Slippin' and a Slidin'

Remember when I showed my Supreme Slider all taped up? Word to the wise; be very careful if you stitch right up to the edge when using something really stiff like Peltex. If it catches the edge of the Slider, it will tear it.

 I finally ordered a new Queen Size Supreme Slider and put it on my machine. I think I've had the old one for around 3 years and maybe they've changed the product slightly since then, but I was really glad I had replaced it.

 It seemed more supple and stuck so much better to the machine and table top! I didn't even use tape. Also I had seen that the custom-cut slider at the sewing machine shop on their Janome 8900 had a hole cut for the bobbin case. Up until this point, I had never even thought to cut a hole. I didn't do the greatest job of it, but I love having better access and sight into my bobbin case when free motion quilting.

Another thing I did that involved sliding this week was to take advantage of the felt pads under the legs of my sewing table and to move it where the ceiling light wasn't blocked by me when quilting. Not only did I get better lighting, but it made a visible block to keep the kids from going to the right when they come down the stairs when I am quilting, which puts them close enough to bump me in mid-stitch. Now when I am quilting and slide the table this way, they go through the door on the left. I do slide the table back when I don't need the extra light.

I'm belatedly linking this with Leah Day's Free Motion Friday. Leah's reminding us to check out Craftsy's sale too. Craftsy Class Sale up to 66% off from 11/29-12/2!

Craftsy Sale

I wrote about Craftsy last week in this post, "What is Craftsy?" and have since then delved into the wealth of online classes offered.

I started off with  Free Classes at Craftsy . First I watched Sewing Machine 911 and then Machine Embroidered Classics. I wanted to see if these would be good classes to refer customers to when I'm working at the local Janome dealer. (Did I mention I'm working one day a week there?) I also wanted to fill in any gaps in my own sewing knowledge and learn more about machine embroidery. These free mini classes certainly did that.

But the class I'm most excited about is Kimmy Brunner's Machine Quilting with Templates. I haven't gotten very far into the class with all the Thanksgiving busy-ness, but I really like it so far. She speaks very conversationally, not with a stilted script and throws in some humor too. And since she's recorded, it's more polished than a live class (or at least that's my assumption, not having taken a live class with Kimmy). I'm learning more about using templates/rulers for quilting. And you know how crazy I am about using rulers to free motion quilt on my stationary sewing machine.

My next class I want to take is the Online Beginning Serging class, as they sell sergers in the shop and I have never used one! Then I want to take some more quilting classes. Fun!


Craftsy has all types of classes. I am thinking of taking one of their photography classes too.

Right now, they are having a sale on all classes until December 2nd! All classes are $19.99 or less!And they are having other sales on fabric and yarn.

It's a great time to sign up for classes at Craftsy. Don't forget that once you sign up for a class, you can watch it instantly or if you're busy now, wait until any time in the future to watch it. And you can view the class as many times as you want!

Thankful Thanksgiving

Just a quick post to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope your day is full of food, friendship, and gratitude for a multitude of blessings. I have much to be thankful for, but I just want to say here how thankful I am for the people and fun that have come into my life through this blog. For that I say to you, thanks!

What to Quilt? Auditioning Quilting Designs

I'm working (still!) on a customer quilt and needed to figure out a design for the setting triangles. Out comes the handy dandy plexiglad sheet and a dry erase marker.

I had to figure something out that wouldn't require me to quilt it too densely, but would still look great. Feathers tend to fit that bill nicely. It's a bot of an odd shape, but the echo around the black helped.

Above, the design itself, off the quilt. Below, it's all quilted and worked great. You can use plexiglas, clear vinyl or even a page protector or laminating sheet to figure out designs. Just make sure to devote one particular side for the drawing so marks don't accidentally transfer and make sure that you don't go off the edge onto the quilt!

I also use the plexiglass as an oversized ruler for squaring quilts up and sometimes for marking out the size of a whole cloth wall hanging or such. This one is 18x24 and is quite handy for these tasks.