Laura Nownes

[wendy w.]

I'm interested in knowing more about Marianne's "travel machine". Could that help Flat Rita getting somewhere faster? I've heard of travel machines, but thought they were only science fiction. Now I know a quilter who has one? How many others of you have travel machines? Neat . Where can I get one. I'd like to go to see the Olympics in London right about now.

[Rita C.]

It looks like you need a 1/4" foot to use Marianne's travel machine Terri. Sadly my size eights are much too big so I don't think I will be time-travelling that way! :lol:

[Marianne G.]

I'm interested in knowing more about Marianne's "travel machine". Could that help Flat Rita getting somewhere faster? I've heard of travel machines, but thought they were only science fiction. Now I know a quilter who has one? How many others of you have travel machines? Neat . Where can I get one. I'd like to go to see the Olympics in London right about now.

Hi Crocus,
This travel machine only travels back in time and these days only travels infrequently! As for going to the Olympics - you must be joking - when it can whirr to its heart's content, well oiled, threaded with quality thread, in prime position on the table here at home (without having had to go in the car first, lugged around from a car park to a class sometimes even in the rain) looking at the embroidery machine covered up, sitting idle in the corner. No travelling for this old Lady, she is having an Olympia all of her own right here where she usually is resting on her laurels. Her travel companion is enjoying the whirr and reflecting on the many good times they have had together and how few times they have been seperated over the years due to "illness"; how many baby clothes, doll's clothes, children's clothes, curtains etc. they have produced together over the years. Other machines have come and gone over the years but she has stayed.
We hope Flat Rita finds her travel machine but it will never be comparable to this one. Marianne's travel machine is unique :lol:

[Rita C.]

Well Marianne, I do have a Featherweight, but I am probably more of a Middleweight right now. :lol:

[Nancy R.]

So I've thought about it a bit and played a little in EQ7 and this is what I'm thinking of doing for the center of the sampler quilt:

This is just a mock-up, but I'm thinking all of the 6" blocks will be blacks and reds, although the positions of the colors in the blocks will change from block to block. I'm thinking a narrow red inner border (or possibly piping, but I think it'll need to be a wee bit wider than that) and then a black outer border. From the start I was planning on a scalloped edge since I've never done that before, and that's still my plan. Then I'm thinking a black binding with red piping. Finally, I'm seeing red quilting on the plain black outer border. I'm guessing the inside of the quilt will follow my current plan, but the border ideas could change with time.

I'll try to get one or two blocks done tonight to see how I like it.

Nancy

[wendy w.]

:shock: Nancy you made me choke I have coffee up my nose now.

[Lois B.]

:shock: Nancy you made me choke I have coffee up my nose now.

Me too! I just want to bone up on my sewing skills. I need to save working on computer design skills for another day. I just can't let myself go off on that tangent right now. Someday, Nancy, I may call on you to lead me through that maze but not today!

Incidently, Nancy, I do love what you did! It looks great.

[E.M. T.]

Holey Moley ! :shock: :shock:

[Nancy R.]

:shock: Nancy you made me choke I have coffee up my nose now.

I apologize!! :twisted:

[Nancy R.]

:shock: Nancy you made me choke I have coffee up my nose now.

Me too! I just want to bone up on my sewing skills. I need to save working on computer design skills for another day. I just can't let myself go off on that tangent right now. Someday, Nancy, I may call on you to lead me through that maze but not today!

Incidently, Nancy, I do love what you did! It looks great.

Lois - Doing this in EQ7 is very easy! Of course, it takes a bit longer to actually make the quilt...... But simple designs like this are easy. I'd be happy to help you with this some day.

Nancy

[Nancy R.]

Renata, I'm with you, in that I like to have things all planned out before cutting fabric, because I too hate to waste it. That said after cutting a whole load of squares for my Sottt's quilt, and then deciding that it was the wrong shade, I found it really fun to have a load of pre cut pieces to just 'play' with, and turned a number of them into pot holders just for fun.

As far as I am concerned, this is a sampler for practising techniques on, not a best'ist quilt for showing off fancy design & technical wizardy (although it would be nice if it turned out that way :wink: ) You know how it is always said that we need to 'practise, practise, practise' to get better - well this sampler is part of the first practise, rather than the last practise.

[Nancy R.]

:shock: Nancy you made me choke I have coffee up my nose now.

Me too! I just want to bone up on my sewing skills. I need to save working on computer design skills for another day. I just can't let myself go off on that tangent right now. Someday, Nancy, I may call on you to lead me through that maze but not today!

Incidently, Nancy, I do love what you did! It looks great.

This is not the first time that computers have been deluged with coffee - perhaps we ought to make it a rule 'Don't drink whilst reading posts on the Forum!' :wink:

By the way Nancy, love the look of your design layout.

[Lois B.]

:shock: Nancy you made me choke I have coffee up my nose now.

I apologize!! :twisted:

You make me giggle. I was laughing out loud for real! I appreciate the offer of help. I have considered/explored getting that software for my Mac. It is possible, but I am not sure I want to do it. However, should I decide to go off on a tangent in that direction you can be sure I'll be asking you for help.

[Rita C.]

:shock: Nancy you made me choke I have coffee up my nose now.

And Wendy that made me burst out laughing! Nancy love the design and I look forward to seeing how it goes. As for me, I am sticking with the basic, simple blocks for now. I have pulled out a pile of FQs that I won't miss. As usual I am being a bit slapdash about my fabric choices. If something doesn't work I will change it an the cat will have another quilted delight to sleep on.

[Lois B.]

It's me again. I cut my strips and made my blocks and this is what I learned about my technique. I thought I had the accurate 1/4" seam down pat. When I measured my blocks they were 6 5/8" square. :shock: ops: I am guessing that the difference is that since I am using the starched fabric (didn't do that before) I am getting much flatter seams and hence the increased size of the block. I am not going to redo them. Not exactly, anyway. I want to try out the second background color and see where that leads me. And I will not use my scant 1/4'' seam which is what worked in the past but it's not working now. I will use both set of blocks for something. Being afraid of wasting fabric has gotten in the way for me to try new things. My new attitude is that fabric sitting on my shelves is being wasted and at the very least I must use it to learn something. The odd sized blocks will go into a quilt. It just won't be absolutely perfect, but when I wash that starch out of it, it will be very soft and cuddly.