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Holy quilting! So I finished the top of my first quilt in 5 days, go me! I'm waiting for it to be top quilted right now. I started my second quilt Scrappy Trip around the World by Bonnie Hunt. I'm doing it in, you guessed it, 1930s fabric. Its looking awesome! Ill post pictures soon.
As it turns out, Vivian, my sewing machine, is feeling her age slightly. The belt that was on her is really old and dry rotted which is cause it to slip and mess my tension up. So since she is running under the weather I decided to detail her. I cleaned all the old grease, oil, finger prints and god knows what else off her, down to the cracks, then used Boys good 3M wax and put a nice solid 2 coats on. I even took my motor off so I could wax behind it, and wax the entire motor case. While I was playing with stuff and cleaning, I decided to mess with my bobbin winder which has never worked on the machine since I dug it out from under my desk. It was always gummed up and never spun correctly, just burnt the rubber gasket up. Well I added a couple drops of oil and started working it around and some gunk came out and after adding some more oil, it started working like a charm! I'm a goddamn sewing machine genius!! Now I don't have to have Lynn wind all my bobbins for me, or have to stop because all my bobbins are empty. All I have to do now is wait for my new belt and I'm all set!
Another list of things I learned since I started quilting:
~I suck at sewing straight lines. For serious, its terrible. A blind man could do better.
~ Love you iron! Better make peace with it, its going to be your best friend. I find my little travel Rowenta to be a dream come true. Fits nicely right beside Viv when I'm piecing.
~ Good light. You can do nothing without a good light. Thank god for my clearance Ott light
As it turns out, Vivian, my sewing machine, is feeling her age slightly. The belt that was on her is really old and dry rotted which is cause it to slip and mess my tension up. So since she is running under the weather I decided to detail her. I cleaned all the old grease, oil, finger prints and god knows what else off her, down to the cracks, then used Boys good 3M wax and put a nice solid 2 coats on. I even took my motor off so I could wax behind it, and wax the entire motor case. While I was playing with stuff and cleaning, I decided to mess with my bobbin winder which has never worked on the machine since I dug it out from under my desk. It was always gummed up and never spun correctly, just burnt the rubber gasket up. Well I added a couple drops of oil and started working it around and some gunk came out and after adding some more oil, it started working like a charm! I'm a goddamn sewing machine genius!! Now I don't have to have Lynn wind all my bobbins for me, or have to stop because all my bobbins are empty. All I have to do now is wait for my new belt and I'm all set!
Another list of things I learned since I started quilting:
~I suck at sewing straight lines. For serious, its terrible. A blind man could do better.
~ Love you iron! Better make peace with it, its going to be your best friend. I find my little travel Rowenta to be a dream come true. Fits nicely right beside Viv when I'm piecing.
~ Good light. You can do nothing without a good light. Thank god for my clearance Ott light
3 comments:
Wow! That's one clean machine! I bow to your greatness.
Do you use tracing paper marks to help with straight lines? That's the only way I can get even close. Sewing faster helps, too (seems counter-intuitive, I know, but the fabric has less chance to shift).
Urgh, bobbins! My last sewing machine had a bobbin that never worked properly: it used about 10x the amount of thread it should so that the back of whatever I was sewing was furry. Grr.
I dont use tracing paper, but I do use a chalk pencil to draw my lines on. And your right, going fast does make it easier.
You have furry sewing!! Does it puke all over your house too? ;)
Thanks for sharing such an excellent post. Its really informative to everyone.
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