Tin lizzie not working properly

I'm still trying to get my new machine to work at full capacity.  With  this type of trouble it takes me longer to complete my quilts.  Hopefully this will prove it isn't user error but machine error.  I hope new cables will do the trick and have faith that the company Sewingmachine.com will send them to me. I was supposed to have been given a brand new frame but I'm pretty sure I got a used one.  I'd love it if they would replace the carriage.  Even the wood on the side of the frame is splitting in places.  Very frustrating to spend $6000 on the machine and parts and it not work as well as it should.

Halloween Quilt Finished

I finally got my TinLizzie18dls working. The parts I've been given to be replaced or added are on. Now I am just waiting for new encoders and a new flexible lamp. The light was blowing my fuses and I noticed that it had burn marks on my machine. Kind of scary but it is now unplugged and I'm using a small lamp on a clamp on the machine.

I put my Halloween quilt on an just had a wonderful time freehand custom quilting it with Ghosts, Pumpkins, Spiders and webs, Tombstones, and Monsters along with loops. I finished the edges with Halloween Fabric Ribbon which was something new for me to try.

Halloween, a set on Flickr.

First Tester Quilting

First Tester Quilting, a set on Flickr.

Here is the back of a thrift store table cloth that i quilted to test out my new Tin Lizzie 18DS. I used Linda Taylor's Thread by Yli in Orange. Its the thread I will be using for my Halloween Quilt. I wanted something that would show up well for me to check the stitches. Not bad for a first quilt on my new working machine.

Sewing room empty

Just a quick photo to share the state of my sewing room.  Everything has been removed until I get my new Longarm put together and frame built.

Happy Happy Day!!!!

I went to the Georgia quilt show as you know and I won a sewing machine.  I also went back the very next day.  I have wanted to blog and share about it but for me it seemed like a dream and I was waiting for today to share.

The very last day I was at the show I was pretty tired from all the walking around and carrying bags of wonderful goodies that I bought.  Since I'm new to quilting the only magazines I have are the ones the wonderful ladies in my Chattanooga Quilt Guild had given me.  The really gave me a nice collection and I have been reading them from cover to cover.  The publisher was there offering a great deal on magazine.  3 magazines for 2 years for $75.  Now I would have loved to get every magazine at the booth.  All the magazines have something nice about them but I just couldn't afford that many.  Of the ones there, there were 4 that I really liked but I couldn't spend $100 on magazines.  The guy working at the booth graciously gave me 4 for the same price.  The magazines that I will be getting for the next two years are: Fons and Porter Love of Quilting, McCalls Quilting, Quiltmaker, & last but never least Quilters Newsletter.  Since I was tired I decided to sit down for one of the Stage Presentations. It was called:  Machine Quilting; The Long and Short of It by Karen Pharr of Juki.  She did a really great job and I enjoyed it.  I was glad that I had sat down.  Afterward she invited us to the Juki booth.  I walked over but it was very busy.  Accross the hall www.SewingMachine.com was there with a booth.  They were next to Juki because they were a dealer for them.  I started talking to Mel from the store and as I was dreamily saying how someday I would love to own a longarm, he was quick to tell me that he a floor model back at his store for sale.  It is a TinLizzie 18 but not the Ram.  It has pantographs and laser light, stitch regulations and their special stitch that lets it lock so you can do a horizontal or vertical line. Since he is a dealer for all of Juki's products he was told he can't sell a competing one anymore since they now have long arms too.  The offer was for less than $5000 with 36 month 0 interest payments.  I called my husband all excited but still knowing he would say no.  I was ready for a no.  Then he super surprised me and said YES!!!

I've been spending the week clearing out my sewing room.  Having my Mom who is a wonder with woodworking to build me a cutting table with drop down sides so I would free up a lot of space. I also have a good friend in my quilt guild who also owns a TinLizzie and I spent a day at her house learning all about my new machine.  Thank you Deb!!!!! In between all that I have had a day quilting with a Quilts of Valor Group (if your interested in learning about QOV www.qovf.org is their website.  I also went to the monthly meeting with my Chattanooga Art Quilt Guild: Grateful Threads http://greatfulthreads.blogspot.com/  This is why I really haven't had a free moment to update as well.

Today is the day I get to go get the Tin Lizzie.  The store is in Atlanta, Georgia so its about an hour and a half drive from my house.  I am so excited I can barely contain myself.

Georgia Quilt Show

I went to my first ever quilt show this week.  It was at the Cobb County Covention center just outside Atlanta, GA.  When I bought my ticket the first day they gave me a card to hand out for the prize drawing they have at 5:15pm. You then go through the doors to the show and your just blown away by all the vendor booths.  My hubby gave me a $150 spending limit but once you start looking at all the fantastic tools, notions, fabric and patterns you realize that really isnt that much.  Then in the back you walk around and see all the quilts.  They were georgeous.  You really feel inadequte as a quilter when you see the wealth of talent there but at the same time you have all this inspiration teliing you to try all the cool techniques.  

Id love to share photos but Im not sure that Im allowed to post quilt photos.  I did get permission to take pictures at some of the booths. This is a photo of longarm quilter Dusty Farrell www.cscountrystitchin.com. I bought one of his books and one of his dvds.  One of the great things was having a chance to talk to him.  He is down to earth and caring.  Quick to offer his knowledge and help.  He had 2 quilts in the show that were just awesome. 

Then I got a chance to meet Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilts.  She was so sweet and outgoing.  She did a demonstration and gave a speech that just had you smiling and laughing along with her wonderful sense of humor.

By the end of the day we were tired but you needed to be there when they did the prize drawings.  The Grand Prize from the first day was a Pfaff hobby sewing machine.  The announcer spun this big wheel and pulled out a card.  He started saying the name of the winner when to my surprise and good fortune it was my name he was calling.  Hede I am picking up my new sewing machine.  Am I lucky or what?  (Last month I won a quilting retreat)

Yay me!   :)

Trip Around The World

I recently quilted a Trip Around the World quilt for Stacy at Pins & Needles Quilt store in Hixson ,Tn.  She did a beautiful job on the quilt and she used the pattern out of Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day Quick Trip Quilts book.  The beauty of the quilt inspired me to pick a copy of the book up at Stacy's shop.  You also can get the book from her at www.pinsandneedlesquiltshop.com or visit her store at 6425 Hixson Pike, Suite 1, Chattanooga, TN. 37343 423-668-8734

Stacy has a real eye for color and I fell in love with the fabric in shades of tan, brown, & turqoise.  Since the piecing needed to be the focus of the quilt I choose to stitch in the ditch with YLI smoke monofiliment thread.  The quilt is a King size one so it gave me plenty of time and practice doing free motion stitch in the ditch.  I had a huge difference from my beginning blocks to the ones that were near the end.  I feel confident now in my dirch stitching.

One of the things I found most challenging after keeping my stitching straight was going over the seams. Sometimes if the seams were bulky and I went over them too quickly my thread would break.  What helped was to slow down at the intersections and push down a little more tightly to keep the fabric and needle from jumping up over those seams.

Once at her shop we laid it down on the floor in hopes of being able to take a full size photo.  After the photo was taken the quilt got hung up on the wall.

Book and Fabric Giveaway featured on Sue Bleiweiss blog

http://suebleiweiss.com/blog/2013/09/11/dvd-fabric-and-book-giveaway

Here is the link if anyone is interested.  I've joined the http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com and each month there is a theme and we are to work out of whatever medium we wish and share our sketchbooks with others in the hop. This month's theme is houses.  One of the people participating is Sue Bleiweiss.  She has a book and workshop DVD called “Coloring Book Fabric Collage” .  On the  cover is a fabric collage of houses.  Just perfect for this months theme.

You can also watch a preview of her DVD from her blog.  I truly enjoyed watching it and it looks like something fun to try.

greatful threads quilt guild

greatful threads quilt guild, a set on Flickr.

Saturday, September 7th, the art quilt guild Greatful Threads that I belong to had a one day workshop on dyeing fabric.

We learned Wax Resist, Shaving Cream, Fabric Bleaching, Drawing and Painting a "Pleasing" Face on Fabric, and Fabric Dyeing with different techniques for effects such as marbles, rubber bands, and clothes pins.

I had a blast and learned a ton of things.