The next step is completing the applique that will be in the blocks in between the “spools”. It’s very simple raw edge applique, and just as soon as I get it cut out, I will start stitching it in place. The thing that is new to me is that the applique pieces are out of wool which seemed to be a huge trend this year. I’m still deciding if I’m going to stitch by hand (which I despise) or on the machine. Both of my machines do a very nice blanket stitch, so…

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However, on the very last day of the festival, in fact, in the very final hour before it closed, I bought myself a new toy. Now, keep in mind, I’d been shopping for this particular toy for almost 2 years, and wanting it for even longer. I all ready have a similar toy, bigger though and heavier, but my current model didn’t have a couple of features that this one did. And, when they quoted me the price with the “show special”, it was about 1/3 of what the model I had been looking at would cost me, so, a HUGE savings!

This particular model of Janome has 2 features that impressed me a lot and that my other machine does not have. The first is the automatic scissor cutter. This means, when I get to a stopping point, I can simply push the button and the machine snips the threads for me. When I’m ready to start again, it just moves right on along. This is a huge time saver when piecing quilts. The 2nd feature, something I’d never seen before, was a pressure foot adjustment. This means that I can actually change the way the presser foot is holding down the fabric as it is moving under the needle. This can be a big help when working with multiple layers of fabrics or even different types of fabrics.

The rest of the features are all pretty similar to my other machine, a Viking, although my older machine is also an embroidery machine. This new one sews so smooth and is so much quieter when it’s running. It’s also light weight so will be much easier to take to classes or to travel with.

I’ve all ready started a project, a kit I purchased at the festival in Cincinnati. This contains the smallest pieces I’ve ever worked with, some of the strips are only 1 inch wide, less now that I’ve sewn them together. This photo is of the first completed block, it’s a bit wonky, but I’m hoping it will all look right when I get done!

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I left town a week ago today and flew to Cincinnati for the International Quilt Festival!  My sister Grace picked me up at the airport, she had driven in from Eastern Kentucky and we enjoyed a night of driving around Covington and Newport, Kentucky, towns immediately across the Ohio River from Cincinnati.  In case you didn’t know, the airport is actually on the Kentucky side of the river too.  We enjoyed a great dinner on the patio of a wonderful restaurant, overlooking the river with a full view of downtown Cincinnati, and spent time getting caught up.  I love getting together with my family!

Following dinner we headed back to our hotel and tucked ourselves in for the night, getting much needed rest that would allow us to conquer the vendor booths at the quilt festival over the next 3 days!

On Friday morning, we left the hotel just after town and found our way to the convention center in downtown Cincinnati.  Can I just say, between Covington, Newport and Cincinnati, I have NEVER seen so many one way streets!  Drove us crazy!  But, we did eventually find a great parking lot that wasn’t full (surprisingly) and it was connected by a skywalk to the convention center.  We made our way in and, after buying our 3 day passes, we started to hit the vendors.  We managed to take a “Create on the Spot” class where we made fabric covered picture frames, and then it was time for lunch.  We had to go up 2 flights of escalators to the food vendors, but found some good, but expensive, food and sat down for a bit to rest our feet.  In the mean time, our mom and sister Karen had made their way from Indiana and met us just as we were finishing our meal.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping the vendors and did one more “Create on the Spot” class where we were taught how to make a paper pieced petal shaped bowl.  Of course, that project wasn’t finished in class, so it’s currently in my UFO pile.  I best not leave it there too long or I will forget how to finish it!

Anyway, we spent Saturday and Sunday doing much of the same and Sunday afternoon, I finally did it.  I found myself at the Janome booth, buying a sewing machine!  I got a really good show deal and got them to throw in a free motion quilting foot too.  I’m happy to say, my new machine arrived yesterday.  Yes, shipping it was way cheaper than paying the airline to check it, plus, since I was shipping to another state, I didn’t have to pay sales tax, so I saved all the way around!  More on the machine later.

The festival ended on Sunday, but we stayed over until Monday so we had more time to visit.  The trip was a ton of fun and we found very good restaurants all over the place.  So, when we weren’t eating at the festival, we were eating extremely well, and a moderately priced budget!  All those one way streets and all those restaurants, probably all within a 5 mile radius of each other, who knew!  I’d definitely go back there again.

I have lots of pictures, but none downloaded just yet.  I’ve been trying to get paperwork together for our new roof, damaged by hail, and all sorts of other stuff, so I hope to get to downloading very soon.  In the mean time, here is a photo of a shirt Grace embroidered for her daughter this morning, I think it’s super cute!

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I found this label on Etsy.com and it was just perfect for the quilt. Shirley, of Embroidery By Shirley did a fabulous job and I am thrilled with the final results. I will be taking the quilt tomorrow and donating it to the high school softball team, where it will be auctioned off and the funds raised donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

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She sent me these photos of the quilting she did and I think it looks fabulous, don’t you?!

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When I first got the Viking, I did a lot of embroidery and really truly enjoyed it. The problem with it developed when we moved from Illinois to Texas 5 years ago and my embroidery design software has been lost ever since. So, I can currently only embroider items that I have a design for. My computer totally crashed about a year ago so the software that was saved on it was deleted in the crash and I have no access to any of it unless by some stroke of luck, I find the cd-rom. After 5 years of looking, I’d say the probability of that is pretty low.

It would be difficult for me to say which is the >best sewing machine, there are feature of both that I really like. As I stated in my previous post, my Viking does not let me know when the bobbin has run out of thread and that is super annoying. My Singer not only told me the bobbin was empty, but also would wind the bobbin thread while the bobbin was till in the bobbin case, I never had to take it out! I REALLY liked that. My Viking has a lot more decorative stitches which I use a lot when I’m creating purses, but as far as basic sewing, they both do a great job.

Believe it or not, I have my eye on another machine which is also a Viking. It’s designed more for quilting and has a larger (longer) bed to allow for more fabric to be on the right side of the sewing needle. I also really like it because it has a scissor cutting feature that automatically cuts the threads for you when you stop sewing. It has several other features on it that come in handy when sewing larger projects like quilt tops, but, it comes at a hefty price, the reason it’s still on my wish list. Someday, I will have it, but not right now.

If the manufacturers would do something about the bobbin feature, I’d be a heck of a lot happier!

What’s your favorite machine?

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The first photo is the blocks, made from 3 different fabrics, using 3 1/2 inch strips. Pieced together with 1/4 inch seams, the end result will be strip 3 inches wide.

The second photo is 6 strip sets of 6 blocks each. These are laying on the floor so I can make sure I’ve sewn them all the correct direction before I sew the strip sets together.

And finally, the quilt top all pieced together, sans borders.

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I must admit, because I was somewhat in a creative funk, I haven’t sewn a stitch in over a year, until this week. So, I pulled my new Oliso iron out of it box and unleashed it on all the seams in the quilt top I’m putting together (more on that in a later post). This iron is AWESOME!

This iron always stays horizontal, no need for tilting it precariously on its end, hoping nobody bumps into the ironing board knocking it off. It responds to the lightest touch, as soon as I touch the handle, it retracts its little feet (technically I think it’s called auto-lift) and is ready to press even the thickest and most stubborn seams. It has all sorts of settings and makes quick work of pressing sewn seams. Trust me, I hate to iron, so for me to have positive things to say about an iron tells you just how impressed I am by this!

By the way, I was just excited by the way my iron performed and wanted to share my opinions. I have in no way whatsoever been compensated for this post.

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