The Prizes Are To Die For!

I had to give it try for the Moda Sliced competition! I can't believe the prizes! I didn't find out about this competition until late in the month. This is what I came up with. A cute little message board. 

There are some cute ideas on the Moda Sliced Flicker account. Check it out here.  http://www.flickr.com/groups/slicedcontest

My favorite is the clocks a lady made.

The grand prize is the Janome Horizon! My dream machine!!! Plus lots of other goodies. I guess we will find out soon who made the cuts!

New Machine!!!!!!! :D

I am so excited I got a NEW sewing machine yesterday!! I chose the Janome 1600P-QC. It was between that and the Janome MC6300. The 1600 is only a straight stitcher where as the 6300 has quite a few extra stitches. There were several reasons why  I chose the 1600. First, it was cheaper. $800 vs. $1000. Second, I really didn't NEED all the extras. My vintage singer still works(btw,got it serviced) and probably has just as many extra stitches. It just didn't really like to FMQ. Third, I tried them both out at the dealer. I just kept going back to the 1600. The stitches were amazing, and it just sounded amazing...like it would last forever.

My head kept telling me to get the 6300. It had waaaaay more accessories and stitches. But my heart& gut was saying, no, get the 1600. So I went home,mulled it over, and made my decision. 

I went back the next day and got it! To my delight the threw in a walking foot,$60, a 1/4 in foot,$15, a FMQ foot,$35,oil,& needles. Plus he gave me $30 off and extension table, $35 off servicing my old machine, oh, and extra bobbins.

This machine went for $1000 on sale but I got mine for $800 because it was used(gently). The lady who had it before, decided she wanted bells and whistles. Her loss,my gain,because I'm telling you, this machine stitches like a dream.

Of course, it took me 2 evenings to get to know this machine. I got it home last night, set it up and got going. I was disappointed when I discovered the stitches weren't as beautiful as in the shop. I tried everything. Every tension setting, all kinds of thread, changing the needles, re-threading it, straight stitching, FMQing.Then, on another attempt to re-thread, a light bulb went off. Are you ready for this???

I forgot to thread in the built in thread stand!! Silly, silly me. It went back to stitching beautifully. I don't think I will ever miss this threading step again!! YAY, me! I got a new machine!!!! Now maybe I can get some finished projects instead of fiddling with my machine!!

On The Hunt For A New Machine

There are 2sewing machines I am seriously considering to purchase. The Price is right for my budget. The Janome 1600P-QC and the JanomeMC6300.The 1600 ONLY straight stitches. But, it has industrial strength.And its on sale. I am pretty sure it was made with the FMQer in mind. The 6300 has a few lot more bells and whistles, but it also costs more( at my dealer, anyway). The only other stitch I would really use is the zig-zag,and my old machine can do that. Does anyone have either of these machines? What are your thoughts? This is a big decision for me. I am going to Owensboro tomorrow to check them out!

Modern Mini Quilt Challenge

Got my mini pieced today. I'm pretty excited about this challenge. As an added bonus, my machine started to cooperate on FMQ! I'm going to bed....happy!:)

Feathers

 

Here it is, and all it's problems. Doesn't look to bad. Could be better, if my FREAKIN MACHINE WOULD COOPERATE!

I had the skipping stitches and thread breaks again! Leah tried to diagnose my problem today. It came down to more than likely the timing is off. I have to agree. I have been thinking this was the issue, just hoping not. This will put me out of commission. I do have a cheapie yard sale find machine I bought for my daughter. I just don't have a FMQ foot for it. If you all would be so kind as to look at the photos below and tell me what you think.

this is 100% cotton gutermann thread. The stitch started to skip. I pulled it out a bit to see what was going on. It looks tangled to me???

Next, I rethreaded and tried again. I think I got about and inch and look

Next, I switched to Isacord. things went a little better. It didn't mess up until I got to the end. Here's a pic of that.

The stitch kinda grabbed tight from the bottom. There wasn't a nest or anything. But it appears the thread has wrapped around the top. I was hoping by posting some pics, somebody could see what was going on.

FMQ Homework Done!

I had a new problem this week. Thread shredding:( I am getting so frustrated.I have been having this problem all week on my Hello Kitty Quilt I am working on. Funny thing is, it only shred on the straight lines, not at all on the stippling. I seriously think that my machine needs serviced.( I had a lot of skipped stitches too this week.)After all, It's only been 20 years. But hubby is laid off and money is tight, so I'm just gonna have to deal a few more weeks until the tax check comes in. You can see 2 places on the front where the thread broke. I didnt worry about burying the threads. Leah said to leave our mistakes, right? In the 2 photos below the first one is the back side. If you look closely you can see a few more places where the thread started to shred, but worked itself out before it broke.

Over all I think I'm doing pretty good. I literally did this micro stippling with my fingertips. I was just gliding along! My straight lines are getting better. I have been FMQing the straight lines on the Hello Kitty quilt. I'm not sure how much time I'm saving since the thread keeps breaking, but I'm getting LOTS of practice with it.

Even though I had many....messed up areas, I went ahead and put binding on this time. When I look at everyone elses examples, I feel like I have been turning in unfinished homework! haha

Here is my question for Leah: Why do you think the thread was shredding on the straight lines and not the stippling? Stitch for stitch, I'm sure I did a lot more stippling than straight lines.

Heads Up

Bali Pop Give Away...

Linda is having a Bali Pop give away - beautiful cherry tones.  Click over to her blog to check it out!

http://lindasquiltmania.blogspot.com/2012/01/bali-pop-give-away.html

Directions:  Leave a comment on Linda's blog and on February 3rd she will generate a random number from all comments. The winner will receive this Bali Pop! If you want a second chance, blog about the giveaway linking back to her.