Cleaning, oiling and changing the needle are the three maintenance tasks of all types of sewing machines.

Keeping Your Machines Working Their Best

Regularly clean the dust and lint from all areas of the machine that you can get at, both above and below the throat plate.  Areas that typically build up a lot of dust and lint are in and below the feed dogs and in the bobbin and hook area.  Remove the throat plate and open all covers you can and use a brush to remove as much of the lint as you can reach, then use canned air to gently blow the rest up and out of hidden areas.  All sewing projects create lint, especially quilting projects.  Batting and cotton thread are especially linty – even polyester batting produces lint.

Nearly all sewing machines, all sergers and long arm machines need to be oiled where metal parts are moving past each other.  Check your machine manual to find the locations and frequency for oiling.  Especially when sewing or quilting projects that create a lot of lint, your machine will need oiling more frequently than with normal sewing.  Caution, do not over oil.  In other words, two drops is not better than one drop.  Follow the directions.  Do oil on a regular basis to prevent unnecessary wear and premature aging of your equipment.

If you own a long arm, make sure you put a drop of oil in the hook area every few bobbins (check your manual).  I caused my long arm to pull a thread into the hook and jam because of lack of oil.  Although I was going through the process of oiling the hook every few bobbins, I only later discovered that the opening on my needle oiler was plugged and I really was not oiling.  Trying to remove the thread jammed in the hook caused the hook to go out of timing.  The lack of oil caused quite a few hours of down time, taking the machine hook assembly apart, my husband’s help to take the machine apart and retime the machine, etc.  I am much more observant now when oiling to make sure there really is a drop of oil.

Change the needle on a regular basis.  On a domestic machine, the needle should be changed with every large project.  Long arm needles are much larger and sturdier, however, they also need to be changed regularly.  Needles do dull from sewing and quilting, can develop burrs, and do develop curves, especially if you sew over pins.  Needles are not expensive and poor, damaged needles can cause a number of problems including poor stitch quality.  Use the correct needle for your project for best results.

After cleaning and oiling, test sew, make tension adjustments and you are good to go.

Interestingly, sewing and quilting machines and sergers do not wear out with age or even with use.  They more likely become difficult to use, inefficient, and do not perform as they should because they have not been maintained.  Make maintenance of your sewing equipment a priority and your machines will serve you well for many, many years.

Nolting Pro Series Longarm

enjoy making the tops, but don’t hand quilt, don’t enjoy machine quilting, or find quilting on your domestic machine too tedious, too difficult, and are not satisfied with the results?  You have a couple of options: (1) hire a longarm quilter who loves quilting to complete your quilt or (2) if you really want to do the quilting yourself, purchase a longarm system.

If option #2 is not a possibility, here are a few things to think about and find out about anyone you are considering to quilt that treasure you have spent and money time creating.

Before you choose a quilter, first think about your quilt and the type of quilting you would like to see to enhance the quilt.  There are several types of quilting including edge to edge, free motion, custom quilting, and interpretive.  To learn more about these quilting styles, click.  After deciding the type of quilting you want, then prepare a list of questions to ask before you decide on a longarm quilting professional and leave your quilt.

1. What type of quilting does the longarm quilter prefer to do, or has experience doing?  Edge to edge, custom quilting, interpretive quilting?
2. If you want edge to edge, can you choose your own panto?
3. How long is the wait to have your quilt completed and returned?  How long will the quilter have your quilt in their possession?  Are they insured for your loss if something happens to your quilt?
4. Does the quilter have a website with photos of their work, an album, or can she/he show you samples of their work, or sample of pantos quilted out, etc.?
5. Can the quilter give you references that you can call?
6. Does the quilter smoke or allow smoking in the quilting studio?
7. Does the quilter have pets or allow pets in the quilting studio?
8. What is their quilting experience?
9. Who provides the batting?  Some quilters prefer to use batting of their choosing because they know it quilts well on their system using thread they commonly use.  If so, ask to see samples of the batting if you are not familiar with the brand.
10. What do they charge for the quilting and what is included in the price?  What is not included in the basic quilting price?
11. What additional services are available?  Some longarm quilters are able to sew the binding onto the completed quilt top so that all you need to do is the hand sewing.  If so, what is the cost of these services?

It is important to ask these questions.  Even if you have seen this quilter’s work and the panto looked wonderful, do not assume that they are experienced at custom quilting, or even enjoy that type of work.  Some quilters will only do custom or interpretive quilting and will not do a pantograph or edge to edge quilting.  Other quilters will only do pantograph or edge to edge quilting.   Most longarm quilters charge similar prices for similar types of quilting, so don’t let price be your decision maker.   By interviewing before deciding who you want as a longarm quilter, you will be more satisfied with your decision and happier with your quilting results.

For whatever reason you have chosen to quilt – to mark events in your life or the lives of others, as a means of expressing yourself, or as a way of working through struggles and sorrows, for each of you, quilting is a journey, a means of creativity and expression, and part of who you are.

Mother's Day 2012

Mother’s Day was special for me having each of our children and their family here.  The men and boys worked together to make a very special breakfast brunch for the “girls.”

To my quilting sisters and to all who are mothers, I hope that today, Mother’s Day, has been one of happiness and that you were able to connect with those you love most.

Before talking about any marking products, I want to say that I always prewash my fabric for every project, even wall hangings and art quilts.  Why??  There are a couple of reasons.  First, I want to remove the dust accumulation in the fabric from sitting on store shelves and to remove the sizing.  Second, I want to make sure excess dye is removed with washing, even using the product Shout Color Catcher to grab loose dye

Shout Color Catcher - Center Before Washing, Left and Right After Washing With New Fabric

in the washer (see photo of before and after).  I do not want to use unwashed fabric for fear future washings or accidental wetting of the fabric to cause dye migration (bleeding) or for excess dye on the surface of the fabric to be rubbed off (crocking) by other fabrics.  I also feel that the sizing or other fabric finishing products might affect whether marking products can be removed successfully when used according to manufacturers instructions.

I have used water erasable marker, typically blue, for many years, but not always for quilt projects.  I have used the blue erasable marker often for heirloom sewing, working with lace shaping and fabric manipulation that is commonly found in heirloom sewing.  Marking only one layer of fabric, this marker was easy to use and easy to erase with a spritz of water.  I never had any issues of reappearance, even after washing these delicate items.  Once I used the blue marker to mark a table runner quilt top for longarm quilting.  I will never do that again.  When trying to spritz the blue marker away, the wet blue water was drawn down into the batting creating a lovely blue shadow.  More spritzing only compounded the problem.  I finally had to wash the item in cold water with no soap to successfully remove the marker.  I have a friend who also marked a whole quilt top of a large quilt with the blue marker.  The marks were great to follow and her quilting was stunning, even award winning.  But the problem of getting the marks out was only solved by dunking the quilt in the pool.  OK if it is summer, but not an option for winter.

The purple air erasable marker, similar to the blue water erasable marker has some nice features.  It is easy to use, leaves a visible line on light colored fabric, but not on dark fabrics.  Depending on the ambient humidity, the line may disappear in as little as a couple of hours.  Or, if it is very humid, the line may be visible for a couple of days.  Or, even worse, when submitted to moist or humid conditions, the mark may reappear.  Again, I used this only a single layer of fabric, such as a quilt patch or in heirloom sewing.  Because of the disappearance of this marking line, I would not use it to mark a quilt.  I would never be able to quilt the top before my marking would disappear.  Would I trust the purple marker to really disappear?  Not so sure.  I do not like nasty surprises, so probably would not use it to mark a quilt top anyway, even a little at a time.

I noticed recently that there is a marker on the market that is designed to remove the blue erasable marker.  I have not tried this. Does anyone have any experience with this product.

Please share your experiences, good and bad, and how you use the blue or purple markers, or the marker eraser by clicking on comments.  In another post I will talk about other marking products.

Amherst Quilt Show 2012

The quilt show at the Amherst Museum April 27 -29 was sort of like that film.  The museum, a trip down memory lane with replicated old buildings and displays on our American culture and local (Amherst & Buffalo area) history became the backdrop for the Amherst Museum Quilt Show, “Quilts, Glorious Quilts.”  Not only did the show exhibit over 400 quilts made by talented guild members, but the museum even had a few quilts from its own collection on display.  One museum quilt in particular caught my attention.  Made by a local quilter, I have seen the quilt in quilt publications before.  It is an outstanding example of the quilters creativity to take a two dimensional quilt block and by using the artists linear perspective of parallel lines receding in the distance, altering the size of the patches, she created a three dimensional looking quilt all from the same quilt block.  Unfortunately I did not take a photo of this outstanding quilt.

With the opening of the show, there were non stop visitors all three days from all over the western New York area, Rochester, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and even Canada.  The “Jimmy’s Restaurant” display across from the Delightful Quilting & Sewing booth became the site of quilting demonstrations nearly every hour each day.  It was a fun 1950′s backdrop to demo new techniques for our ever changing craft of quilting.  I even was able to enjoy the demos and learned several new quilt construction techniques that I am excited to try.

A little further down a side hall was the Tea Room.  The food was fantastic with a delicious selection of soup, sandwiches, and pies.  Makes me hungry just thinking about it now!

Out of the main museum building and down a short sidewalk was another building that housed sixteen more vendors (twenty vendors total).  The vendors reported that business was brisk as shoppers stocked up on fat quarters, notions, purse kits, awesome handmade buttons, and many other quilting goodies.

If you were not able to attend the Amherst Museum quilt show this year, set aside time in two years for the next one.  The museum is already making plans for that show and plans to make changes to the building and grounds to make that show even more wonderful than this one.

For more pictures of the show please click to link to our Facebook page.  Check out two albums, Amherst Quilt Show and Quilt Shows.

]]> http://delightful-qs.com/blog/2012/05/07/at-the-amherst-museum/feed/ 0 http://delightful-qs.com/blog/2012/04/30/what-is-the-difference-between-e2e-custom-and-interpretive-quilting/ http://delightful-qs.com/blog/2012/04/30/what-is-the-difference-between-e2e-custom-and-interpretive-quilting/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:47:47 +0000 Joyce Blowers http://delightful-qs.com/blog/?p=521 Continue reading →]]> Those new to the world of long arm quilting or thinking about hiring a professional long arm quilter may be confused by what the different quilting styles mean.  After reading this post, you should have a better understanding of these quilting styles.

Edge to edge refers to quilting the same pattern across row after row and from top to

Edge To Edge Quilting

bottom on the quilt.  The edge to edge pattern is really a pantograph or printed pattern.  Pantographs, or pantos, are from five or six inches wide by at least twelve feet long, or long enough to lay on the table of the long arm quilt frame.  Starting on one end of the pattern, the quilter follows the line on the pattern with a laser light that is mounted on the side of the longarm machine.  Once that row is quilted, the quilt is advanced and another identical row is quilted.  There are many hundreds of pantograph patterns in many different styles available today and some quilters even design their own.  For the customer, edge to edge quilting is usually the least costly.  When an appropriate panto is chosen that will complement the quilt design, edge to edge quilting can be very nice.  Some quilt styles, however, such as applique are not suitable for edge to edge quilting.

Custom Quilting

Custom quilting involves more intense quilting and often will look more like traditional hand quilting.  This type of quilting takes more time and costs more than edge to edge quilting because the quilter takes the time to work individually within the elements of the quilt pattern, in the block, in the sashing, and in the border to enhance the quilt pattern.  Types of custom quilting would be continuous curves, stitch in-the-ditch, stitching 1/4″ from seam lines, feathers, vines, geometric shapes, and free motion quilting, etc.  Custom quilting is suitable for nearly all types of quilts, including applique quilts, because this style of quilting enhances the pattern and design of the quilt.  In the pink quilt in the photo, the star blocks are enhanced with curved quilting inside the stars.  Although there are feathered circles in the alternate blocks, this custom quilt design is nearly not noticed because of the highly patterned fabric.  Because of the dense floral print  the custom design gets lost and its beauty will not even be noticed unless you look at the back of the quilt.  If an entire quilt, or most of a quilt is made of highly patterned fabric, it may not be worth the extra expense of custom quilting and edge to edge would be an acceptable choice.

Interpretive quilting, which is often dense quilting, allows the quilter to have artistic

Interpretive Quilting

license to interpret the theme or design of the quilt.  This type of quilting is often found on contemporary, art quilts, and some whole cloth quilts.  Because this type of quilting is the most time consuming, it is also the most costly.  The quilter often spends weeks, sometimes months designing, then quilting to be compatible with and complimentary to the theme and design of the quilt.  The wall hanging illustrated here is a contemporary “convergence” pattern from Ricky Tims book of the same name.  This quilt is called Kiluwea’s Fire.  The interpretive quilting is meant to represent lava flowing down the sides of the mountain and entering the sea creating billows of steam.  The picture shows only about 1/4 of the quilt.

By understanding these styles of quilting along with knowing the intended use of a quilt, the customer and professional quilter can together decide which style of quilting is the best choice to enhance the quilt.

]]> http://delightful-qs.com/blog/2012/04/30/what-is-the-difference-between-e2e-custom-and-interpretive-quilting/feed/ 0 http://delightful-qs.com/blog/2012/04/25/for-the-sake-of-history-label-your-quilt/ http://delightful-qs.com/blog/2012/04/25/for-the-sake-of-history-label-your-quilt/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:15:06 +0000 Joyce Blowers http://delightful-qs.com/blog/?p=515 Continue reading →]]> At the Lake To Lake quilt show, April 14, I was able to sit in on a bed turning.  If you have never been to a bed turning, the next time you hear about one, go.  You will learn a lot about quilts, quilt patterns, quilt care and conservation and quilt history.

At a bed turning a bed, or pretend bed, is piled with quilts of varying types and ages which have been brought in by club members.  The guest speaker, usually a certified quilt appraiser or quilt historian, does a visual inspection of each quilt and talks off the cuff about the particular quilt, estimating its age, noting anything special about the quilt, and often adds interesting information about quilt history of history in general during the era of the quilt.  After providing their insight, they usually ask who brought in the quilt and what they know about that quilt’s history.

As Eugenia Barnes, certified quilt appraiser and quilt historian, talked about the last quilt in the pile at the Lake To Lake show, she noticed that the quilt did not have a label.  She went on to emphasize the importance of a quilt label to document the history of the quilt.  Not only should the label have the makers name and date, but town and state, and even the occasion for making the quilt.  A quilt label should even be amended over time to indicate who it was passed on to, the relationship, date and so on.  Even when alterations are made to stabilize a deteriorating quilt, the date of the conservation or restorative measures should be listed on the label.

Ms. Barnes was quick to point out the importance of this information on quilt labels, especially with the passage of time, and closed with a story of how a man in his 60′s was reunited in 1972 at a quilt show with his four brothers that he did not know he had because his mother took the time to sign and date her quilts.  Because the mother died at birth and the father knew he would not be able to care for the infant, the baby boy was adopted by a childless couple.  This quilt, made by his biological mother and identical to the other quilts made of the other four sons, was his only tie to his past.   Thanks to a little detective work and calls to the owners of the five identical quilts, all signed and dated by the same person, these brothers were able to spend two precious years together before the eldest brother passed away.

This very moving story caused many of us in the room to reflect on the quilts we have made.  Many are not show quilts, but simply loved treasures.  Ms. Barnes encouraged us to never underestimate the importance of our quilted project to the history of our family or loved ones, or to its part in documenting our nation’s quilt history.  It is important to  label every quilt.  And for quilts that you have inherited that do not have labels, take time now to make a label documenting what you know about that quilt’s history.  These quilts are part of your history, too.

For those of you that own a longarm, are dreaming about a longarm, or simply enjoy quilting on your domestic machine, I invite you to visit my booth.  Delightful Quilting & Sewing sells Nolting longarm quilting machines, quilting templates and rulers, A Quilters Eye video monitoring system (now advertised in Nancy’s Notions), and other longarm quilting supplies.  We are excited this year to have Nolting’s new 23″ Fun Quilter at the shows for you to try.  This amazing machine has a 23″ bed, is stitch regulated, comes Nolting’s commercial frame and sells for a very competitive price.  If you purchase this, or any of Nolting’s systems at the show, shipping is free.

Amherst Museum, 3755 Tonawanda Creek Rd., Amherst, NY 14228

See you at the show.

Joyce

I first saw the FriXion pen demonstrated at the Genesee Valley Quilt Show in Rochester, NY, last summer.  A vendor had set up a display with a pad of paper and a flat iron.  You wrote on the paper, touched it with the hot iron and the ink disappeared.   Amazing – the ink did disappear with no trace.  I bought one.  But skeptical by nature, I performed several tests of my own – on fabric.

Upon careful inspection of the pen barrel and a quick look at the website, I realized that this pen really was not designed for the quilting and sewing industry.  It says, “removed by friction.”  So, I took a good look at the pen and sure enough, there is an eraser.  I discovered that if you write the gel pen on paper, the soft eraser removes the ink without damaging the paper, a real advantage when trying to erase ink.

So how does it work on fabric?  Well, if you think back to junior high science class you might remember your teacher saying that friction produces heat.  So, on fabric, just skip the friction part and simply apply the heat directly to the fabric to erase the ink.

My question was whether the ink was really gone, or there was some physical change (loss of color) caused by the heat.  Remember those fun chemistry things you did as a child making disappearing ink?  So I decided to do a little experiment.  The tests and results are below.  You can see the results for each corresponding number in the photo.  The same 100% cotton fabric was used in all samples, all were marked with a number and an oval line using a black FriXion pen.

FriXion Pen Test Results

1. The experiment control, marked, but no testing done.
2. Half of the oval has been touched with a hot flat iron.  You can see that half of the oval has disappeared.  When you hold the fabric up to the light, however, a very faint mark of the oval is still visible.
3. The sample was ironed with the hot iron and the ink disappeared.  The sample was then put into the freezer for about an hour – the ink reappeared.
4. The sample was ironed, the ink disappeared.  The sample was washed in the washer with a load of towels and dried in the dryer on medium heat.  I cut the sample in two pieces.  The right sample is how it looked when it came out of the dryer.  No evidence of the number or mark, not even a faint mark.  The left half was placed in the freezer.  Inspecting the left sample after the cold treatment, the oval is slightly visible again.  You can see the “4″ on the corner of the sample.  After discovering the ink returned when submitted to the cold, even after washing and drying, I decided to also test paper in the freezer to see if the ink would also reappear on the paper.  It did.  (This is a fun activity to do with kids)
   

   FriXion Test: Washed, Dried, then Cold Treatment

The fact that the ink on fabric was not permanently removed is of concern to me.  The fact that even after heating some very faint mark was visible is a concern.  The fact that the ink reappears after being in a cold environment is also a concern.  Another quilter in my Genesee Valley Quilt Club longarm group also reported that the FriXion ink caused a chemical reaction on batik fabric she had marked and left a yellow mark that would not come out.

There are probably times I would use this pen because it does make a legible fine line, but only on places that would be trimmed away.  I would, however, never use this pen to mark a quilt top.  I would not want to risk the chance of the pen mark showing lightly or coming back.  I would also recommend that if there is any chance a quilt will be sent to a show, this pen should not be used.  Travel in a cold UPS truck during winter, or a cold airplane cargo hold probably would cause the ink marks to return.

The pen is available in several colors and retails for about $3.00.  Most quilt shops now carry the FriXion pens.  If you decide to use these pens, don’t forget to pretest on the fabric you intend to use it on.

Delightful Quilting & Sewing at a Quilt Show

Perhaps you have entered a quilt or two in your guild show, or even shipped them off to one of the national shows.  If you have, you know the work that goes into getting the quilt ready for shipping.  It must have a sleeve, label with you name, home town, phone number, name of the quilt, or other information.  Sometimes the label has to be covered up so the judges don’t see it.  The quilt must be packed and shipped following the directions provided.

Now, consider all of the work that goes on at the show site.  The site is prepared, someone or several someones design a plan for hanging the quilts.  Vendor sites are determined, electric outlets arranges, tables and chairs brought to each booth.  Several days before the show opens the quilts arrive and are unpacked.  They are hung, judged, and perhaps photographed.

The day before the event opens, the vendors arrive and unpack their vans and trailers moving in all kinds of display racks, bins, machines, fabric, patterns, and notions.  Hours are spent arranging all of the stuff in a pleasing way so that quilters can easily see the array of items for sale.  By the end of the day, the venue staff have the finishing touches on the quilt display area and the vendors have their booths all ready to receive customers.

As some of you may know, my business, Delightful Quilting & Sewing is an authorized Nolting – Hinterberg Dealer.  Nolting manufacturers longarm quilting machines (Fun Quilter and Pro Series) and quilt tables (frames).  All of Nolting’s products are made right here in the USA in Iowa.   Hinterberg, recently purchased by Nolting, manufacturers wooden stretch longarm tables and other wooden quilting items, even hand quilting frames.  In addition, Hinterberg sells the Voyager mid-arm machine.  Unlike Nolting’s commercial quilting machines, the Voyager is a stretch machine made from a stretched domestic sewing machine.

Delightful Quilting & Sewing will be at two shows this month.  Even before you arrive at the show site, getting ready for these shows is no small task.  This week I have spent time pricing and putting price stickers on the longarm acrylic 1/4″ templates, the zero center tapes, books, and other longarm related items that will be for sale in our booth.  Because we will have a longarm show table (6 feet long) in the booth with two longarm machines on it, I have had to pack up all of the stuff needed to run the machines.  Bobbins, the bobbin winder, pantograph, templates, A Quilter’s Eye, fabric for top and backing, batting, pins, scissors, etc, etc, etc.  Then there is the stuff to make the booth look nice.  New at these shows we will also have a Hinterberg Stretch Frame which must be assembled once we get to the show.  After all of this stuff is collected, organized, and packed, it has to be transferred to the trailer and secured for travel.

Today (Wednesday) all of the show “stuff” will go into the trailer so that we can leave early Thursday for set up day.    After arriving we will unpack the trailer, carry and roll all the stuff to the booth and set up.  We load the frame with the top, backing and batting, fill bobbins, load the top, backing and batting and check to make sure the electric works, run the machines and make adjustments, put the backdrop in place, fill the racks with items, etc, etc, etc.  Our booth is small compared to some occupied by quilt shops that bring a “ton” of fabric and notions.  Friday morning we arrive early, smiles on and are ready to greet the throng of quilters eager to see the beautiful quilts, some wondering if their entry got a ribbon, and everyone ready to shop in the vendor mall.

It is a lot of work getting ready and being at a quilt show.  But, we love it.  We so enjoy taking time to see the wonderful handiwork you quilters take so much time to make.  And, we really enjoy meeting you and learning about your quilting journey.  Please take time to stop in at the Delightful Quilting & Sewing booth and introduce yourself.  I would love to meet each of you.