Thursday, January 3, 2013

New Year's Quilting


When I posted my end of the year post, I thought I should try to sneak in another finish, like I've done in other years, but I didn't think I would have time.  I decided to go ahead and work on finishing anyway, since it could be a nice early finish to begin the new year with.

I brought down my quilt that was closest to completion, my wedding wishes - I called it Blushing Bride according to the labels.  If you recall, it was supposed to be a simple pink and white modern quilt, but I got carried away and added words to it.  Then I added butterflies in the sashing.  I had planned on adding some roses between the butterflies, but when I looked at it again, it doesn't seem to need anything else.  I decided to go ahead and finish it off, and if I wanted to add the roses later, I could always quilt them in after it was bound.

The batting had been added when I did the embroidery, but not the back (to keep me from having to worry about keeping the embroidery neat in the back).  I added a back, and started to quilt it in the ditch.  Just a few seams should hold it just fine.  The feed dogs moved up and down but did not move the fabric forward.  I managed to pull the quilt through - free motion in the ditch using a walking foot maneuver.  Then I trimmed the quilt down and cut out the binding fabric. One of my favorite parts of quilting is trimming away the excess batting and backing to see what the quilt really looks like.




I tried to clean the machine, hoping that would do the trick.  I can push the feed dogs back and forth, but they won't go on their own.  Getting it fixed would be $79, and my machine cost $200 to buy it 24 years ago, so I am not sure that it would be worth it.  So for now, I am going to take the machine apart and try to fix it myself, and look for a new machine. Does you know how to fix this?

 Until then, I will probably try to keep some forward momentum going on quilting by doing some handwork - applique on the Moondance quilt and/or applique and embroidery on the African crazy quilt.  Hopefully I will have some progress to show you soon.

4 comments:

Tanya said...

Hmm. Don't know how you're going to fix that... I've learned when I fiddle too much with the machine then I make it worse! Maybe it is just a simple problem like lots of lint trapped in the feed dog grooves. That makes it hard for them to grab the fabric.

Allie said...

Oh no, I can't imagine how difficult it was to do the quilting on that! One of my favorite parts is cutting away the extra too. *G* I hope you can fix it yourself, I wouldn't have a clue where to begin!

Ruthie said...

By some chance, have you dropped the feed dogs? I'll show this to my husband, the sewing machine repair guy this evening and see what he says.

Ruthie said...

From My Perfect Stitch (aka my husband): The stitch length and reverse button both control the feed dogs. So, when the stitch length is set to MAX and you push the reverse button, do the feed dogs move back and forth? The apparatus can become stuck after many years of sewing and it's very hard to get to that area inside the machine. Note, I have been able to unstick machines using a hair dryer, just to heat up stuck parts. Just be careful.