Virtual Retreat 2016

[Judith A.]

Ritzy,
I read in a book by Diane Gaudynski that she suggests touching up thread that shows up on the other side with fabric markers. I have tried this and it works well for me.

Judy Austin

[Judith A.]

The bird's nest can come about because you have a length of thread that has no tension on the cut end - I have observed this at work where we have industrial lockstitch machines that do an automatic cut off, If for any reason we have to reload the bobbin and bring up the bobbin thread and it has a long tail as well as a long tail from the needle, there will be a bird's nest, but if we are starting with the very short length from the automatic cut off we don't get the bird's nest.

Leaders & enders are a progression on from Margo's starters & stoppers in that instead of just using a single scrap of fabric repeatedly, you actually build extra blocks for another quilt and you don't actually notice the work of doing it. By the way it is usually better to have a double layer of fabric rather than a single, because the height of the gap of the foot and teeth will have been set for the thickness of two layers of fabric, rather than one - which is probably why machines that have no trouble with dealing with jeans have trouble with organdie, I've only just realised that myself, writing this, so thank's Terrie, for asking the questions and getting my brain to start connecting different bits of information that I have bumbling about in there.

[Geneva C.]

Rosemary you are a fount of information. And you explain it so I can understand it. We are lucky to have you around. I always hold my top thread when I start to sew, even though a snippy Bernina lady told me I didn't have to. If I don't hold the tread then it almost always unthreads itself from the needle. Annoying. I think this helps the birds nest a little.

So, all our family has gone home. Though I miss them all so much it is nice to rest and ease that sore left arm and shoulder from holding the babies! (I'm not complaining, just amazed at how getting older hits you in odd places!) We were able to get a picture of 3 of the 5 grandchildren. Here is Parker 2 yrs 4 mos, Victorina 2 mos 3 weeks and Dylan 2 days old. Poor Dylan had a rough week! Being born is hard work!




I will take down the crib in my sewing room, uncover stuff and see what's going on!

Thank you to all of you for your warm and thoughtful messages. It does make the seriousness of life easier.

geneva

[Geneva C.]

What adorable babies, makes me want to squeeze and tickle them.
Judy

[wendy w.]

They are all so cute. Sorry he had a rough time

[Marianne G.]

What a lot of babies around :cheer: Hard work for the parent but so rewarding.
First 2016 finish that is a bit quilting related. Quilting cotton was used to make a Moebius scarf with pocket for phone and key for my big baby (33 hmy: ). She chose the fabric herself last time we met up for sewing retreat and I can now bring it for our next one this coming week-end.





This is the 11th scarf I've made (not all with a pocket) since I made the first one 3 years ago but it's the first I have photographed inch: - silly mooh I am. I used fat quarters for the others but this 6 pack of fat quarters turned out to be 2 fat quarters and 4 think which I thought was a bit of a stretch of the labelling :dry: but: Hey! I got a scarf made and that is the main thing. Hope she likes it despite the fabrics being cut up more then anticipated.
Marianne

[Marianne G.]

Rosemary you are a fount of information. And you explain it so I can understand it. We are lucky to have you around. I always hold my top thread when I start to sew, even though a snippy Bernina lady told me I didn't have to. If I don't hold the tread then it almost always unthreads itself from the needle. Annoying. I think this helps the birds nest a little.

geneva

Hey, I am just trying to explain it so that I can understand too :whistle: As for the needle unthreading itself, I know the cause of that problem too B) What it means is that when you stopped, the take-up leaver (that bit that goes up & down at the front, just where you could catch your fringe_(bangs?) in it, if you are leaning in waaay too close in, in concentration) was not at the top of it's run. So that when you start off again, it continues up and since there is no resistance from the needle end of the thread, it pulls it out, instead of pulling thread off the reel. Just because I know what the problem is and how to avoid it, doesn't mean that I manage to do so :dry: ; I still keep unthreading my needle loads of times, especially at home on my domestic, where it is not easy to see the position of the take-up leaver. A previous industrial I used to use had the take-up leaver at the end/around the corner and at 90 degrees to what we usually see, and it was sooo easy to check that it was at the highest point, before starting to sew again.

[Marianne G.]

Sometimes things don't work because I haven't taken things far enough apart to get all the lint out. My machine still has at least one more thingy to be removed before it will be able to be further cleaned, but for now, I have gone as far as I'm comfortable. I wish I could take a class on how to thoroughly clean my machine, but the cleaning person wouldn't get to see me as often, so he's not inclined to show me how,, Here's what I took out from under the bobbin case, then I used a liner paint brush to pull little bits out and after I tossed them, I thought it too bad I didn't put everything in a pile to see just how much junk was where I could get to it!




Yucky for sure!

[Geneva C.]

First I want to apologize to Bernina. It wasn't a snippy Bernina lady who said I didn't have to hold my thread when I start to sew. It was a snippy Meissner's lady. Meissner's is the Bernina dealer in the Sacramento CA area. There now i feel better. :unsure:

So Rosemary, I have this thread problem when beginning to sew when I use my automatic thread cutter. After I finish sewing a particular seam I want to cut the threads and I push the button and Sybil miraculously cuts the threads. But then I must hold the top thread when i begin to sew again. I guess I need to rotate the flywheel and hold the thread, huh? What a pain! I'll just continue to do what I'm doing.

Luann, lint in your sewing machine? I've never heard of such a thing. B) I once knew a lady that knew a lady who collected dryer lint and made bears out of it. I even saved some and gave it to my friend. Maybe we should collect our sewing machine lint. Maybe not. I already have so much stuff saved I don't even know where it is!

Had a lovely quiet afternoon working on a row. Fun!

Geneva

[Catherine S.]

Thanks for the reminder Luann. My machine was running noisy last night. I think it needs a good cleaning and oiling. Hope it sounds better. If not I will take it to my Bernina dealer tomorrow. My dealer is very nice and helpful so no complaints there. I will have to get out my featherweight to use while my Bernina visits Barb. Finally decided what to do for my row. I want to start on that tomorrow.

[Catherine S.]

Geneva - Awesome pictures of the grands!!
Interesting re our machines my Bernina's oil can light came on today!! Yikes there goes another $100 or so...

Barb

[Patricia B.]

Thank you. I didn't know that! Make so much sense.

[wendy w.]

Hello Beabry

[Geneva C.]

Oh Lotti! It's so beautiful! I want to go back to Switzerland!

A small piece of me will be heading to Switzerland....hint hint!

Love your hexies and your little spot to work. Have fun!

geneva

[wendy w.]

Great pics Lotti you lucky thing