More progress on my Christmas quilt.
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Itās looking good!
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I EdelC offer this for the medium challenge
Iām in a complete quilting frenzy at the moment. Makes a nice change from our first lockdown when I had zero crafty mojo.
A scrappy quilt, which has a thread here Scrap quilt and thoughts on organising scrap fabric
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Look at that ol switcheroo in the fabric.
But those blocks in the upper right make my heart sing!!!
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The switcheroo is really clever (not my idea) but it lifts the quilt into something that looks really planned.
That upper right is mostly fabric Iāve tie-dyed.
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Itās so bright and cheery!
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Iām not sure if Iāll have much quilting to contribute to this thread myself, but I am loving looking at everyoneās beautiful work, and reading your clever ideas!!
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Thatās really beautiful! I really love that stripe!
Unfortunately there is no sewing for me for at least 10 days. I was supposed to have sinus surgery today, but I was shocked on Sunday when I tested positive for a low viral load of Covid. We have been so careful and I have done everything right! So, I am supposed to isolate from my family and now they have to quarantine for 14 days. I am what I consider asymptomatic/mild. Itās hard to know because some of the things I feel occasionally (headaches) are normal for me. Mr. Lynx, dd, and I all had what we thought was sinus mid-Dec, so now in hindsight, it might have actually been Covid. My dr said I could have a positive result as much as 90 days after infection, and based on the fact I feel okay now, but wasnāt 100% then, hindsight makes me think I am not infectious now and really hope none of us start to show symptoms. It is so frustrating.
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That must be really frustrating for you, if youāre feeling ok you must really want to get your hands on something craftyā¦
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Yes, luckily I can work on other crafty things!
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Oooh, I really like all the different sized panels! What a fun look!
Oh wow, I adore this aesthetic. All the scrappy pieces are beautiful and the reverse gradient in the stripe is so striking!
Oh no! Iām so glad youāre not feeling too bad right now, and I hope you and your family all recover quickly!
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Oh no! I agree with @roler, Iām glad you arenāt feeling bad right now and I hope that you get through it without feeling yuck at all.
How are you going to manage isolating from your family?
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Right now Iām kicking myself for not sending my sewing machine in for repairs earlier. Itās broken in many different small ways, but still, you know, sews, so I resisted getting repairs during my mask marathon (I made and gave away about 1,000 masks with Mom, after which she took over the whole process with her 1970ās machine!), but I havenāt used my machine now in months and I totally could have had it worked on in that time. Every place Iāve called has said theyāll need to keep it for at least three weeks. And of course now I want to use it again, and once again donāt want to give it up for three weeks.
My machine is a Singer, a fairly recent model (I think under five years old?), and I bought it in Japan. All the writing on the machine is in Japanese, but since itās a Singer, Iād assume it works the same as the ones in English-speaking places?
It looks mooostly like this: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Singer-Machine-Computer-Special-specification/dp/B0084YEASW (Itās not pink, but maybe everything else is the same? Itās certainly a Singer mon ami SC-100!)
I am not an expert on sewing machines, but I donāt think this one was made for quilting. The dogs do not come down on their own (Iāve heard of the playing card trick to cover them but havenāt tried it), and it doesnāt have a long arm.
Right now, the foot is super wobbly (itās missing a tiny spring), the needle threader doesnāt work, the thread cutter is too dull to do anything, and Iām pretty sure itās got a few other problems as well. The main problem is the super wobbly foot, which MIGHT be an easy fix for a professional, but I donāt know. Oh, and also itās been slowly getting worse at winding bobbins, and now can hardly do it at all.
So basically, here are my questions for you knowledgeable quilters!
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Is it worth getting this repaired, or would I be better off getting a new/different machine (not just for quilting but for simple multi-purpose sewing)?
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Do you think a repairperson here (in the US) would look at it, even though itās in Japanese?
Stay positive. We are sending happy thoughts!
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There is no easy way to do complete isolation, but we will do as much as we can, and when we canāt we are wearing masks.
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My old singer is from about the 1970āsā¦the cutter has long been shot, but I bought one that can attach right to the sewing machine and it has worked fine. The needle threader is also broken, but I can thread it if I put on my glasses. I have quilted quite a lot and never had the feed dogs down or used a card and it quilts just fine. If you know the presser foot is just missing the spring, go to an Ace hardware or local place with a picture, part number, etcā¦they might have it. My guess is that you probably need a good cleaning an oiling and possibly a new belt if the bobbins arenāt winding (unless it is the kind that winds right in place like some do, which I know nothing aboutā¦)ā¦
Depends on how much you paid for it as wellā¦it would cost probably about $100 minimum to just look at it, without parts and all. Is it worth it or not? New sewing machines can range from very inexpensive and yet great to very expensive and greatā¦
Most sewing machines are made in China or overseas but they all work about the same so a reputable sewing repair shop doesnāt care where it was madeā¦look at how many are made in in Europeā¦Bernina, Janome, etc. (but still manufactured in China probably!)ā¦
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In my area, itās $95 minimum for a tune-up, more if anything needs real work. My local shop will work on just about anything (even antiques). If your machine doesnāt do what you need it to do even when itās in good order, I would consider an upgrade. With all of the mask-making frenzy and the supply-chain interruptions of the last year, mid-range machines arenāt easy to find. My MIL was looking to replace her old machine this year and was having a helluva time of it. We ended up getting her one for Christmas (it was a Brother cs7000i, and an all-around great little machine - decent for quilting, too).
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Iāve finished my January BOM (after having to remake one of the flying geese units bc I trimmed the first one too small). Iām feeling iffy on the colors I used for this block, but I think once Iāve got multiple blocks in the color palette theyāll all work together nicely.
I, AudiobookLover, submit this as my January BOM entry.
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I think youāve had some good advice. If you can find and afford a new mid-range machine, I would do that. The difference a well behaved machine makes is huge!
I did a lot of research into machines last year as I got a new one. I eventually bought the best fully mechanical (ie no computer) Janome machine I could afford.
There are pros and cons. I found a blog from a repair shop that said that Janome and Juki are the machines that need the least repair. Mechanical machines are easier and cheaper to repair-you could even do it yourself with a good repair manual.
CONs to a mechanical machine, limited range of stitches (but 90% of my sewing is straight stitch, so I donāt miss at the stitches I used to have). No automatic needle up/down.
Iāve also read in a number of places, avoid buying Singers, they licenced their brand to Chinese factoryās a couple of decades ago, so the quality has significantly declined. In general you want a machine that has a metal body and gearing-newer singers/ other brands use a lot of plastic in the gears and they wear out.
Sounds to me like your current issue could be helped with a new presser foot, they are mostly generic, itās likely that any presser foot for any singer will fit.
You can live without the needle threader.
A tip for threading machine needles cut the thread at an angle with your scissors, lick your finger and wet the back of the machine needle. I donāt know why it works, but it does.
Your machine would probably benefit from a good de fuzzing and an oiling. your machine manual should tell you where to oil it, if it doesnāt take off the cover on the left hand side-you will probably see a lot of lint, a stuff paintbrush will get rid of that. Then run it slowly to look for moving parts. Switch it off and oil anything that moves. Run it for a while on scrap fabric as the oil moves through. If youāre feeling really confident, disconnect from the power and remove all the housing, oil anything that moves (check YouTube for videos)
Feck this is a long post! A last point, I make lots of quilts 95% of them are straight line quilting, as I canāt hope to achieve fancy free motion quilting on anything bigger than a small crib quilt. I just do a load of straight lines starting from the centre working out, never dropping the feed.
Hit me up if youāve any questions, Iāve done a bit of fixing my old machine, so I might be able to help
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