I have spent more time on vacation moving from one project to another or doing absolutely not what I planned to do. I’ve gotten things done — I had just hoped to get more done. But I’ve been having a good time off so I guess that’s what matters. T
I intended to work on the ladybug quilt blocks this morning and then saw the new free motion foot I had ordered. Hmmm… I’ve been wanting to try it out to make sure it fit my machine properly in case I needed to send it back. Needless to say – I have not stitched any ladybug blocks so far today.
A couple people emailed to ask what kind of foot it was that I got and a couple emailed to the effect that they didn’t know long arm machines used different kinds of feet. I don’t have a long arm machine. I machine quilt on my little old Janome.
I’ve had it for more years than I can remember, having bought it off Ebay. It was a demonstrator model in a sewing machine store somewhere and I think at the time it cost me about $200 including shipping and was actually about a $350-$400 machine. So you definitely don’t need an expensive machine to be able to machine quilt.
It sews a horrid quarter inch seam — the feed dogs are spread too far apart and with a quarter inch foot they don’t grab the fabric evenly – but I never use it for piecing. It has a few decorative stitches – but none that I really use because the one I would like to have – buttonhole – it doesn’t do. It does make a good buttonhole but since I seldom sew clothes I don’t use that much anymore either. It only gets used for machine quilting and it’s great for that since it normally does not give me tension problems when machine quilting. (It was clunking a bit as I was quilting – never a good sound – so it now has been taken apart, bobbin area removed and many furballs have been removed, oiled – it should be very happy now.) I like the fact that it is not electronic so I can take the bottom off, take the bobbin area out, and simply clean it out and oil it myself. It would be nice if there was a bigger throat area for quilting but I’m not willing at this time to shell out a large sum of money for a machine that has one so yep – on larger quilts it can be a bit harder to maneuver but when there’s a will there’s a way.
The quilting foot I bought from Amazon is in the second photo. The one I previously used – the Big Foot (purple one) is okay and I’ve been using it for a lot of years but I wanted something that would allow me to see what I’m quilting and where I’m going better. The center opening on the Big Foot is small so you can’t see much right around the needle and although the foot is clear, it becomes scratchy over time cause it to be more cloudy looking and you really can’t see through it well. Hence my search for a new one. The Distinctive worked just great for what I was quilting this morning. Larger oval opening in the center and not real wide metal around so it’s much easier to see what I’m doing and where I’m going. I think it’s a keeper.
And I now have one of those orphan blocks from the stash quilted, binding added and pinned to the back ready to hand stitch down. In addition to testing the foot, I was also testing out the Sulky invisible thread I had bought. Stitched well, no breaking – so I’d say it works as well as the other brand I used to buy.
Now before I get sidetracked with something else – I’m going to find some lunch. I’m not trusting the quilting elves to make me lunch after what they did to my baked spaghetti last night!
Justquiltin with Denise Russart 