Tag: Tools

Sewing Machine Final

Bulb burned out
Bulb burned out

You probably remember me bringing home the 9k. It worked and I was really happy except that the needle looked out of alignment and the light bulb was burned out.

I called the place that repaired my machine. I felt like an idiot when she, very kindly, told me I could move the needle position.

Oh.

I had never done that before.

Then she explained that she had had to do a factory reset when she re-soldered all of the connections. This meant that the machine was back to what it was like when I bought it. I didn’t remember ever changing the needle position but that was then and this is now. The machine works well. I don’t have to buy a new one; I am happy.

Except for the light bulb. I have an auxiliary bright light over the machine, but it does not shine on the needle. The little sewing I have been doing has been somewhat dark. I asked her about the bulb and she said she would send me one if I told her which one. I was at work; I had no idea.

Later that night I looked at the bulb, which I had to find first. I never had to change the bulb before. That may have been the original bulb! I took a photo and meant to call and tell her, but was too busy at work. My last days mean that projects are being heaped on my that nobody ever thought important before.

On Friday morning I decided I would drive down to the shop and pick up the bulb so I would be ready for sewing on Saturday. When I got there, I showed the photo. The nice lady, Angie, asked if the bulb had two prongs or a roundy sort of connection. I didn’t know. I just stared at her thinking I’d have to go home with no bulb and sew in the dark on Saturday. She gave me one with prongs.

I slotted it in when I got home and turned on the light. It worked and now everyone is happy(mostly me, but also my DH who is happy that I have stopped muttering to myself about incompetent machine repair people and damn light bulbs).

Update: sad news. The machine is on timeout again. I sewed on and off all day on Saturday with my new light bulb, my newly positioned needle and life was good. Sunday all hell broke loose. The machine started running super fast and then giving me an error message about a bent needle or something caught in the needle area.

I changed the needle. No help.

I rethreaded the machine. No improvement.

I rewound a new bobbin. Same problem.

I took off the sole place and cleaned the whole area. It was pretty clean already. Nothing.

I took out the bobbin case and cleaned out under there. The problem persisted, so I put the machine on timeout and took out the backup machine again (no knee lift- BAH).

I feel like I am in an abusive relationship and this might be the last straw. I am going to look and see if there are any contests at which I can win a new machine.

Good News on the Sewing Machine Front

Wednesday

I have a talked a lot about my sewing machine in the recent past and the news has been all bad. 🙁

Finally, last week I got some GOOD news. Finally!

My mom took my machine to Always Quilting for me. I really had nothing to lose since it had been deemed terminal and, perhaps though hope was slim, I could catch a break. I feel like the machine has been at the shop forever.

Anyway, Wednesday I got a call from the woman who was working on it. She wanted to hear the story of the machine.

Huh?

Why would someone want to know the story of my machine? Good idea, but it sounded weird. I think it just sounded weird, because nobody had ever asked me about that before. I told her my whole long sad tale of woe.

She asked if I had noticed skipped stitches or tension problems. I said that I could never get the tension right to free motion quilt, but other than that I wasn’t having any problems. She said that my needle bar was out of alignment. That was a new one on me! I now have a secret hope that I might be able to free motion quilt again sometime. Maybe? Perhaps?

She said that there had been too many hands on the machine and the connections were a mess. She said that a lot of the electronic connections had to be re-soldered, but no new screen was needed and I should have the 9K back by the weekend. I couldn’t believe it!

She said that the machine was NOT terminal!

I feel like I have won the lottery, a reprieve or something really good. I can’t wait to get my machine back.

Sunday

I went and got the machine today. I normally don’t leave, but I am in a weird place with various projects and needed some exercise.

I got the machine back and set it up. First thing I noticed was that the light doesn’t work. Sigh.

The second thing I noticed was that the screen DOES work. YAY!

The needle bar definitely is different. I hope it is straight, though it doesn’t look straight. The seams seem to be straight if a touch wider than a scant 1/4″.

It sounds better, too. I like the sound of my 9k. It is quieter than my other machine.

I will also have a knee lift available again. I haven’t used it yet, but it is set up and ready to go.

My fingers are crossed.

Sewing Machine Saga Continues

After Grand Parlor, I went back to Serge-a-Lot to get my 9k and brought it home, hopefully to use peacefully for the next 5 years.

Sigh.

I turned it on and it sewed great, but the screen was very faint. This machine uses a touch screen and you might remember that, a few years ago, the touch portion stopped working and I had the touch screen replaced. Looking up the dates made me realize that it was over 6 years ago and while the first screen lasted 14 years, perhaps 6 years isn’t too bad for the second screen.

It doesn’t really matter, though, because a new screen cannot be purchased. They are no longer available from Janome.

I am not sure what I am going to do. What I am not going to do is buy is a Janome 15K, which I covet. I have to face reality that I just don’t use the embroidery module. I admire Katie’s “in the hoop” projects, but just don’t think I will do them enough to justify the expense. After all, I don’t have an Etsy store or anything.

A friend had many problems with the Janome 7700 and the reviews have been scalding. That is the type of machine I am looking at, however, if I decide to buy a new machine. I saw a review of the Janome 8900 at Diary of a Sewing Fanatic that got my hopes up for that model. I don’t know if they still make it.

The part of the this whole saga that is really depressing is all the accessories I have for the 9K: Sew Steady table, sewing table insert, hoops, embroidery cards, templates, etc. Bleah!

I have to think about what I want to do.

  • Have you bought a machine recently? What kind?
  • What features do you like on your machine (new or not)
  • What do you really use on your machine?

Sewing Machines….Blergh

There is good and bad in my sewing world lately.

The Good:

  • plenty of fabric
  • good projects on which to work
  • finishes
  • more fabric
  • nice IRL quilt friends
  • #Twilters

The Bad:

  • #$%^&*(@## sewing machine

Yes, my 9K stopped sewing again last week.

“Really?”, you ask.

After a string of curses, not directed at you, “Yes,” I say.

What is the problem? I don’t know. I just stopped zigzagging in the middle of my ATCs a week ago. Since something was stuck under the feed dogs last time I had in the shop, I took off the sole plate and cleaned out everything that looked linty and like it didn’t belong. I didn’t see anything scary looking. I put it all back together and it sewed again.

Hooray, I thought, it was just a recommended stoppage to avoid permanent damage. I was happy.

For about 5 minutes, then it stopped again. I took off the sole plate again and nothing was in there. Well, the area I could see was clean.

I was done.

Backup Machine on top of cabinet
Backup Machine on top of cabinet

I got out the backup machine and put the 9K on the floor in timeout. Saturday I went and picked up the insert. Perfect timing, because I am thinking of quilting the Wonky Nine Patch.

Also, I have been waking up in the morning with tingly fingers and wrists (old injury that flares when I am naughty), which I know is from not having my machine flush with the table. I see a lot of people sewing without their machine flush and I envy them, because it makes for so much more versatility when they sew. They can go anywhere and sew. I can sew for a very limited time without the machine being flush with the table or I suffer.

Why have I been sewing like this, you ask? Denial? No, I MUST sew. I must get the creativity out of my body or I will probably explode.

Backup machine flush in cabinet
Backup machine flush in cabinet

My backup machine is ok. It is a good machine and it is working, which is a bonus, but it doesn’t have a knee lift. I don’t know it as well, so I always have to go hunting for various stitches and feet. It isn’t my 9K, which I do love.

The insert is nice, though it is a little strange to be able to see down under the machine. As of this writing, I haven’t sewn with it yet and I don’t know how that will be.

Raising the backup machine
Raising the backup machine

The bed of the the backup machine isn’t as tall as the 9K, so I had to boost it up to make it flush with the acrylic insert/table. I used the wooden closing insert (see picture above) and a magazine to get it to the right height. I might add some clamps to the whole assemblage if the slickness of the magazine makes the machine move around.

I took the 9K to Serge-a-Lot, my new best friend sewing store, after Sherri invited me to do so. She assured me that her man, Brad, could work on my machine. She came through with the insert and if Brad can’t fix the machine, then I am no worse off. She did see that the feed dogs weren’t advancing when she turned the fly wheel, so I didn’t come across like a complete lunatic. Of course, when we put thread in it in the store, the machine sewed fine.  WTF? I told her to service it if she thought it needed it.

I am thinking that a new machine is in my future sooner than I had hoped. I hope Serge-a-Lot can get it running and that it can give me a few more years of service. I don’t know, though. I better start saving my pennies.

All I can say is BLERGH!!!

Onward HO!

My machine is back from the spa and seems to be running only when I press the foot pedal.

I put on The Girl You Left Behind audiobook and drove down to San Jose to pick up the machine. It is about an hour each way for me, so I want the machine to be right when I go to get it. I know many of you have dealers that are far away and can sympathize.

I have to say that I don’t think they take very good notes at the dealer because they gave me another new foot pedal just in case. They did that last time, too. It makes me wonder how they keep their business in business.

I told the repair guy/owner of the shop that I would demand he come and pick up the machine if it didn’t work. Clearly, I can’t force him to do anything, but it sounded good.

This whole machine drama has made me think about opening a sewing machine repair shop in the City. It would be so nice if there were one closer. The place I bought my machine from closed a few years after I bought my machine after a number of family tragedies. Of course, I know nothing about repairing sewing machines, but why should that stop me? 😉

Obviously, if I were really going to do something like that, I would need to do a lot of research.The quiet of the drive down to the shop was good for me. I am a little impatient with people these days and I am pretty sure my work colleagues were glad to see the back of me at the end of the week. Listening to the book made me not have to think too much. My brain is tired.

Now I am going to put on Still Life by Louise Penny (yes, I am listening to it a second time, as I think I missed half the story in the drama of last week) and figure out if I remember how to sew.

What are you working on?

Loaner Machine

It is kind of funny how we come to feel about our tools. As I mentioned, I have a loaner machine. It is  also a Janome, so my feet fit. It is a smaller model with a fewer number of stitches and no knee lift. I don’t know the model; there doesn’t seem to be a number or anything on it.

Loaner Janome
Loaner Janome

This is, generally, a nice machine. It sews quietly, the stitch is nice. It fits my 1/4″ foot, is easy to thread, has the needle up/down feature.

It isn’t my machine, though and it buzzes. It makes a loud-ish, electrical buzzing sound all the time. It sounds weird, but that might be part of why I felt out of sorts on Saturday. The machine was off most of the day on Sunday and I felt fine.

It also doesn’t fit well into my table, so I moved the pneumatic lift platform up to table top height and put the machine on top of it. I worried that my hands were going to hurt , but that didn’t happen.

Why You Should Care: It is always good to have information about different machines when you are going to buy a new one.

Happy Face Sad Face

The Happy Face signifies me not being insane.

Where the Sewing Machine Should Be
Where the Sewing Machine Should Be

The Sad Face is because of the ‘missing’ machine. Again.

I posted something similar on Twitter a few weeks ago. I wasn’t worried, because I was planning on being out of town and I could get the machine back relatively soon after I returned.

When I dropped the machine off, I clearly articulated that the machine was running by itself. In the imaginary universe a machine running by itself would be a good thing. You could line up a bunch of patches and go iron fabric while the machine sewed away. I am imagining household management a la Molly Weasley. Sadly, this is not the imaginary universe and, besides, I get a lot of pleasure out of feeding patches through the machine.

I always think it is important to tell the people working on my device or gadget what the problem is. I always thought they might want to know since I was asking them to fix it and they were taking my money for fixing the machine.

When I picked up the machine, the repair person was there and said that had told him about my machine running by itself. He gave me a new foot, assuring me that that would solve the problem. Famous last words, but you knew that was coming, right?

I got the machine home and it still ran by itself. I really thought I was losing my mind. I had a stressful week prior and thought that that may be contributing to my obvious insanity.

In reality, the intake person didn’t write any notes on my ticket, so the repair people just did a service on it. Service is great. The machine, you have to know, needed to be serviced in the worst way, but I don’t want the machine running by itself.

As you saw, the problem didn’t prevent me from sewing, but I couldn’t use the needle down function, because that had something to do with creating the problem. It also meant that I had to drive back to the shop, which is 50 miles from my house.

I had yesterday off work, so after a few fun things, I drove the machine down to the shop, then went out to lunch with friend Maureen. I called on Tuesday to tell them I wanted them to look at it right away so I could take it back home with me after lunch. As much as I enjoy having lunch with M, I’d really like to stay home and sew once in a while.

I called again late in the day. They said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it, so I went to pick it up feeling quite discouraged. The repair guy suggested I test the machine in the shop, so we set it up, he showed me how beautiful it was running and invited me to sew on it.

Immediately, I pressed the needle down button and it was like touching the ‘never stop’ switch. The repair guy’s mouth practically dropped open as he watched the machine run by itself. He looked at me and said that he had never seen the needle down sensor affect the running of the machine that way. He said he would have to call the company, so I would have to leave the machine again. Sigh.

Janome Loaner
Janome Loaner

He offered me a loaner, which I almost declined, but took at the last second. I don’t know what model this is, but it has a needle down function and uses the same feet as I have. I might just use my Jem. We’ll see if I can get along with this machine over the weekend. Who knows how long it will take to get my machine fixed and I hope it isn’t a $500 repair like it was when I had to have the screen replaced.

Why You Should Care: This is a reminder that you make sure the intake person writes down the specific problem. This is definitely a #firstworldproblem. I know that I am fortunate to have a machine, fortunate to have a backup and fortunate to have been offered a loaner. I am also fortunate not to have to take my machine by donkey to be repaired.

Russian Rubix Templates

You might think that because I teach how to use templates that I think templates are great.

Russian Rubix templates
Russian Rubix templates

Templates are not great, but they are useful. I think it is useful to know how to make and use templates, especially for weirdly shaped pieces where adding a quarter inch seam allowance isn’t as straightforward as plopping down a ruler  in the right position and drawing a line. BUT give me a plastic rotary ruler or template and my rotary cutter any time.

I recently talked about Richard and his mini-business making templates for the Russian Rubix pattern. I still don’t have my pattern (long story, but it should be here soon), but I was able to try out the templates over the weekend.

Cutting roundish shapes, e.g. the octagon means that you have to carefully cut one side depending on whether you are right or left handed (I am right-handed and needed to take care cutting over my left hand and arm, which were holding the template in place, when I went to cut the left 3 cuts of the template).

These templates are a smidge thinner than a Creative Grids ruler, but it was an unfamiliar enough feeling to make me notice. These templates are not so thin as to be dangerous.

There is a lot of trimming of pieces in the pattern and the house shape is used for part of the trimming, which is a really nice option. Also, in the pattern, you cut a bunch of squares and then you trim them using the octagon template. Having a rotary template means that you can skip the 1) template making; 2) square cutting; and 3) trimming down to an octagon. Using the rotary template, you can go straight to the cutting of the octagons.

Cutting squares and trimming is not terrible and might make for a good rote sewing task. There might even be an Accuquilt die for the right size of the square that would make the cutting go very fast. Still, I like the rotary template idea and think that it will be useful for cutting from scraps. Again, I am thinking of using all different blues, though not too dark, with a grey background.

And…in other News

Bali Cracker Macaron (test photo)
Bali Cracker Macaron (test photo)

My camera seems to be working again. I bought a new, smaller SD card and the camera is now saving photos to the SD card again. If only I had known (remembered? this is ringing a bell) to not try and cram 4GB of memory into my poor 10 year old camera, I probably would have been fine.

What do you think? I took the picture of the Bali Cracker (crazy name, BTW!) and only cropped. I didn’t adjust the color or anything.

Yes, retail therapy was my prescription on Monday after work and this Cracker came today with sister, Pop. I think I will make another Stepping Stones quilt from these. I just have to find some yardage, though I think I could find some turquoise in my fabric closet that would work just fine.

I don’t want to get into a fight with people about the right and wrong of Boy Scouts, especially after the latest scandal to follow the most recent scandal. Sigh. The Young Man is a scout, as you might have guessed. I find it to be a good program for boys who are not sports oriented. The national organizational leadership, IMO, needs some attitude adjusting, shall we say.

Moving on.

This group has come out with the new merit badges for the year. They are:

  • Welding
  • Search & Rescue

Take a look at the merit badge requirements at: http://usscouts.org/advancementTOC.asp#merit

Both are useful skills, but I think that sewing would be much more useful than welding. The BSA needs to, SERIOUSLY, consider a sewing merit badge. Sewing on a button is a useful skill, don’t you think? Running a sewing machine? Reading a pattern to make a fanny pack or a sleeping bag?  Dealing with denim, Gortex and ripstop nylon fabric? I know that many artists weld and it is a sign of power, but really, welding over sewing? Sheesh.

Also, I painted my toenails purple. Now I keep getting startled every time I see them.

Have a great weekend!

Other Marking Techniques

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about Saral Transfer Paper. Frances mentioned it on her podcast (Episode 96), but still seemed unsure, so I thought I would write about the other tools I use for quilting (sewing 3 layers together not making an entire quilt).

I am liking the Saral Transfer Paper as I work on the whole cloth quilt. It does come off easily, so I have to darken the lines a bit as I move through the quilting process, but that is ok with me.

I don’t think it is possible, at least I have not found a way to mark and entire quilt and keep the markings on through the entire quilting process. If I want special designs, I will draw them on one block at a time with one of the 3 methods that work for me. Yes, this can be a bit annoying, but it is good excuse for me to stop, take a rest and stretch.

Marking Implements
Marking Implements

I use other tools for marking.

I am not much of a quilter. I send most of my quilts out, but every now and then I get a wild hair (as Pam says) every once in a while and quilt a quilt. The Nonce pencil is a little hard and flaky. It is easier to use on a hard surface (e.g. NOT fabric), but that doesn’t really work for me. I use it with stencils. It works on most colors except for the very light ones.

The Roxanne pencil is much softer and works for a lot of colors from light to dark. I use this for lighter fabrics. Sometimes it doesn’t show up on the mid-range colors.

I have been using the Sewline pencils, primarily, to darken the Saral lines that have faded a bit. I could use this tool for marking a whole quilt as well, but I would need a stencil or a good idea in my mind and confidence. This works for me.

The Chalkoner is also good for darkening up lines right before you quilt them.

I mostly do not wash my quilts, so washing out paper or whatever isn’t an option. It also makes my head hurt to think about the damage to my washer. I have enough handwork and don’t want to use tweezers enough, so I would avoid sewing over paper.

I have always been afraid of the blue washaway pens, so I haven’t tried them. I haven’t tried the Dritz paper and I am allergic to everything so try and minimize chemically smells in my house. I don’t use Pounce either, because I want to avoid particles floating around the air. I am concerned about the Glad Press & Seal method, but I don’t know anything about it, so will have to reserve judgment.

Workroom Chaos

Jem
Jem

You know what this means, right? Yep, the 9000 was in the shop. Bleah.

Or so, I thought. It wasn’t really bad, though. I took the 9K to a place I used to take it to. The owner is a used car salesman kind of guy, but I wasn’t happy with the last service, so, at TFQ’s urging, I went back.

I took the machine in on a Friday and they called me SATURDAY to pick it up. I kid you not! I was amazed. The repair guy said that he had several similar machines to service, so he did them all at once. I went on Monday after work (2 hour round trip) to get it.

Closet Chaos
Closet Chaos

Houseguests arrived that very evening. You know what that means, right? No sewing. Yep.

No fabric pressing or fondling. Nothing.

I didn’t get to test the machine. I took everything down – iron, ironing board, cutting table and put it all in the closet. I am fortunate to have a husband who may not like it, but doesn’t complain about the way I have taken over the upstairs closet. I pinned the Corner Store pieces to the portable design wall and made the bed.

I didn’t get to test the machine until Friday. Yes, the following FRIDAY. Friday afternoon, as a matter of fact. I am glad I took it to the car salesman shop, though, because my sewing machine feels like her old self. The feet are actually holding the fabric to the bed of the machine. I had forgotten that it did that. The repair man said there was a belt problem.

I sewed like a demon on Sunday. Stay tuned for that report.

More Christmas!

from Julie
from Julie

In addition to the group of gifts I already received,  Julie and I had our annual parking lot exchange of Christmas gifts after CQFA last weekend. I gave her the partially done Purple Journal, which seems a bit pathetic after I saw what she gave me!) and she gave me this plethora of quilty goodness.

I want to use the Mary Engelbreit panels to make journal covers. A little Mary Engelbreit in the morning is always a good way to start the day, in my opinion. She also bought me a desk needle threader. Yes, it is getting harder for me to thread my needles. I blame it on poor lighting in my living and work rooms.  I am constantly breaking the wire hand held ones, so this will come in handy. The ruler allows the quiltmaker to make wonky 9 patches. Julie and I have started to cut patches for each other. She cut Eye Spy patches for me. I cut Eye Spy patches for her. Now we are cutting Windmill patches for each other.

The final cool thing is a little package of Timtex. Who doesn’t need Timtex? I want to try making a journal using Timtex instead of a manilla folder. We’ll see if it works.

Half Moon Street from TFQ
Half Moon Street from TFQ

I am a lucky girl to have a friend who gives me gift certificates for fabric.I think we should all have a friend like that. 😉 I bought this bundle using the Intrepid Thread gift certificate from TFQ.  I love receiving gift certificates for fabric. I don’t feel guilty about buying it when I use the gift certificate.

I feel very fortunate to have such nice friends. Still, I can’t help, but look forward to my birthday. 😉

EQ Product Review

Am I in Judy Martin mode? Yes. I read her newsletter recently and found some great information, some of which I passed on in Various & Sundry #21. That post was getting too long, so here I am again.

I love her and would go to Iowa (not a bad state; been there at least 3 times, which is another story for another day) for a class with her in a hot minute. Her stars CD for Electric Quilt was awesome, but is now out of print. Lucky you, if you didn’t buy it the first time around, because EQ is bringing it back in a repurposed format by making many of her out-of-print star blocks available for download in their newly launched EQ Boutique site. They are taking the material from the Stars & Sets CD and putting it into what Judy calls families of blocks: Ohio Stars, Ornate Ohio Stars, Variable Stars, Compass Point Stars, and Spikey Stars (first five groups to launch). Others will follow.

According to Judy, the first five groups of blocks range in price from $8.99 to $11.99 and contain anywhere from 15 blocks to 22. Your first purchase comes with a free download of the software you need to play with the blocks.

If you already own the Stars & Sets CD, you do NOT need any of these collections.

Marsha McCloskey has also partnered with EQ in their My EQ Boutique. I have been wanting to make a Feathered Star block since I saw one made from dots in a magazine a few years ago. Now that I know the Triangle Technique and how to make different sizes of half square triangles, I feel more comfortable tackling that project.  I did actually buy her EQ Boutique Feathered Star collection, so I was able to evaluate the process.

After purchase, there is an additional piece of software that you download before you download the collections purchased. The software came with a collection of Rose of Sharon applique’ blocks. Too bad I didn’t know about that collection last week before I prepared Frances’ applique’ lesson! After installing and running the EQ Boutique software, I downloaded the collection I bought and it was difficult *for me* to figure out how to get the collection to show up in the EQ Boutique software. Finally, in tiny print on the download page, I read that you have to close the EQ Boutique software before you download the new collection. I did that, re-downloaded and the Feathered Stars showed up very well. Also, I really don’t want to learn new software when I am pretty well versed in EQ7. The EQ Boutique software has a great ‘Link to EQ’ function that shows up on your Start menu (windows) which actually links your EQ Boutique collections to EQ. I would rather just call it up in EQ7 and skip the EQ Boutique software step, but it doesn’t seem like that is an option. I also understand that not everyone owns EQ7 software.

Read more about the collections, the software, and the system requirements.

I do have to say that EQ is bombarding me with emails about new stuff every day and I am glad they were all at Quilt Market so I could get a bit of relief. I have just been deleting the emails. There is definitely a fine line between just right and too much!

A Few Things

PIQF 2011 Purchases
PIQF 2011 Purchases

I didn’t buy anything when I went on Wednesday night and Thursday, but Sunday I went back to PIQF and bought a few things. I didn’t take a picture of the inks. Didn’t have the wherewithall to do a lifestyle shot of them. I bought several inks. Trust me.

The Perl Cotton (some of which are Valdani) are for Kissy Fish, as is the embroidery book. I felt like I needed a few more colors and a few more stitches. That piece should be done, but it seems to be perpetually “almost finished.”

Soon.

The two magazines are from New Pieces. I went on Friday to pick up the Zig Zaggy quilt and saw them. The Japanese magazine has some great bags and some wonderful Trip Around the World pieces.

I told myself never to buy a Quilt Scene magazine. I think the idea of magazine reporting on the show and showing photos is fabulous.  I think the idea of a magazine about a show that couldn’t be published without projects was stupid. As you can see, I bought this one. The photos of the quilts (the few that are shown) are FABULOUS. This magazine also has the most beautiful Baltimore Album quilt I have ever seen. It is truly lush.