Spaced Out Under the Foot

Happy 2011!  Thanks to everyone for your good wishes; I am muddling along.  Many emails have arrived, some with questions, and one of these deserves a bit of blog space here today as the snow falls, the washer washes, and Oliver watches me with half an eye, sleeping quietly most of the time near me as I work.

Years ago, Becky K. had issues with her free motion foot getting caught and stopped dead by extra thickness in the quilt in certain areas, such as many seam allowances converging at a point, even plain old seam allowances.  Any extra bulk and it was all but impossible to move the quilt smoothly and freely under the foot, and quite difficult to maintain rhythm and even stitches with all the stops and starts and struggling.

I too had this problem when I first began free motion quilting on a home machine.  Using the darning foot was problematic, because the clearance or space under it was very tight.  Going over seam joins was tough.  I got leaping stitches, toe catchers or tons of tiny ones all piled up and then a big one as I tugged on the quilt or lifted the foot to move it.  Frustrating!  Not good at all.

My machine at that time did not have any adjustments for pressure on the foot.  I have mentioned this in classes and books and articles because it is such a fabulous tool on the new machines (and some elderly ones as well) - the ability to set that pressure lower so the foot "floats" nicely over tough areas on the quilt top. 

What to do.  One of my friends, Jenny B., inserted a metal washer in the foot, just under the bottom of the spring where there already is a small thin metal washer, sort of a horseshoe shape.  She had to take the foot apart and put it together, but the result was fantastic!  It was possible to quilt on pieced tops without the foot getting stuck on the thickness.

Another friend, Jill S., was in an early Camp Diane, and she came up with small rubber rings ("O" rings) that you could simply snip and slide in under the spring.  She sent me bags of them but all are gone but one.  I decided to show you this amazing little tip if you have problems with not enough space under the foot when it is lowered and in position for free motion.  Or if you have a machine with no way to lessen the pressure on the foot.

Here is my #9 darning foot from my Bernina 1030.  Next to it is the little rubber O ring that Jill sent me, and some frog feet for ambiance.  This ring is the last one I have.  To find one for your foot, take the foot with you to the hardware store and find one that will fit.  The salespeople who gather round to help you will enjoy this job as it is fun, new, different, and you will be so happy and smiling when you get the right one.  They will feel super human and wonderful to have done this exacting job for you.

Take it home and prepare to modify your foot.  Sounds difficult, but it's easy.

First, cut a slit in the O ring, just one snip so it can open up like a "C."

Next, depress the foot by squeezing top and bottom, and slide in the opened O ring until it is settled nicely around the shank.  Release the pressure on the foot and voila!  A foot that will now give you a tiny bit more room under it (works great for trapunto too) and can be removed easily if it isn't needed. 

Attach it to machine and give it a try.  The quilt should feel much easier to move, and stitches should look the same.  However, if the quilt is very thin and flat, you will not need to do this, and it could cause skipped stitches. 

Below, photo of foot with the O ring inserted.  It is just above the smaller black one that is part of the original foot configuration.

If you have skipped stitches with it on the foot, it might be too much and the foot is acting as if it were in the "up" position.

If you need more clearance, and this helps but you still have to tug when you cross seam allowances, you could add another ring and give it a try.  I've never had to do that, but there is always the recalcitrant machine that needs extra help.

I  did add a smaller diameter one once to my Bernina 730's #29 foot when I did a bit of trapunto in a wild moment.  Even with the pressure reduced on that foot with the dial on the machine it wasn't enough to quilt smoothly.  I put in one tiny ring and it was perfect.  I took it out when done, machine back to normal.  It's a great option to have, a trick in your drawer of machine quilting arsenal.

Also, when you depress the foot it should go up and down on the shank with spring pressure smoothly.  If it is sticking and not working well, or squeaking, it might need some lubricant (your choice) such as a drop of oil on the inside cylinder and then press and release several times, wipe off excess oil. 

Feet can wear out, become bent or damaged with use.  I did get a new one for this machine due to the intensive amount of quilting I did way back then.

So I offer many thanks to Becky who prompted this blog post.  She wrote in her email to me: 

"I was quilting away today, I was making use of a tip you gave me way back then, and would have been unable to quilt had I not known this particular trick. I can' remember if it is in one of your books or not, but think it might be useful enough to pass on to your readers on your blog.

I am still quilting on the same 1031 Bernina from 1992, and the pressure on the foot is not adjustable. So when using the quilting foot (I use the small, open toed one), the amount of clearance is not adjustable. The quilt I am working on has Mariners Compasses with flying geese rings and in some areas of the piecing there are MANY layers of seam buildup, to the point that the quilt would not fit under the foot. Then I remembered you tip from so long ago, (haven't needed it in all these years, we're talking a lot of buildup!)


Luckily I still had the packet of Surgical rubber hinge rings (get them in the eyewear department at WalMart). I just inserted a snipped one at the bottom of the foot, between the bottom of the shaft and the end of the tubular back part of the foot that moves up and down the shaft. (If you put your index finger on the very top of the foot, and rest the bottom of the foot on your thumb, and squeeze, the foot will move up the shaft. The space opened at the bottom is where you insert the rubber ring. You snip the ring apart with scissors so it will easily slide on.)


I suspect that you may not have had to to do this for quite a while given sewing machine advancement over the past 18 years, so I explained the whole original tip as you gave it to me.


Sounds really odd, but that small additional amount of space makes all the difference in the world, and I have been gliding right over that seam allowance buildup for several days now, like it wasn't even there. Do have to remember to remove the ring when I go back to flatter areas, as that bit of extra space will then cause skipped stitches. But wow, what a wonderful help when I need it!


Anyone using an older machine that does not allow them to adjust the clearance of the foot would surely find this an invaluable bit of advice, I know I sure did, thank you again after all these years!"

And thanks to Becky for explaining it so well, and reminding me to tell you about it. 

Keep quilting!  Your work gets better every day.
Diane

Season's Greetings

From ice and snow, wind and below zero temperatures here in Wisconsin, USA, I wish you all a fond season's greetings.  

I hope to do more blog posts when my health improves.  Meanwhile, keep quilting, your work gets better every day.

Diane

Turkey Day

The turkey is roasting (with Oliver's help), pie is baked (with Oliver's help), and the remaining food is next on our list to do.  It is a dreary day here, but cozy, bright and warm inside, with good food and each other.  Hope your day is wonderful, and you take some time to be thankful for the special things, sometimes the little things, that make our lives blessed.

Diane

Happy Thanksgiving '10

Happy Thanksgiving, may you all have blessings too numerous to list! 

I tried dressing  Oliver as a Pilgrim, or a turkey, or even holding a pumpkin pie, but he was truly not interested.  His big passion now is crouching by the windows and front glass door and squeaking at the Juncos in the bushes outdoors.  We are counting our blessing of Oliver, our new cat, in our life.  He brought back sunshine to us.

I've been piecing a small quilt, discovering the pleasure of working with fabrics, arranging color and designs to form something I like.  It's very relaxing to sew small pieces together, press and starch, play on the design wall.  I hear my music playing softly, the leaves are still blowing past my windows, or the fog is rolling in.  Soon winter will arrive, but this is a great way to begin the season, when lights go on at 4:30 p.m., and wonderful scents come from the kitchen.

Try quilting on pumpkin fabric, it's far less fattening than pie.....although today I am shopping for ingredients for homemade pumpkin pie, my mother's recipe, including the pie crust.  It's my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner.

Keep quilting, your work gets better every day!

Diane



Free Motion Feet: Observations

Free motion feet can make all the difference in the success you'll have for various techniques.  Above, two of my favorite feet for my Berninas, the #29 plastic foot, and the #24 embroidery foot.  Each is perfect for various types of free motion quilting.

Both have a built-in spring so there is a gentle "hopping" action as the foot releases and then presses down as each stitch is made.  This not only creates an excellent stitch but gives you the feeling that feed dogs are working and you are not skating alone on the ice. 

If there is too much of the up/down action, decreasing the pressure on the foot with a control on the machine itself smooths everything out and will let you move the quilt more easily as well.  This works for thicker batts, excess puff you need to work in, bulky seams in pieced work.

Open toe or not?  I love my open toe foot for the precise type of quilting I do.  I need to see exactly where the needle is, where I am stitching over a previous line of quilting, if it is in the right place.  A closed toe would make it so hard to see these crucial points, and I would become tense and aching, hoping to hit the line or design point "just right."  A closed toe foot prevents this great visibility.  Tiny clamshells with a closed-toe foot are almost impossible for me, but easy with an open-toe foot.

However, if there are long smooth lines of quilting needed such as the spines/centers of feathers then I like the closed toe foot that seems to be designed to keep everything smooth and even, like an embroidery hoop around the needle.  It distributes the puff of the batt perfectly, and keeps the fabric from creeping along and forming little ripples between two line of opposite direction quilting. 

For stay stitching at the edge of the quilt or any straight line quilting done free motion in the quilt I love my closed toe #29 foot.  It makes the job easier.  But, as I quilt, I look ahead of the needle, not the needle itself.

Recently in my Paducah classes I saw the new Janome foot, below, photo by Ann Fahl and used with her permission. 

This foot comes with three options for the base, an open toe, a closed toe, and a large circular plastic foot with rings in it used as guides for spacing free motion quilting such as echo quilting.

What attracted my eye immediately to it was the built-in way to adjust it in the spring itself, on the foot itself.  Instead of adjusting how tight the foot sits on the quilt, you can easily change the foot itself to float more easily, to eliminate the hopping action, and glide instead, whatever you like.  It worked very well for those who had it on their Janomes.

Sometimes we don't realize the right tool will do the job better and make quilting so much easier and more relaxing.

Looking at these photos you can tell there is a more unobstructed view with my Bernina feet too. 

See what your machine has available.  Investigate.  Try out something new, or something you've had all along but is now in the back of some drawer.  And keep informed with what your brand of machine has available.  Sometimes, like the Janome foot, there is a new tool for you that is super. 

Visit your brand's website, join a forum online, go to your dealer and browse, but use your own best judgment about what will work best for your style of work.

Oliver likes the #29 foot best to kitty-hockey around the sewing room.  Sigh.

Keep quilting!  Your work gets better every day.

Diane

Sandra Leichner's New Book, and Oliver Bites Back

Oliver fell asleep admiring the beautiful quilt on the cover of Sandra Leichner's new book, just released from AQS, Hand Applique with Embroidery.  He gave his "paw of approval" but was so tired from torpedo-ing around the house today that he fell asleep before a photo could capture the actual reading process.  Believe me, he is smart enough to enjoy a good book!

Sandi just received the Fairfield Master Award for Contemporary Artistry, a $5000 prize at the International Quilt Festival, Houston, for her cover quilt, Tea With Miss D. 

If you are lucky enough to have seen it at Houston Market or Festival or when it was in the juried AQS show at Paducah in April you will know the incredible artistry and skill it took to create such a quilt.  Yet, it is delightful, makes you smile, and somehow her technical expertise looks effortless.  It doesn't get in the way of the quilt's beauty, but makes it all happen.  

Go to http://www.quilts.com/ and click on the winners' list to see her quilt, or to her website http://www.sandraleichner.com/ 

Although I will never be an appliquer, I did enjoy this book.  If you want to refine your techniques or learn applique and embroidery, find out how to get the perfection Sandi achieves,  how she embroiders all that detail, picks the fabrics, layers them for the best overall effect, then you need this book. 

I liked the charts with organized information about threads, needles, anything technical.  You don't have to search through text to find what you want to know.

The photos are great, the colors stunning, and you will drool over her quilts throughout the book.  Yes, there are patterns, and there are projects.  You will learn to do this and have small, complete-able projects when finished with various techniques she explains, step by step. 

I love the little bit in the book for each area called "Why is this important?"  It's great to have the respect of an author who tells you the why of it, really a good addition to the book's format. 

All her applique and embroidery is by hand, and it is exquisitely done.  Quilting?  Done on a home machine (Bernina 730), free motion, original marked designs and lovely freehand fills.  The combination of well executed artistic quilting and hand applique is a true winner.

Which quilt of Sandi's do I like the best?  I have seen Sandi's quilts from her first one entered at Houston in 2001, and through the years since then.  Their richness and detail, their art, will stay with you always.   Tea With Miss D will always have a special place in my heart though.

I like that she respects the art of machine quilting enough to use it to complete her hand artistry. 

Meanwhile, browsing the internet looking for info on Houston and wishing I were there, my computer suddenly died again.  Oh no! 

Two days earlier my husband's new laptop had a power cord failure and he had to get a new cord.  I had him check it for teeth marks.  Yes, there were teeth marks.  Mine too had teeth marks. 

Oliver strikes again!  We are so relieved he didn't get hurt but have to find ways to hide the cords from him.  He likes the thin cable from the computer to the adapter part, the kind my sewing machine has to the foot control, but that he hasn't yet discovered.

I used a light rubbing of Tabasco sauce on the tv cable that comes out of the wall, and one bite of that stopped him in his tracks.  His expression was hilarious.

I got a new generic power cord for my laptop, no waiting for Mr. Sony to send me one this time, and will get a new battery this week too.  I plan on using it on battery in waking hours, charging it overnight with the new cord in a closed room.  We have a mixing bowl over husband's cord on the kitchen island.  So far it is working, Oliver can't move it.  It's heavy English pottery.

Below, the photo of what I did to protect the cord.  They do have cord covers available to buy that are infused with citrus, but the reviews said they had a horrible insecticide odor, so I crossed those off my list.

Instead, I got drinking straws that were a special thank you gift from Ami Simms (don't ask why), cut them in half lengthwise, and slipped them over the cable, taped them together and closed.  Then I wrapped a twill tape around the whole thing and turned it into the Mummy Cord.  It is working!  He isn't even interested!  I do put it away when I am not around or am sleeping, and eventually with the new battery can keep the cord out of his life completely.

Hope you are enjoying fall, no snow yet in Wisconsin.  Cold, yes.  I am washing and sorting some lovely Moda fabrics received from Hancock's of Paducah for the new Pilgrim/Roy Challenge, "Twenty Great Quilts for Twenty Great Years," to celebrate the upcoming 20th Anniversary of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.    I get to add two fabrics of my own, and am busy designing a small wall quilt using all of them, and plan on trying out some of my new quilting techniques.  I have learned to do a deadline project right away.....just in case.  These quilts will be auctioned live at the AQS show in '12, and will tour in '11 so you can see them.

Keep quilting, your work gets better every day.

Diane

Cat needs a home.....

This handsome boy needs a home.   One of my quilting friends in SE Wisconsin has rescued him after feeding him for a month, but our bitter cold winds this week and the onset of winter soon made it mandatory for her to bring him in from the cold. 

Now he has been neutered and has all his treatments and is ready for a home.  Her house is full with other cats she has taken in and now loves, and she is so wishing a new home would be possible for this friendly and loving cat. 

"Hello! Meow!

What are you waiting for?
Kitty needs your lap!

Last night he spent an hour in my lap - happily cleaning himself and giving me kisses.

He might even be a shoulder-cruiser. I know he loves to be carried.

Please let us know that you want to love him."

And from Mr. Tuxedo himself:

"I am Tuxedo Kitty.


I am a young male. I was an outdoor kitty until October 27, when I was taken inside following those big scary windstorms.

Even though I never knew a gentle human touch I quickly recognized that petting makes me start my motor.

I love being carried and I love being petted and I love just lounging in a soft lap.

I really don’t want to live in a barn and am looking for a nice home with friendly hands to touch me.

My rescuer has 6 indoor kitties already and while I thought this would be a nice home, my rescuer takes her kitties to Florida. I can sympathize that the car would be pretty full with 7 of us plus two humans.

If you or your friends will take me, I will love you forever.

KISSES,

Tuxedo kitty Lake Geneva, WI October 31, 2010"


If anyone is interested, please email me at diane@dianegaudynski.net
I realize this is for a limited geographic area, but I wanted to do my part in spreading the news about this little guy. 

Diane