasn’t loosing my mind. And it was great that I didn’t need to take the machine to the shop. The “shop” came to me with his professional tools and desire to make his wife happy!
So the sewing machine is working! Yay! But The sewing room is a whole other story! It’s a disaster! A crazy room with not enough space for all my projects (only because I have too many) and fabric literally on every available surface!
Boxes and more fabric!
Piles of scraps gathering higher and higher! And my tiny little spot on the floor where I crouch down or sit indian style and cut on my cutting board.
this is all just scraps!
piles and piles of projects!
really…it’s ridiculous.
I’m such a type AAA, that it’s hard for me to work with all of this out like this, but when I’m working on a project, I don’t have a lot of space to spread out…the bed is the biggest surface, but things get lost on there if I’m not careful! LOL. Obviously I’ve been doing a lot of sewing! And I have a lot more to do…I’ll have to let you know when I finally get this all cleaned up! What a happy day that will be. And because I am so type A, this doesn’t even show you the 6 other quilts that are in the making. Doh!
I will show you one thing that I’m trying. This is my practice block for the 3 x 6 bee. I’m doing this block because I need to make a much harder version of this for another project and I need to get the construction technique down for the “basics”.
so this is done in my colors of green, grey and white. I’m going to be making this a number of different ways, so technically not every block will be the same, but they will all look the same. Part of my trouble is perfecting a 12 pointed center. any tips on that anyone? It would be MUCH appreciated. I’ve already used two pretty tried and true methods and am not completely happy with either! I want to make this easy…or as easy as a 12 pointed center can be! LOL.
I can't resist a challenge, so I sat down and tried foundation piecing the circle as a single unit. It worked! I use a freezer paper piecing method, and while it isn't perfect, it's pretty good for a first effort. It would probably be even easier to paper piece it in two halves, then join the halves. I love your color choices, by the way!
Hope you remembered to oil your machine too. It makes a big difference.
Ooh, I'm loving that block!
Patti, any suggestions on where to oil the machine? All the manual told us was what NOT to oil! We weren't sure where to put the oil…I did just buy some though because I've been thinking about it. Just no tips from the manufacturer and I don't want oil coming out of places it shouldn't!
12 pointed centre? Mmm No. I've done an 8 pointed centre with limited success but 12 is really hard. What I do at each stage though is take a pin and stab it vertically through the points that need to match (i.e. each time you're matching those points as you're assembling each pair, each pair of pairs etc), hold that in place and take it to the needle of the machine, slide the pin out carefully and slot the needle in where the pin was and run about ten stitches form that point. Worth a try!
congrats on getting your machine back up and running! I love that circle, do you mind passing on the pattern (if there is one)? I'm in a bee where the theme this month is spikes and circles and that would be perfect!
I love your scraps and stash! Very bright and pretty. I love that block too, but I've never done anything like it so no advice on the points … sorry …
stunning!
Glad to hear the machine is back up and running. Where would we be without our husbands?!? I'm glad to see that someone else uses a bed for fabric storage – lol!