The Frozen Sewing Machine

It is not frozen here in Wisconsin, not yet anyway though winter is finally approaching us tomorrow.  Today it is still spring-like and lovely.  But, my poor old wonderful friend, my Bernina 1030, was frozen in place, no parts moving.

It was living in the spare room, and I only set it up to do serious quilt piecing, as I love it for that, the best I've ever used.  I bought this machine in 1989 and it was my everything machine for at least 10 years, then designated for piecing/sewing only as I loved quilting on my new electronic Bernina with a better free motion foot.

It worked perfectly.  I oiled where I could oil and used it a lot. It was serviced twice a year at my dealer.

Then after my last big quilt several years ago it sat in quiet isolation with a dust cover. I wasn't piecing much, and the little sewing I did I used my newer 730.   

A few months ago I set it up and found I couldn't even lift the presser foot!  It was frozen in place, everything was.  I was shocked, worried, would it ever work again??

Yesterday I drove to my dealer, Bigsby's Sewing Center here in SE Wisconsin, and picked it up after it had a stay there in intensive care in the service department.  I found out that even if you do not use a machine, it needs to be run occasionally, and serviced at least once a year to keep the inner parts working right, oiled, lubed, etc.  Oil dries up inside the machine where you cannot reach it. 

I set it up on the dining room table and Oliver was fascinated by it.  The smells!  The old style cords, no USB cable that he loves to chew through.  He had never even SEEN this machine before! 

Then I pulled the cord out of its little spot inside the machine (it's retractable, amazing) which was too much fun, and then plugged it in and turned it on.  It sews!  It sews beautifully.  He thinks it is a big new toy, especially for him.

I left him still sniffing it, the wonderful aroma of foreign places (well, 20 miles away) and oil, and maybe even a whiff of their adorable new puppy, Bailey. 

Now I am set to piece a new quilt, after I finish quilting this one.  Soon I hope.  And there's another one almost finished I should do first.  THEN I will play with my dear old 1030.  I still love the periwinkle blue they used on this machine, and it still sounds and works like a dream.

Meanwhile, I shall oil the fleet and run the other machines a little bit to keep things moving.

Hope 2012 keeps you moving and doing all the things you want to do. 

Keep quilting, your work gets better every day!

Diane

Small Business Saturday Shopping

I did my patriotic duty this past Saturday during the whole Black Friday shopping mania and supported locally owned business by going to my LQS, Bigsby's Sewing Center in Elm Grove, WI, and then out to lunch at a locally owned restaurant. 

I stocked up on a few necessary items:  Fabric!  Thread!  And the gorgeous sateen jacquard print by Lecien above, had to get the last of the bolt.  I had quilted on this the night before and it quilts so wonderfully and I love the colors, so this was not a huge decision to find it on sale and waiting to come home with me.

DH said "but what do you need it for?"  Oh my.

I also got some of the Kaufmann Radiance, the shimmery fabrics that are a cotton and silk blend and also quilt up so beautifully.  The gold fabric is some silk dupioni by Moda that I couldn't resist, so beautiful.  I'm working on a small project on dusty rose sateen and needed more of the YLI gold silk thread I'm using for that, and some of the YLI taupe Sparkle for the motifs, seen peeking out on my prototype, below.

This combo of thread and fabric is new for me, a departure from my more sedate ways, but it gives a very rich, vintage look to this little quilt, a Delectable Mountains pieced design.  I am considering it an experiment, and am loving working on the smaller scale, although I have to say, larger designs and quilting are easiser, this is quite demanding.  But fun, of course. 

And you might wonder how Oliver fared over the turkey weekend.  He loved the holiday, the lights on, the house cozy and all the cooking prep, the Packers game and all the yelling, more food prep, more veggies, delicious odors from delicious food. 

We did get him to lick a bit of turkey gravy from a small cat-sized plate with a pink design on it that went with his pink nose nicely, but mostly he loved the veggies.

For dessert he tackled the bananas while we were snoozing in the other room.......

I hope you support your local quilt shop and other locally owned businesses all the time.  The owners work so hard to find treasures and basics for us so we can be creative and have the tools and supplies available for our quilting.  They also find what's new and fabulous, keep our machines purring, and give advice and information.  I always learn something when visiting a quilt shop.

Hope your Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful, and now you can have a bit of time for quilting. 

Keep quilting - your work gets better every day!

Diane