Random Pictures of the Spuds

 

How to Buy a Sewing Machine

 I sew a lot.  I've always sewn a lot. You might say sewing is my therapy.  When I was younger, I made all of my own clothes.  When I had babies, I started making quilts.  So I have acquired a few machines over the years.  My mother worked as a saleswoman for Singer before I was born, so growing up we got a few of the newest models of machines.  The first one I bought for myself was a 1910 state of the art treadle. (Ahem.... I bought it used at a farm auction.  I may be old, but I am not THAT old.) 

When I turned a certain 'mature' age, my family bought me a state of the art 2010 sewing embroidery machine.  It is a Baby Lock Ellegante 2.  Fifteen years later, I still use that machine.  It has more than a few stitches on it.  And I have since purchased (ahem) a few more.  My latest purchase was a Baby Lock Meridian.  It is a land yacht sized single needle embroidery machine that takes up my entire dining room table.   Did I mention that I sew a lot?  

 It has been awhile since I have done a post here about sewing machines so I thought I would do quick review of my newest machine and offer my advice if you are looking for a sewing machine.

  

  

 

Buying Your First Machine   

 

For some reason you have decided you want to own your own sewing machine.  If you are new to sewing and still exploring all sorts of techniques and trying new things then you want to make sure the machine you buy is  as versatile and flexible as you can get it.  You want to be able to have a zipper foot and zig zag stitches and things like that. 

 

 

Start with research. 

• Talk to your friends and relatives.  Most likely, someone has an old machine in a closet that they would give to you or sell to you for a fraction of what a new one would cost.  (This is a different thing that looking for a used one on Craig's List or Ebay.  I will talk about that later.) 
• If you are able to get one from a relative, try to make sure that you get any manuals and/or attachments that came with it. 
• Find a local shop that will service and repair it.  There is probably at least one Sewing and Vacuum shop in your area that will do it.  Even old machines. Even really old machines.  Even 1910 state of the art treadles!  Ask around and find a service person you can trust.
• If the machine has been sitting for a long time take it to get it cleaned, oiled and aligned.   
• Talk to the people at a local same brand shop about having a lesson on using it. 
• Learn as much as you can about the person who owned the machine originally and what they made with it.  I guarantee that that person would be thrilled to see someone use their machine. 

 

• Visit all of the sewing machine stores you can reasonably get to.  Probably look at all of the varieties available within about an hour's drive.  
• Tell them what you want to sew.  
• Ask them for suggestions and demonstrations.  Ask if they have demo days where you can come in and make a project using their machines.  
•  Ask about service.  Is it done in house or do they send it out.  
• What is the cost of recommended annual service? 
• Ask if they service other brands or older models of the same brand. 
•  Ask what is the average turn around time for service.
• Ask about used machines and floor models.  (My first modern machine was a floor model, the second used, the next was used that I asked them to find for me....) 
• Do they have classes to teach you how to use the machine once you purchase it?
• Do you feel comfortable talking to the people in the store?  Do you feel like they will support you as you learn more about your machine?
• Have they built up a community of sewists through clubs, classes, sit and sew events etc?

 

• If you are fortunate enough to have one, visit a community sewing center or maker space.  You want to find any space that has sewing machines available for people to use.  Your local library might even have a space with machines.  What you want is an opportunity to try out as many different brands and styles of machines as possible.  It is worthwhile to ask for a visitors pass or join or ask for a tour.  Experiment with as many different brands as possible.

 

•  Talk to as many sewists as possible.
• Ask them what they sew
• Ask them what features they consider requirements for sewing.  
• A quilter may tell you they need a wide throat (the distance between the needle and the upright support of the machine.  
• A bag maker may tell you they have to have a sturdy straight stitch on a heavy duty machine that will sew through many layers.
• Ask then what their dream features would be.
• Ask them what brands they prefer and why.
• Ask then where they get their machines serviced and repaired.

 

Next Machine Repair and Service.  

You may have noticed that a big part of the research I suggest is asking about service.  More important than brand or style or model number or features is having a great relationship with a machine service repairperson.  If you can't get it fixed locally it will cost shipping to and from and service center on top of the cost of repairs.  That can add hundreds to the cost.  Find a good service shop and put them on speed dial.  

 Now Some General Advice.

 

• Set a budget and stick to it.  
• Don't be up-sold but buy as many features and upgrades as you can reasonably afford.  It is hard to predict where your sewing journey will take you and what feature you my need to get there so having as much flexibility as you can makes it easier for you to learn and grow. 
• If you are a beginner, look at new entry level machines.  
• You should also ask about used machines at the shop,  These will come serviced and working,
• Look for 'deals' online.  But buyer beware.  Make sure you are working with a reputable site.  Check reviews.  
• Some name brand shops will NOT service certain models of their own brand of machine if they are purchased on-line or through a big box store.  
• Make sure you know where you can get local service.
•  Once exception (sort of) to the don't be up-sold rule is buying an embroidery machine.  You want to buy the clearest screen and the biggest hoop you can afford.  I promise you that if I had started with the tiny 4 inch hoop and illegible screen, I would probably not have continued doing embroidery for fifteen years.  Not saying that that is not a good machine.  I've seen some girls do some really amazing things with those.  But it requires more patience and precision than I have.  No matter what size hoop, you will probably quickly start eyeing the bigger boyz.  For my first embroidery machine, I bought a floor model because I was able to get more features, bigger hoops and a clearer screen with some really good embroidery functions for the same price (actually less at the time) than a lower grade new machine.  
• Remember, unlike many appliances  or cars, a used sewing machine can be a really great thing.  Older mechanical models with metal gears can be much more reliable than the new cheaper ones with plastic parts.  I learned my lesson this when the back stitch button broke on my son's entry level singer.  My reliable repair shop said he couldn't fix it and would have to send it back to the factory.  The shipping cost alone was more than I paid for the whole machine.  So I essentially had a fine doorstop.  Well actually, my son took it apart to see how it worked and later became a mechanical engineer so it wasn't completely wasted.  However I would have been much better off refurbishing one of my great great relatives wooden case singer and letting him use that.
• Just a note... collecting fabric is a completely different hobby than sewing.  Just sayin'

 

 

Now for my newest machine.

Since I first learned machine embroidery, I also ended up learning how to digitize my own designs.  That has led me down a path of progressively larger embroidery hoops.  Following my own advice for buying embroidery machines, I bought the biggest hoop I could afford.  I have a Baby Lock Meridian machine.  It has a 9.5 x 14 hoop as the largest one.   The screen is huge, clear and easy to read everything.

Things I like:

• Big hoop
• Laser pointer for positioning designs
• Ability to resize more than the standard +20 -10% on my old machines.   This one actually changes the number of stitches rather than just making the existing one bigger or smaller.  It is a huge win.
• Tiling designs so that I can make multiple copies of the same thing on one hoop.  Also able to move them closer together than my other machines allow if I finagle it properly.
• Tiling two different designs separately on the same hoop.  Part of that finagling....  If I put one particular design two up and two down then I can get four on a hoop.  On my old machines each design you try to add gets tiled in a group with the ones already chosen.
• Wireless transfer of designs.  I have to use a program to do it but it is really easy.  No cards, wires or thumb drives.  
• Stores files transferred wirelessly.  My slightly older and smaller Babylock Flare also allows wireless transfer but it loses its mind when I turn it off.  
• New design for automatic threader.  It went back to the old school loop and pull for the top part and has the robotic needle threader at the bottom.  This might seem like a strange reverse but... my older Ellegantes have an internal robot that guides the thread through the loops and turns as well as threading the actual needle.  The one thing that is going to turn those machines into unusable doorstops is the threader.  It is a part that isn't made anymore.  So when it breaks again, I won't be able to fix it.  Fortunately, I have two of those so one will become a parts machine as keep my old show ponies going as long as possible.  I love those machines.
• Bright lights in the throat.
• Big screen.  Easy controls on the screen.  Loads of options and flexibility.

 

Things I don't like:

• The giant hoop uses a LOT of stabilizer.  I have to buy 20" spools which are not quite wide enough to cover the hoop lengthwise.  So I have to cut long strips and then I have a lot of wasted stabilizer on the side.  I think I've seen that they make a 25" stabilizer but I haven't found the weight I want.  I do also have bolts but they are awkward and the ones that I have found available in the now defunct JoAnns tear away terribly so I don't like using them.
• The giant hoop is not well stabilized.  Newer models actually have a shelf that supports the hoop at the extreme ends of its sewing field.  Without that it can wobble and cause some deviations in the design.  I'm working on having the mechanical engineer make me a platform to solve this problem.
• It takes up my entire table and doesn't play nicely with my other machines.  I could run the flare and the ellegante across from each other but I can't do that with this one.
• I couldn't afford to get this machine as a dual embroidery/sewing machine.  I have enough sewing machines and I needed the large format embroidery hoop  I think I would REALLY LOVE to have the laser pointer and large throat that this machine has for quilting.
• The price.  I got a deal. But it still cost more than my first car (I know, dark ages pricing ...) but still mentally it was a big leap to spend that much.  Fortunately it basically pays for itself but... 

 

 

Things I don't know enough about

• I haven't even tried to figure out how to use the laser pointer combined with the fancy hoop and my cell phone to position the designs.  If I did a lot of shirts or other precision work I would figure that out because I am confident it is a very useful feature.  For now, I just use the laser to see where the needle is going to go into the fabric and to track the boundaries of a design.
• The autodigitizing feature.  You can upload an image and the machine will spit out an autodigitized design.  I have played with it.  I think it would work great for transferring a customer's simple logo to a design file.  I have made some logo files.  But I'm not really happy with the quality of the lettering.  I think I have to make a really large design first to get the detail and then shrink it back and I'm not happy with that.  I'm used to my old school digitizing so I just haven't played with this enough.
• Other bells and whistles.

 I would recommend this machine if you needed to do precision work, large designs or autodigitizing.  The cost of buying or subscribing to digitizing software probably balances out the extra cost of this machine.

 Have fun sewing!   

 

 

 

First Draft Friday (erm actually Saturday) Refrigerator Pickles

 So the Mr came home for a long weekend and cucumbers were on sale.  So we decided to make refrigerator pickles.  I think our first try is really yummy.  I'm going to post what we did before I forget and can't recreate it the next time.

 

Four English cucumbers, sliced thin (about 1/8 inch).  I put them in a colander, thoroughly mixed in 2 Tbsp of course pink sea salt.  Set the colander over a bowl and let them sit for about 3 hours.  I then rinsed them.  I rinsed them a lot.  I rinsed them until they were only slightly salty.

 

Brine 2 c apple cider vinegar, 2 c water, 1 Tbsp pink sea salt and 2 Tbsp sugar.  Low boil until the sugar and salt dissolved.  Let cool to room temperature.

Rinsed and drained cucumbers were layered into two quart jars with a small amount of sliced green onions, peppercorns, mustard seed and fresh dill.  The fresh dill was kind of crappy so we added some dried dill as well.  

 The first taste was after about 12 hours in the fridge.  They are yummy.  I want to make more.   

 

When Creativity Takes a Detour You Pretty Much Have to Follow It No Matter How Unhappy the Pirate Gets

 

It isn't like I don't have a plan. I do. Actually, I have some very detailed lists of what I need to get done before the next show. HOWEVER.... I needed to make a pirate doll. Because, Pirates. I mean seriously. Who doesn't NEED a pirate doll. Which of course has taken the better part of the last two weeks as my pirate needed clothes and I didn't have any in his size. But then.... Olive... I don't know why I HAD to make the first olive....

But once I did and I shared it with some friends. Well, I had to find a giant martini glass for her to swim in.

And then, well it was an olive in a martini glass, it needed a toothpick. But it was pretty angry about that.

And I shared that with some more friends. And well, I HAD to turn the whole thing in to a plushie pun. So now the olive is holding a heart instead of trying to remove the toothpick.

And so I have three new plushie denizens and the pirate still has a mullet and is getting pretty angry about that. Fortunately, I haven't made his sword yet or we would have real trouble.

And that list of things that I need to get done before the next show.... Well it is a pretty list and is has a few things checked off. It is what it is. And if you are at my next show looking for a monkey or a new fish to add to your collection... well you can blame a bit of a creative detour.

 Happy National Creativity Day.  The WaggonsWest Traveling Chicken and Monster Show is all about bring creative and letting your imagination run wild.  

Celebrate the magic of creativity by coloring your own DIY Denizen.  You can use the included water color paint then wash and do it all again.  Or you can follow the instructions and make a permanent masterpiece.  

DIY Denizens include the dinosaur, a fox, the moon, a bird, a bunny, a fox and a wee small pig.  What other Denizen would you like to see as a DIY?  Let me know in the comments.  

 #CreativityDay #ArtLife #Inspiration #ColorYourWorld #DIY #waggonswest #travelingchicken #travelingchickenandmonstershow #makerlife #plushie #dinosaur #watercolor #paint

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

 

 

Sometimes, one of the hardest things to do is decide which path to follow. I decided to make an olive. It has silly little legs. I laugh every time I think about it because I imagine all of the olives in the Mr's martini bottle of them sprouting little legs and running around all crazy as soon as the fridge light goes out.

I posted a picture of Little Miss Oliveea on Lettuce Craft, a friendly, supportive community I've been a part of for a long time. In the comments section, it occurred to me that I have almost a complete, old school relish tray. I have carrots, pickles and now olives. All I am missing is celery, radish roses and a little glass pitcher of poppy seed dressing. And as is it's wont, my tiny little mind decided I needed to make celery. 

I started sketching. Now to fit into my vision of vegetables running around all crazy in the dark, the celery needs to be kawaii with silly little legs. That is, it is best served as the top sketch from this page in my sketchbook. But oh.... that face on little Mr Celery number two is just so hard to resist.

So now, I have to make a choice, because I don't have a lot of time to make both. Which one do you want to see first?

Of course, I still have no idea how the leaves at the top are going to work but I am sure it will come to me eventually.

 

 

Best in Class, Textiles! Wow.

I was pleased to attend the Montevallo Arts Fest in Montevallo, Alabama. It was a lovely setting with lovely people. Lots of denizens went home with their forever friends. At the end of the day, I was presented with this Best in Class Textiles ribbon. What an honor. Thank you! 

 

This is not something that normally happens to me. I am usually the "one of these things is not like the others" in the lineup of artist booths. The Spud's first question was, were you the only one No. There were about a dozen fiber artists in this show. Probably about 10% of the total which is pretty typical for fiber and textile. The thing that gets crazy is that textile can include everything for clothing to fabric dyeing to leather working to bag making to quilting to needle felting to fabric collage to knitting to amigurumi and much more. So it is has to be hard for the judges to make apples to ramen comparisons. At any rate, I greatly appreciate the honor.

 

 

Maker Life: Yetis, Patterns and Pins

 

Sometimes, I'm organized and I manage to keep my patterns in fancy labeled folders, most of my pins are in the pin box (except for the ones that inevitably escape and land under the Mr's foot) and my clips are in their fancy pickle dish. Because, if I don't use my fancy pickle dish for clips, when will it ever see the light of day? Maybe I need to get out a fancy trinket box for the pins so that they want to stay home and stop roaming.

At any rate, no matter how organized I might manage to appear on the internet, that insane fuzzy fabric the Yetis insist on flies EVERYWHERE! It is like sand on a beach. It ends up in places that are unimaginable. So the thing you don't see is the vacuum cleaner sitting next to me that I try to run like one of those fancy bags on a sander. Hey! Someone needs to invent that. Scissors with a fuzz collector.

PQ 16.1 Cryptids Uncle

This is where I gave up on my first challenge piece for Project Quilting Season 16.  I didn't really give up.  I just decided that I was not going to be able to get it finished in the time allotted while staying true to the vision.  I did not want to compromise on what I think is going to be a really cool quilt.

Not a lot of story here.  I just started drawing, digitizing and stitching cryptids.  I actually drew 12 of them and digitized 11.  I only stitched out 9.  (Unicorns are hard).  I kept stealing cryptid ideas from Challenge quilt chat.  Anything was easier than that elusive unicorn.  

I know the rough sketch of the Very Shy Monster who lives under the bed and collects happiness to save for a gloomy day doesn't exactly look like the sketch.  I figure turnabout is fair play.  I can't ever draw what I see in my head.  SO it is only reasonable that I can make what I sketch in fabric.

A Very Shy Monster.  No bed.  No zipper.  But I might start making tote bags with him on them.  Anyone want one?

Nessie.  Just a bit of her.  Because, unlike the shy monsters who will jump out and hug you if they like you, Nessie is camera shy.  

So camera shy that by the time I got her in focus, all I could see what a bit of her tail.

Cthulu.  Again just a glimpse as he swam out of sight.

CT is a lot more steam punk than I knew,

The Nine Tailed Fox.

Yeah, I'm not crazy about the fabric either but I had to use stash and I am woefully lacking in brown and orange and anything else that looks like fox,

 

PQ 16.2 Uncle v2 Unfinished, Unironed, Untrimmed, Unispired 'Umbre' Quilt

You know that sinking feeling when you've spent the entire week knowing that you were absolutely NOT going to make a quilt for week 2? When even the fleeting notion of a bookmark of last resort is too much to contemplate? When you are completely uninspired by the challenge (sorry Trisha Priewe Frankland )? When your only glimmer of a fun project is shot down in the chat and is probably beyond the contents of your scrap bin?

And yet...

There you are. Standing in Hobby Lobby trying to buy buttons at 3 o'clock Friday afternoon. When three bolts of fabric start screaming at at you at the top of their little linty lungs. It is hard. But you turn your back trying to find the proper size buttons. But you realize they aren't shouting. They are singing. (Poorly, because they only have little linty lungs after all.). You can just make out the words. It is something like, "We can show you a quilt. Show you fabric by fabric. Just find us two pretty friends...".

And there it is. A fully formed image in your mind. A quilt you can make in your sleep. And you don't even have to calculate yardage. Except it is Friday. Afternoon. And you have obligations all day and evening on Saturday.

Yeah. Sucks to be me. I present to you the Unfinished, unironed, untrimmed, uninspired 'Umbre' quilt. 44*64. Made from absolutely nothing in my stash in hours squeezed out of a rock, turnip and a hard place.

But it is at least a flimsy so I can't call it a UFO by my standards.

 

By the way... look at those corners!  And I wasn't really trying that hard.  Guess measuring carefully and practicing your seam allowances is a good thing.  

Oh, and I know, one of those two friends turned out to be a mean girl. But Hobby Lobby closes at 8 so whatcha gonna do?

 

PQ 15.6 A Busy Bee Week

I knew when I saw the challenge that there was no way I was going to actually finish my project this time.  I love Irish Chain quilts.  I have made several.  They are probably pretty close to my favorite block.  I really wanted to try making a double or a triple Irish chain. I pulled the fabric for one.  But good sense got in the way of a grand plan.  

So I grabbed this busy bee fabric that the Mr made me buy a whole bolt of.  And I grabbed my favorite white solid that I buy by the bolt and I used my handy strip ruler to cut it all out.  I discovered... OK... I finally completely convinced myself that my ruler with attached cutter is finally crap and must be replaced.  So I used the strip ruler for cutting the whole thing.  Even with the nerve-wracking make the folds perfectly parallel or it with smile... and not in a good way...  it worked great.  

I know from my long experience as a bench scientist that if you use a different instrument you introduce a variable and can get a different result.  Imagine... that works in quilting too.  Use the same ruler in all directions.  Use the same thread.  Use the same sewing machine.  AND your corners actually will meet mostly.  This is the squarest neatest quilt I've managed to make.

 

I DID completely finish piecing the entire top.  It is 70 x 98.  However, there is a LOT of white space and very little time.  The quilting is really going to stand out on this one.  So I decided to wait until I have the time to do it right.  

 

Thus I present you the pillow coozie of last resort.  One of the leftover blocks with an envelope back and a machine stitched binding  

It is 14 x 14 inches.  Imagine it with a pillow form. 

And that is the end of the first season I have finished all 6 projects in a very long time.  Thank you Kim and Trish for a wonderful, motivating season.