Feather Frenzy

I, like a sizeable portion of quilters, have admired Angela Walter's work and thought "one day", in regards to participating in one of her Free Motion Challenges.  If you are someone who has not heard about this, Angela periodically organizes a multi-week event (approximately 8 week period) where she challenges quilters to learn and practice their quilting skills.  She produces a series of YouTube videos with a weekly "how-to" demo video and a weekly live chat check-in.  There is no cost to participate and I am grateful to her for sharing her knowledge and experience so openly.

She does produce an optional fabric and coordinating thread collection, if you want to practice on a whole cloth piece that she has designed for the purpose of the challenge.  This time, I saved up, and I got the panel, matching borders and thread collection.  This time was the "Fabulous Feathers" challenge and feathers terrified me up until now.  Think of this as a new school sampler.  It is something, when finished, that will serve both as a beautiful wall hanging and reference for quilting skills in the future.

Add in the new-to-me long arm and we had quite the challenge ahead.

It has taken me longer than I hoped, buy I'm on week 6 and doing corner feathers.  My feathers sometimes look a toddler with mittens trying to work an etch-a-sketch, but it is slowly improving.  Here's the latest portion of tonight's efforts:

So now, I sit and say, can I do better?  Do I want a Mulligan, a do-over?  Stay tuned to find out if I carry on, or embrace that many times used tool, the almighty seam ripper!  Here's a hint (thanks to the Quilting Marine): it's only fabric and it's only thread!

What about you?  Do you offer want a do-over?

Getting my quilting jam on!

 I'm very lucky to have a supportive group that helps keep me inspired to quilt.  It's not that I need a lot of inspiration, but I tend to let life and grown-up responsibilities get in the way of getting things done.   Once a month, a group of us get together via Zoom and spend a day virtually together.  We are even planning on continuing to meet even now that the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic are easing.  I love to quilt, but life can be overwhelming and when you focus on others - family, work, community - you can find less time for your own hobbies.  These group sessions are one way I know I will have hours to work on my projects.

Yesterday was one of those days and we got to have one of our fun virtual days.  We chatted about Leaders and Enders, using Bonnie Hunter's pattern as an example (and the upcoming 2022 Leaders and Enders pattern coming in July).  We got some help on free-motion quilting, including sources of inspiration such as Angela Walters's Free Motion Quilting Challenges.

I made progress on a Mystery Quilt with a clue that has driven me crazy.  3 completed, 29 more to finish off.

At one point, I searched for an old guild project to share with the group.  I rummaged through my extensive collection of UFOs and never did find it.  I did, however, realize what a collection of UFOs I have.  2022, is definitely the year of finishing 3 before I can start anything new.

How about you?  What ways do you use to have time for quilting?

Timing my Longarm

 If I had to give a recipe for how to time a longarm, I'd likely list the following:

• 1 part tools (having the right tools is key to any job)
• 2 parts determination (since you likely won't get it right on the first try)
• a dash of flexibility (you may need to be a contortionist if you try to time it while it is on the frame)
• a sprinkle of hope (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can)
• a good chunk of luck (that will determine how many times it takes you to get it right)

When I got a massive thread jam in my longarm (not sure exactly how that happened), I started with clipping out as much as I could with the access I had.  The challenge was having the needle in the down position.  I could not rotate it out of the way to open up the access hatch on top.

In a fit of desperation, and attending a study period at YouTube university, I found that I should try to drop and pull out the needle itself (which I did), then I put LOTS of oil on the case, and pull hard on the dial/fly-wheel at the back of the machine to manually get the bobbin case to turn.  IT WORKED!  But it also threw off the timing.  

I sent my machine to the local shop who did me a solid of getting it to reset and fixing the timing for me in short order.  At least, I thought that's what they did.  I soon realized the timing was still off enough to cause issues.  In the shop's defence, this could have happened on the drive home as I live 45 minutes away and there were some bumpy roads.

I was able, with the help of my best friend and her tools, to figure out how to do it myself.  If nothing else, it has given me a better understanding of how the long arm machine works and what is involved in the timing.  You could have everything aligned perfectly, but when you tighten things up, you mess it up again.  I think it took me almost a dozen tries, but now that it's done, I have so much more confidence in my machine and look forward to continuing to get to know it better. 

Thank Goodness for Bonnie Hunter!

 Have I not already mentioned that I'm a quilting magpie, someone who loves to start new projects?  So even though I have 3 unfinished Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts, of course, I decided to jump in and start this year's mystery "Rhododendron Trail".

If you've never tried one, they are an exceptional and challenging gift from an amazing quilt designer.  Bonnie is known for her scrappy quilts and every year for a number of years now, she has released a mystery quilt pattern to her followers.  Starting with US Black Friday (last Friday in November), and weekly until sometime in the new year, she releases a clue a week for the legions of fans to complete using either her recommended palette of colours or your own choices and either as scrappy or with yardage (so many choices!).

Her instructions are always clear and your piecing will definitely improve through the course of completing the clues.  While many people are completing Clue #6 at present, I'm still back on Clue #2.  It's not a race for me, but an enjoyable journey.  I am trimming flying geese tonight (and distracting myself from my longarm woe's (see my previous post).

4 of a lot of flying geese

The key is the quantities.  You may see something like, make 3" half square triangles - a relatively straightforward block for many quilters.  Now repeat 982 times (ok, slight exaggeration on my part) and you'll get a new clue in 7 days!  😟  That scares off many, but I promise you that making a lot of whatever the block is, based on Bonnie's instructions, the quality of your piecing will improve every time.  Some people elect to make half the number of blocks as most of her quilts are queen size when done.

I encourage you to check it out for yourself and I'll keep you posted on how my efforts go in the coming weeks.   You can go here to check it out:  Quiltville 2021-2022 Mystery Quilt

Happy Quilting!

A frustrating start to the new year - Welcome 2022

I hope, if you are reading this, that you have enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to your quilting adventures in 2022.

I am off to a frustrating start with my new-to-me longarm HandiQuilter Avante.  After getting a massive thread jam in December that could only be cleared by throwing off the timing, I had it in to the local shop to get the timing adjusted 

On December 23rd, I got my machine back and the needle moved up and down beautifully.  I got the machine home and realized I had company coming for the holidays and needed to house someone in my long-arm room.  (OK, technically, it was my daughter coming home from college for the holidays and looking to sleep in her own room, but let's not get caught up on semantics here).

After Christmas, I got the machine set up once again on the track, with a new needle, and oiled and threaded, it started to move like a flowy dancer and my heart was filled with joy.  Ever hear that sound of a balloon deflating slowly, that was me when I realized that not a single stitch was actually being made.  I sent an email to the store, thinking they were closed for a holiday break, but within 24 hours they called me to try to help.  They had me reseat the needle, check the needle was at 6pm position, rethread the machine, change the needle.  I finally got it to lock a stitch - hooray.

Hang up the phone, push the machine back while in regulated mode (as it had been before).....and no stitch lock.  I have tried everything I can think of and I suspect I'm back to some kind of timing issue as I can get a locked stitch going back to front, but not front to back.  The machine will stitch nicely going from back to front, but it won't stitch from front to back and side-to-side is hit and miss (mostly miss).

I've inserted a photo for any brilliant ideas you may have but my husband is looking at this thing as a very expensive and very large boat anchor and I'd love to change his opinion.  

Avante Timing Issue?

I have tried all I can think of and have reached out to an online HandiQuilter community to get some advice and will see if they can assist.

In the meantime, I have started in on "Rhododendron Trail", the 2021-2022 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt and I'm looking to the month of January to finish by "Triad Fiesta" (it's "on" Elm Street Quilts - see picture below).

A new quilting chapter - The "new-to-me" Avanté Longarm

 For many years, I have looked on with a dreamy glaze, of those people who made the leap to a longarm quilting machine.  I had almost resigned myself to not ever buying one.  When you think of the price per quilt, it really is an expensive investment with questionable payback.

But sometimes, the heart wants what the heart wants.  I had kept one eye open for a chance at a used machine and when one became available, I decided to take the plunge and buy it.  I am now the proud owner of a Handiquilter Avanté machine!

Now, where to put this monster!  My daughter is in her last year of post-secondary education, so I asked her if I could put a quilting machine in her old room.  It's still her room, but the reality is she is on the verge of a new chapter in her life that likely will have her living closer to wherever her job ends up being.  Her response to my vague description of "Any objections if I put a quilting machine in your room?  It means I have to clean your room from now on." She said yes without asking questions about this quilting machine.  That's how good a heart she has.  Still, do you think she'll be shocked when she comes home for Christmas and sees this:

My new-to-me long arm

I am fortunate to have enough friends with longarms who warned me of two things - you will need to practice as this is a whole new style of quilting, and you will have issues with tension.  It pays to have wise friends!  I got some cheap cotton fabric in a bargain bin at a local fabric shop and have it a whirl!

First attempt - Topside

The first attempt was fun and terrifying.  It was fun to see the potential, but terrifying to see how much my quilting skills were impacted.  I even did a quick pantograph pass and it was not great.  Then, I turned it over:

First Attempt - Back Side

YIKES!  Tension disaster.

So, stay tuned as this new chapter begins and let's see together where it takes me!  

PS - Did I mention that Avanté means "Forward"?  How appropriate as I begin to move forward on this journey of longarm quilting.

What did you say today's date is?

Are you like me and losing track of time through the COVID-19 pandemic?  It took me a moment to realize today is September 1st (double-check the year, yes, it's 2021!).

September starts off my favourite time of the year as we have many events this year and we've hit that sweet spot in the weather where it is warm enough to still wear shorts but cool enough to open windows at night, turn off the air conditioning, and let in some fresh air.  It also represents that time of year I like to refer to as Elf Overtime.  

I have a tendency to over-plan all the wonderful homemade gifts I will give for Christmas and traditionally I'm lucky to complete ONE.  Why would a global pandemic change that approach (she says, dripping with sarcasm)?

This year, I have 6-8 quilts that I'm eyeing to complete by Christmas.  Most are in progress UFO's and goodness knows my UFO list is long enough that finishing that many would make a dent.  Of course, September also means the launch of my local quilt guild's annual mystery quilt and the annual Bonnie Hunter mystery is just on the horizon.

September is the month where my optimism is at its highest and there will still be hope even at the end of this month.  Still, I hope you'll come along for the ride and maybe, if you are like me, we can encourage each other along the way.

One way to help myself to have an incentive is the Elm Street Monthly Challenge.

My one monthly goal for September is the completion of the Summer Swag quilt I'm working on, based on a workshop I took with the pattern's creator, Krista Moser.  Krista is returning to our guild this month as a guest speaker, so I'm feeling a little pressure to get this quilt done.

What do you look forward to now that September is here?  Any special projects you're working on?  I'd love to hear about it.