I finally finished my double-slice quilt.  We're having an unseasonably warm couple of days here in Wisconsin so I'm not going to curl up with it yet.  But it's going to be back down into the 40s by the end of the week, so it'll be put into good use then.

 I like the texture that the spirals give the quilt.  I can't wait to see it after it's been washed!

 The loops in the border were my first project that was done with the 115.

My first quilt that was made entirely with people-powered machines!  I'm so proud of it!

Putting the 115 to work

I started work last week, but it was just meetings and teacher prep days.  This week the students started back, and oh my gosh, this year has kicked my butt so far.  I can't remember experiencing this level of disorganization...it's nuts. 

I'll figure it out - I always do - but I've been too tired to do much sewing in the evenings.  However, tonight I sat down and spent some quality time with my Singer 115 by doing some loopy quilting in the borders of my double slice quilt.

There are some tension issues to be dealt with.  It's pretty puckered, but I like my quilts to get crinkly in the wash, so that doesn't really bug me.  I do want to improve it before I quilt my Dresden plate quilt, though. 

I was clipping along quickly until I ran out of bobbin thread.  The tire on the bobbin winder is crumbling and unusable, so I can't wind any bobbins until I get the tire I ordered in the mail.  Also, I broke the treadle belt, so instead of using a leather treadle belt I've been using a pair of nylons to run the machine.  They work surprisingly well (and have been working surprisingly well for nearly a week), but I think I'll get less slippage when I use a real treadle belt. 

Thank goodness it's almost the weekend.  I'm completely worn out.

Spirals, spirals, spirals

This evening I finished the free motion quilting on my double slice quilt.  I like the texture these swirls give the quilt.  I can't wait to wash it - it'll be so crinkly!

The fabric isn't really green, it's just a poorly-lit shot with an iPod camera.

Even though I was having a good time by the end, this might be the last free motion project I do on my Singer 27.  On Saturday I'm going to go pick up a new (well, new to me, it's really over 90 years old) Singer model 115.  Because of the way the bobbin it situated it's very conducive to free motion quilting, so that will likely be my quilting machine, which means the 27 will be for piecing.

I know, it's kind of weird to have two machines for two different jobs.  But I usually have two or more projects that I'm working on at once, and I like the idea of having a machine all set up with the right thread, foot, and tension settings for whatever I'm doing. 

Of course, since space is limited in my little sewing corner of the basement, that means that my electric machine will have to be removed from its cabinet, put into a case, and stored on a shelf.  Not that long ago I was writing about being nervous about putting my modern Brother machine away and using nothing but vintage machines.  Now I'm going to have nothing set up but non-electric machines.  I guess my attitude has changed!

I still have to do some straight-line quilting on the border of the quilt, but then it'll be ready for binding.  Hopefully I can make friends with my new 115 by getting started on quilting my Dresden plate quilt.  I'm nervous about quilting that one, but nothing will get better by putting it off.

Oh, how I love thee

I'm really starting to love quilting on my Singer 27.  My treadling is getting smoother, my stitches are getting smaller and more even, and the spirals are getting smoother.  It'll be interesting to compare the quilting at the beginning of this quilt and the quilting I did at the end.  It's still not great, but it's getting there.  I have a few decades to perfect it before I'm too old to treadle (I imagine it'll be easier to use an electric when I'm in my 80s).

I read something a long time ago about people who are passionate about a hobby, and how their brains work differently when they get into their "zone."  That's how I feel when I'm quilting with my treadle...peaceful, centered, just...happy.

I still haven't tried free motion quilting with my 66.  I am getting annoyed at the limitations of how much thread that long bobbin can hold.  I had to refill it twice this evening.  Ugh. 

Spirals!

I resolved my feed dog issue and spent some time this evening making spirals of varying sizes on my double slice quilt.  Fun!

The only issue I've run into is that the bobbin on a vibrating shuttle machine doesn't hold as much thread as a round bobbin.  It's frustrating to stop and refill the bobbin.  I have three bobbins and I suppose I should just fill them all so I can switch them quickly.  Still, I'm thinking about trying FMQ on my Singer 66.

Boring antique sewing machine babble: from what I've heard a Singer 66 is not considered an ideal quilting machine.  That's because it has a drop-in bobbin, which means the bobbin thread has to come out of the bobbin and take a turn to go up into the machine.  This puts stress on the thread.  A great quilting machine is the Singer model 15...I have an electric one from the 1930s, but it needs to be rewired and I haven't used it yet.  I don't know how the thread path of a 66 compares to a vibrating shuttle machine, and which machine puts more stress on its thread.  Maybe if my 27 works, then my 66 would work too.  I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try, though it would be a pain to wrestle the 27 out of its cabinet and install the 66.  I suppose it'll just depend on how much I hate changing the bobbins out.

FMQ on a treadle

If you treadle and you want to find out more about free motion quilting on your machine, check out this tutorial. I followed a lot the advice and did some free motion quilting on my old Singer 27.  I was having some trouble with threads breaking so instead of a flowing design I decided to do a bunch of spirals.  That way the spiral would just end when the thread broke.  However, today I switched from cotton to polyester thread and that helped a lot.  The poly thread seems stronger and I was able to make bigger spirals that I knotted off instead of just allowing the thread to break.

Behold my work!

It's not pretty by any means - I can't do those beautiful, little, even stitches that other quilters do when free motion quilting.  But I know I'll only get better with practice, and really, it was easier to do FMQ on a treadle than on my electric.  I guess I have an easier time treadling and moving my hands at the same speed than I do controlling my foot pedal and moving my hands.

It's not great, but I did it!  On a treadle machine!  And a machine with a vibrating shuttle, too!

That's what's underneath my machine instead of a round bobbin.  Strange, huh?  This machine was my first treadle and I was shocked when I opened those slide plates and found that weird little bullet instead of a round bobbin.  At first I thought it might be some hidden evidence of a century-old murder, but no, it was just what they had for bobbins a hundred years ago.

Unfortunately, just as I was really going my needle snapped and the tip lodged itself in the feed dogs.  The screw holding that plate is stuck tight so I'll have to wait until tomorrow and try to get my husband to help it along.  Figures.  But I was having a lot of fun before then, so I'm looking forward to trying it again tomorrow.

It's Saturday night and I'm getting BASTED!

Clearly my weekends are crazy.

Double slice quilt top

Yesterday I finished my quilt top.  Well, except for borders.  I'm still debating about including a border.

I hung it on our clothes line to photograph, and my daughter spotted it.

Here she's saying, "Is mine quilt!"  She's claimed it already.

This is the first quilt that I've pieced entirely without electricity.  I used my model 27 treadle machine to piece the blocks, and I used my model 66 with a hand crank to sew them all together.  It was very do-able, and kind of fun.

I don't have any backing fabric and it'll be a while before I can get to the fabric store.  I guess I'll be working on the Dresden plate quilt until then.

Double slice blocks

Quickie

After making that tricky tumbling blocks quilt I decided to do something really quick and easy.  I figured it would be a good change of pace, and also a good way to acquaint myself with using the treadle sewing machine.  I've done some piecing on the treadle, but not a whole quilt.

So I'm making this quilt.  I'll post pictures later.  It's coming together really fast, which is a nice change of pace from that other quilt!  I can't wait until the top is done!