My Postcard From Sweden, or Writing From Whitehead currently has the first four rows pieced.
Today is the link up with Sandra for completed piecing, but I had been hoping for a flimsy finish, really I had.
I had discovered it isn't a good idea to make my triangles two at a time from the squares. Really, only a few are duplicated throughout the design. So, I unpicked the ones that aren't, and started cutting out triangles.
So .... Rows A and B were pieced. Nothing really to see here.
Rows C through to I were cut in triangles and pinned and labelled.
Rows I through to O were waiting, leaping up and down in anticipation.
I have no pins left! I have used all my available pins in either grouping together the squares under the colour or pinning the triangles together. Note to self, when buying the wadding also buy more clover clips and pins.
Our progress was slow but steady. Then I needed a note for the teacher about my homework. My Pfaff stopped. Just like that. You know that song My Grandfather's Clock? My grandfather clock stopped, dead, never to strike again, but thankfully nobody had died. With my limited technical experience, I could see that the feed dogs were the problem. They had been sluggish, I had to give the fabric a bit of a shove or a pull to get going, otherwise there was a lot of revving going on. But all of a sudden last week the feed dogs just .... well... stopped feeding. ~A quick check , I dropped them, raised them, dropped them again, but nothing happened. There was nothing else for it, I had to bite the bullet and leave my machine in for a service.
On Saturday morning, I got the phone call. My machine was ready for collection. Cecil is the technical person, and his wife phoned. She said Cecil wanted to have a word with me. He had a little collection of "stuff" he had gathered out of my machine. He had kept it in a clear plastic bag to show me. Cecil also had to replace the feed dogs completely. They were completely worn down through heavy use. Oooops. Heavy use and lack of maintenance. Cecil had never seen this before. Luckily when I called to the repair shop, Cecil was busy.
Cecil's wife suggested I might be able to identify some of the fluff ... er yes, I can . I see blue and green there from the #Behemoth, Coulter Wedding Quilt mark 1. The cotton bud is Cecil's own, not mine.
Hats off to Cecil. It is like having a new machine except it is my machine back that I know and love. Like turning the clock back two or three years. I hereby promise I will get my Pfaff serviced every year from now on.
I wizzed through sewing together rows C and D and attaching them to rows A and B. I can also see a discernible difference in the evenness and tension between A and B and C and D.
I have rows E to G sewed and ironed. I just need to trim them, then stitch them together. That just leaves H and I. Practically there! I just know I am going to love this quilt. I just know everybody is going to love this quilt, my Writing From Whitehead.
Helen x
Linking up with Sandra, mmmquilts
linking up with Beth, cookingupquilts.com
Today is the link up with Sandra for completed piecing, but I had been hoping for a flimsy finish, really I had.
I had discovered it isn't a good idea to make my triangles two at a time from the squares. Really, only a few are duplicated throughout the design. So, I unpicked the ones that aren't, and started cutting out triangles.
So .... Rows A and B were pieced. Nothing really to see here.
Rows C through to I were cut in triangles and pinned and labelled.
Rows I through to O were waiting, leaping up and down in anticipation.
I have no pins left! I have used all my available pins in either grouping together the squares under the colour or pinning the triangles together. Note to self, when buying the wadding also buy more clover clips and pins.
Our progress was slow but steady. Then I needed a note for the teacher about my homework. My Pfaff stopped. Just like that. You know that song My Grandfather's Clock? My grandfather clock stopped, dead, never to strike again, but thankfully nobody had died. With my limited technical experience, I could see that the feed dogs were the problem. They had been sluggish, I had to give the fabric a bit of a shove or a pull to get going, otherwise there was a lot of revving going on. But all of a sudden last week the feed dogs just .... well... stopped feeding. ~A quick check , I dropped them, raised them, dropped them again, but nothing happened. There was nothing else for it, I had to bite the bullet and leave my machine in for a service.
On Saturday morning, I got the phone call. My machine was ready for collection. Cecil is the technical person, and his wife phoned. She said Cecil wanted to have a word with me. He had a little collection of "stuff" he had gathered out of my machine. He had kept it in a clear plastic bag to show me. Cecil also had to replace the feed dogs completely. They were completely worn down through heavy use. Oooops. Heavy use and lack of maintenance. Cecil had never seen this before. Luckily when I called to the repair shop, Cecil was busy.
Hats off to Cecil. It is like having a new machine except it is my machine back that I know and love. Like turning the clock back two or three years. I hereby promise I will get my Pfaff serviced every year from now on.
I wizzed through sewing together rows C and D and attaching them to rows A and B. I can also see a discernible difference in the evenness and tension between A and B and C and D.
I have rows E to G sewed and ironed. I just need to trim them, then stitch them together. That just leaves H and I. Practically there! I just know I am going to love this quilt. I just know everybody is going to love this quilt, my Writing From Whitehead.
Helen x
Linking up with Sandra, mmmquilts
linking up with Beth, cookingupquilts.com
We are in about the same place with this quilt along Helen. I love this quilt as well...and have no idea when I will be able to finish it...but oh well.
ReplyDeleteLet me just say, you always come up with the best names for your quilts. And wowzers!! That makes me almost terrified to have my machine serviced. What could they possibly find inside mine?? As long as it isn't a small kitten or something, I guess large fuzz bunnies wouldn't be too bad.
ReplyDeleteThe quilt is looking great, and wow, it was no wonder your machine gave a pause and asked for a bit of attention. I'm glad it's fixed and working well again!
ReplyDeleteYour report on your dusty machine gave me a shock so I have my cleaned immediately.
ReplyDeleteOh, Helen! The linty disgrace! I'm glad to hear Cecil was able to resuscitate your Pfaff, because, really, that much lint would sink a battleship. You're going to have to avoid making eye contact with the poor repairman for a few weeks, I think. But look at you go now on Postcards! It's like having a brand new machine, isn't it? :)
ReplyDeleteGlad your Pfaff is back and working great after a spa treatment.
ReplyDeleteYour colors just sparkle! Glad they were able to correct the problem. I've learned to clean out my feed dogs every time I wind a set of bobbins. It's made a big difference.
ReplyDeleteI, too, had an experience of finding lots of lint in my sewing machine. Oops. I hope the rest of your piecing goes well.
ReplyDeleteI clean my Bernina and my Featherweight religiously after every second full bobbin. Give them some oil too, the Featherweight needs a lot more in a ton more places, but you can hear the difference. It's amazing how much fluff builds up! I bet your Pfaff feels like she's lost weight, all light and airy! PfS is looking great! It's more work in the organization, trimming and attention to detail than the actual stitching though isn't it? Worth every bit of effort though right? I'm just finishing rows G/H, doing them in sets of 4 so I can spin seams. G1/2 get sewn to H1/2 etc.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how old your dear Pfaff is, but mine is ancient. I've become fearful something will happen to the old girl, and am very careful. The oldest computerized models do things like have battery corrosion so I've removed mine. It doesn't hold memory anymore, but I straight stitch mainly. Also, Pfaff's are self oiling in all but the bobbin case so don't fret for that. Just clean and oil below and if she sit's long, cover her up. I don't think there is a better machine for accurate piecing I've come across.
ReplyDeleteOff my platform/soapbox.
Glad yours is back.
very nice..
ReplyDelete