Help, Please

Most of you who have read this blog for a while know that I am primarily a hand sewing and hand quilter. I do own a Singer Featherweight, and for the past year or so I have been using it more often for piecing. But for some time I have been looking for a machine that I could use for quilting as well. (The pile of finished tops in my sewing room is currently at about a dozen and growing fast. )

This afternoon I looked at the Bernina Aurora 440 QE. It was all I could do to walk out of the store without whipping out my credit card and buying it on the spot. This is the one with the stitch regulator that is supposed to help you create consistent stitch lengths when free motion quilting. I tried it out and it really seems to work--the stitches weren't all exactly the same length, but they were pretty close, especially considering that I have never done free motion quilting on anything before.


The main reason I would be buying it is for the stitch regulator, but it has loads of other features that just seem fantastic to me.

* 379 different stitches
* 32 quilting stitches
* 11 needle positions
* knee operated thingamajig that lowers the feed dogs and raises the presser foot
* separate bobbin winder

etc., etc. etc.

It certainly comes with enough bells and whistles to keep me occupied for a long time to come.


Does anyone out there own this machine? Or know anyone who does? Do you like it? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Have you had any problems with it?

Heeeeeelllllllllppppppp!

Too Much Fun

So now you can see what I have been playing with. It's a variation on the pattern Watercrystal from the Serendipity book. There are only three shapes--the triangle, diamond, and what the author calls a flat pyramid. All the individual pieces are the same size, so you can mix and match as you want. That's what makes it like a pattern block set. Most of these pieces aren't sewn together yet. I've got it set up on the design wall just to see how the colors are going to play with each other. I'm having a lot of fun with this!


We're having some much needed rain today so we're enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon here. This is the first weekend in several weeks that I haven't had guests or been on my way out of town to visit someone. I'm hoping to catch up on my bloglines feeds and see what everyone else is up to.

Just a note--I've changed my e-mail address because of the problems I've had with my previous e-mail provider. It is very tantalizing to SEE the list of mail in the in-box but not be able to READ the mail when I want to. It also had me confused with someone named Jenny Bolton and I've been getting a lot of her junk mail. It's bad enough getting junk mail addressed to me, never mind getting stuff for someone else too.

Have a great weekend!

More Time?

And here I was thinking that I'd have more time to post this summer.

Not that I've just been completely idle, mind you. I've managed to visit a book store or two. I've cleaned the house better than it has been done in months. I've worked on the back bedroom getting it ready for painting. Dull, dull, dull!

The quilting front has been a little bit more interesting. I've been playing with the kaleidescope blocks I made last summer from some Laurel Burch fabric. I'm not usually attracted to bright colors, but something about this fabric really spoke to me. The blocks had been sitting around these many months waiting for some sort of inspiration to hit me. Luckily, I happened across Kathie at Threadlines.

She has been working on Serendipity blocks. As soon as I saw those I ordered the book and I have had such fun this week trying out different combinations of colors and shapes. When I actually have something sewn together I'll post the pictures, but right now I'm playing with the pieces as though they are a large pattern block set.

It didn't hurt that I spent all day Wednesday at the LQS helping out for the shop hop. The shop owner is very fond of bright colors and has a LARGE selection to choose from. Which I did. It's kind of fun to work with brights for a change.


I'd also like to say a big thank you for all the comments about the Dear Jane blocks--and the encouragement about applique techniques. I've got a couple more blocks cut out and I'll probably be working on them this weekend. Wish me luck!

Five More Dear Janes

I've got five more completed DJ blocks to show. There are two more applique blocks in the set, but they're not exactly finished. Forcing challenging myself to learn how to applique was one of the reasons I decided to start this project, but I'm afraid the learning curve is going to be rather steep.

Since we missed last month's meeting, this month we have 14 (!) blocks to work on. Several more have applique so I'm going to be pushing myself to get them done. It's a good thing it's summer when I have the time to spend on this. Wish me luck!

Next week should be really fun because the Southern Indiana Shop Hop is beginning. My participation will be limited to helping out at the LQS for a day or two. Our LQS is a single woman operation, so several of us pitch in and help her out for events like the hop. It is always fun to meet other quilters from all over the area and hear about what they are working on. Not to mention all the fabric fondling that goes on in between customers!

In which we discover a new use for an old room...

I thought I'd get a picture of my front garden while it is still looking pretty good. As the summer gets hotter and dryer, these hostas and ferns begin to look a little worse for wear. I haven't had much time this year to get out and weed or mulch--indoor things seem to be taking precedence.

Have I mentioned before that we live in a very small house? It was built in the housing boom just after WWII and was meant to be a "starter house," by which I mean a young couple with a baby might start their journey through home ownership here, then move on as their family expanded. There are three basic models in our neighborhood. What's interesting is the way in the past sixty-odd years that people who live in these cookie cutter homes have managed to personalize them for their particular needs. (I say cookie cutter because I was told by one of the men who laid flooring in a lot of these houses that when the workers went to lunch they would tie a bandana on the door of the house they were working in order to be able to find it again when they came back!)

For the last few weeks my husband and I have been talking about what to do with the tiny little room that used to be our son's bedroom. When he graduated from college last year and headed off to graduate school in Texas he left quite a bit in his old room. To wit: a trombone, a guitar, 2 turntables, a keyboard, a hockey stick, a miniature trampoline, several LARGE boxes filled with various electronic gear, a printer, and a large box of LP's. This was in addition to the other things in the room like the bed, dresser, bookcase, desk, chair, other printer, printer table, computer, etc., etc. His bed had also become my de facto linen closet since our real linen closet is not big enough to hold more than a couple of towels and wash cloth or two.

So anyway, over the weekend we finally got moving and got most of the stuff cleared out of there and into storage. Now our big project will be to repaint the room and convert it into a spare bedroom. We're thinking that with a futon, a couple of end tables, and a lamp or two it won't be quite the eyesore it has been. At least I won't have to hurry and close the door if anyone drops by.

I finally got a start on two of the Dear Jane blocks this weekend between cleaning and moving furniture. I'm not too happy with the one on the left, I-1. It's been a while since I worked with such tiny pieces and there are a few puckers here and there. But finished is better than perfect, right? I really need to get going on this since our group is meeting again this week and I'll have another seven blocks to work on. I'm going to cut more out this afternoon and try to get at least three or four more done.

I'm Back (Sort of)*

I made it back in one piece.

I had a great visit with my parents and my sister over the weekend. We got caught up on all the family stuff and made some plans for the future that I dearly hope will work out.

My sister, bless her heart, gave me this book.


At first, I thought it was one of those books containing BLOCK designs, but I was very excited to see that it has QUILTING designs. My repertoire of quilting designs is very poor, so this is a very welcome addition to my library.

From what I see, it has directions for enlarging the designs using the copying machine's percentage enlarger to make the designs the size you want. Very, very nifty. And it couldn't come at a better time, since I am now ready to begin the border quilting for the mystery quilt.

Now all I have to do is choose something I'd like to try...

I've finished all the blocks for the turning twenty quilt, but I'm disappointed in how they turned out. I loved all the fabrics I used for it, but the blocks themselves seem really dull. One voice (the voice of reason, probably) says "Just sew them together and get it finished, already!" The other voice says, "Hmmm, what if you cut them diagonally into quarter-square triangles and then recombined them?" I'm not sure yet which one I'm going to listen to.

There won't be much time to play for the rest of this week or next because my sister and brother-in-law are coming for a visit this weekend and my parents are coming next weekend. Here at Chez Dented Thimble a very late, but very necessary spring cleaning is going to be taking place.

*The "Sort of" refers to the fact that my e-mail provider seems to be acting up. I am receiving e-mail, but at the moment I am unable to reply. Hopefully this little snafu will right itself pretty quickly.

Slow Start

I really wanted to hit the ground running, but I got stuck catching up with all the little things that kept getting put off for the last few weeks. Like the mountain of laundry piled up in the basement. And the kitchen floor which hasn't felt a mop for a few weeks. And the inch-thick dust in the living room. And stocking up on such things as, well, butter, bread, and milk. That, and spending half a day on the phone with the Large Health Insurance company that doesn't seem to feel the need to employ humans to deal with customers' phone calls has kept me busy for the past few days.

But I did manage to take a side trip to the yarn store--it was only a little out of my way! The Tofutsie yarn is so soft. The package says it contains Chitin, a fiber from shrimp and crab shells, which is supposed to be naturally antibacterial. Okay. It is knitting up just wonderfully however. I am trying the Jaywalker pattern from Grumperina. So far, so good.

I have no immediate plans for the Panda Wool, but it is so soft I may just keep it around to stroke once in a while. The label says it is bamboo and wool.


And these socks have been patiently biding their time in the work basket, waiting for the final toe grafting. Knitters always claim that the reason they put off doing the dreaded Kitchener stitch is because it is sewing, rather than knitting. But I'm a sewer, right? I have absolutely no excuse. And the Kitchener stitch isn't really THAT bad. I finally got around to these yesterday because I needed the needles to begin the new sock.

I am driving up to visit my parents this weekend. My sister is flying down from New Hampshire at the same time, so we'll all be together for a nice visit. No kids, no husbands! My sister and I haven't seen each other for a couple of years, so we'll have a lovely time getting caught up. Somehow, just talking on the phone and e-mailing doesn't feel as real as BEING there, if you know what I mean.

I've got the new socks to work on and I'm taking lots of hexagons, just in case there is sewing time. The posy quilt just keeps getting bigger and bigger.