Hello there.
I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas time. We did in our house and my DH bought me a new sewing machine.!! ( I'm so lucky) A Janome XL 601 which I will use for piecing and applique. Sorry I have no photo yet but will take one soon.
Anyway this means that my big Janome ( 1600P) can now sit permanently on my Grace frame.
For those who are not regular visitors to my blog, my DH ( I have the best husband in the world) bought me a queen sized Grace frame back in July. Around the same time I was asked if I'd like to have a display of my quilts in 2014 ( 15 -20 pieces gulp!), so I said yes and this meant I had no time to get acquainted with my new frame ...... until now.
I started off with this practice piece, just plain white cotton. I have to get used to working within a 6" wide space and working long feathers. The ones parallel to the bars are fine, no problem but it was the ones going down the frame are more difficult but I sussed it out. I need to work them in small sections.
Oops! a few little puckers but I'm not being too hard on myself - this is practice.
I used this just to get used to the feel of the machine again. I've slowed the speed down when I stitch which is helping with control. I always ran the machine quite fast when FMQ on the table top but it was not the right way to approach quilting on the frame.
I've also discovered that I like to sit on my high kitchen stool. It's much more comfortable and I don't get backache.
Couldn't wait to get started on a pieced top so I loaded one up.
So far, it is going really well and I'm pleased with my progress. I am finding it more time consuming than I expected but that's ok - there's no rush.
This is what I've done so far:
Feathers in the border.
I wasn't sure if i was going to like frame quilting but now I think I'm gonna LOVE it! and no more crawling around on the floor basting quilts.
I'm off to do some piecing on my Christmas present now.
Back soon with more quilty stuff. Thanks for visiting.
Rhianon.
