A Star Is Born

I've started working on yet another new quilt, and no, I haven't finished the last few quilts I've written about. Things change in one's life, so now that I have less access to being able to easily use my sewing machine, I've decided to start hand piecing a quilt. I made a sample block which I'm calling Imperial Star. I was inspired by an African American star quilt, called Royal Star, and I tweaked it quite a bit, so now it's all my own. Yay! I invented a new block! I designed the quilt using the EQ5 software, and I couldn't have done without it.
This is a photo of a sample block I stitched together, just to see how challenging the block would be to piece. I would rate it very challenging, but I'm satisfied with the result. These are not the colors I will be using for the finished quilt, which will be much brighter. I showed it to one friend who told me I was crazy, and I cannot disagree. I told the lady in the quilt shop that I would bring it in in four years when I finish it. We shall see!

Pressing Matters

I usually try to press my quilt from the front, using a dry iron. This helps to eliminate the little creases you sometimes get along the seamline. "Setting the seam", or pressing the seam as it has been stitched, before opening the piece out helps to maintain the integrity of the shape. Many times a seam can become stretched out while sewing. Pressing from the front also has the advantage of seeing exactly how the piece looks. I always pull out any little threads which have made their way out from the seamline. If you do this every time you press you will end up with a quilt which is free of those little annoyances. You will save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you take this very small step.
When a quilt top is completed I will generally go over it with the iron one more time and use a bit of steam if I need to, to smooth out any creases or coax the quilt into a more squared off shape if needed.
We generally think of quilting as sewing, and often don't think too much about the art of pressing correctly, which is every bit as important for a successful quilt.
Besides, now that I'm living in a household with others, I realize that pressing is quieter than digging out the sewing machine. I have to plan my time much more carefully these days. No more waking up and running to the machine first thing in the morning!

The New Presser Foot

I recently mentioned that I had bought an after market quarter inch foot for my sewing machine. I have used it recently and of course it's not the same quality as the Bernina foot. I noticed that if I want the needle to be centered in the middle of the foot that I will have to adjust my needle position. I haven't done a real test for accuracy, but for right now this will suffice. I'm not currently working on a project which requires total accuracy in the seam allowances.I will probably break down at some point, if I don't manage to locate the original presser foot (not too likely) and buy a new one from Bernina. I've been informed that they are now combining some of their feet, such as the 57 and the 37. The 37 is the one I like, a simple 1/4" presser foot. The 57, on the other hand, has an extra guide, or "rail", which I do not care for, and neither do many of the quilters I know. I feel that this is a case of a company not listening to their customers, which I think does not make good business sense. These customers are paying a lot of money to buy a high end product, and they should not feel as if their needs are being ignored.
There, I've said my piece.

A Loss

After my recent move to a temporary abode, and the necessity of having to put most of my belongings into storage I decided that it was time to make a new quilt for myself. I would not have done this if I had a suitable one for the bed in which I'm now sleeping, but I needed a new twin sized quilt. Sigh! Anyway, I decided that I will not have permanent ownership of the quilt, and that it will be passed along to someone else at some point, so I let the inner child pick out the cheerful fabrics. Imagine my chagrin when I finally had the sewing machine set up once more (after about a month or so) and I couldn't locate the quarter inch presser foot. Shock, anger, denial! It's my favorite foot! I had tried so hard to organize all my sewing things when I was packing them up, but this was the one thing I failed to account for. After looking and looking, and finally starting the quilt using another foot I found one online for a pretty good price. I received it in the mail yesterday, and of course it's what is known as an after market brand, but with any luck it will work for me. I've yet to try it out, as I'm at the pressing stage, but I will let you know. That's one thing about owning an expensive machine. The parts are expensive too.
Oh yes, I "adopted" my machine five years ago on July 3rd. I hope it's been as happy with me as I have with it.

New Things

As I mentioned, I have recently moved. I didn't have to go too far from my old place, so the neighborhood is still familiar. I'm living with relatives for the time being and of course there are always challenges with that! I've put many of my belongings into storage, except, of course for the Bernina. More on that later.
But one of the things I really love is being able to hear a mockingbird singing in the mornings, something I've been missing for many years. He's quite a cheerful little fellow, and I can often see him on a lamp post, or flying through the yard. If you're not familiar with mockingbirds they are a species which will sing a series of changing songs seemingly endlessly. The males do this to attract a mate, and will often sing late at night, although perhaps the lady mockingbirds don't appreciate this so much. They are a medium-sized grey bird, and when they fly by you can see a white stripe on their wings. They can be quite fierce too, and I have often seen them defending their nests against much larger crows.
We all have daily challenges in our lives, and seeing and hearing even a tiny bit of beauty can only help lighten our load, if only a little.

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!

I know I haven't posted in months. As John Lennon famously said in one of his songs, "Life is what happens when you're making other plans." I stopped writing during the illness of a family member, during which time I also received notice that I would have to be moving from the place I have lived for nearly eight years. And a bunch of other stuff. Anyway, Happy Fourth of July to anyone reading this the first Monday of July. It's always been one of my very favorite holidays, and this one will be a scorcher!
Oh yes, the person who was ill is doing just fine now, so that's good, and there has also been a wedding in the family. Said wedding resulted in the bride becoming the owner of a Bernina as a gift from her groom. I couldn't be happier for her.
Anyway this was just a short  post to stay in touch, and for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, have a wonderful summer. To those of you down in the southern regions, try to stay warm!

Quilters' little bit of the blues

I'm not talking about the color blue. When I was younger, in my teens I was privileged to see many rock and roll shows, at Winterland in San Francisco, as well as other venues.  There were  always musicians on the bill besides the headline acts, and sometimes they would be well-known blues artists. When I was fifteen or so, I didn't get their music at all, and I just thought it was too sad. As I matured in life I realized more and more how much these songs and tunes meant, and spoke to me directly. I saw the great blues guitarist Albert King as a youth, but didn't "get" him. Now I think I understand what he and others were saying.
 I realize that there are many messages in old quilts, if we choose to see them and try to understand them.Beginning quilters might not be able to see those messages, but they're there if we take the time to study and learn from them.