A Quiet Day
First came the Thanksgiving prep, then the huge event day – and yesterday visiting with old friends over coffee. This morning I got up at six to have coffee with Dennis before he left for a trade show in Jackson. Then . . . my kind of quiet settled in.
It feels good to be on the last several steps of this king sized scrappy quilt. It feels wonderful to know that it will have a new home shortly. Quilts are meant to be used and enjoyed . . . so I can try out some new patterns and make more.
Thanksgiving day, I got a taker on the scrappy king sized quilt that has been quilted and now needed binding sewn on and then hemmed. I checked out options on the new machine and did several test runs. No televisions on, no anticipated visitors and no phone calls expected. Grammie settled in for a day of stitching. I do know that heirloom quilts are to be hand hemmed. I do know that some quilts demand high utility. I do know my hands hurt for days after hand hemming a quilt as large as this scrappy one. I do know why I decided to let the machine do the stitching.
Kevin positioned the new machine on a lower table than I had been using. After being at the machine for quite some hours, the lower table height was kind to my back and as well the stretch from the shoulders to the hands. Good call on all fronts.
The clear square box on each foot has a computer chip to correspond with the choice of stitching.
Several foo-pas taught me some good lessons on the use of the new machine. It gave me the opportunity to take a few parts under the pressure foot apart to pull out snarled thread. In times past when not paying attention to the fact that my bobbin had run out of thread, I would sew for several feet before realizing. Nope, this machine shuts down and the display screen tells the rest of the story. By the way, each foot that can be used on the machine has a computer chip that communicates and if you are way off track on the choices of feet, the display screen lets you know and not one stitch will be allowed.
I was surprised how I had whiled away the day. Lots of good
work was done and I am surprised, I do not feel weary from the full day. The Kenmore work give me a workout as I kept the machine on the straight and narrow with good seam allowances. As others, this machine has the two feed dogs that pull the project under the needle, then go down and come back up, ready for the next grab. I now have an additional tool behind the machine sewing foot that allows for yet another type of feed dog to help maintain the good seam allowance. It can be pushed up and back when not needed.
I had a great day and now it is time to get real and begin getting supper ready for Dennis when he arrives home from Jackson.