Getting to know her.....

during the past couple of months when i all but disappeared from the blog world a lot of things have happened in our household, most pretty boring but some exciting 

one of them was the introduction of a new member to the family

her lines are sleek and smooth

she is shiny and oh so clever

she has some lovely curves as well

she is solid and reliable

and because she is oh so ultra modern and so very solid, stable and (i hope) reliable i have chosen a very old fashioned name for her

( you guys all remember that i have a weird thing about naming almost everything don't you......???

it makes it so much easier to curse something that has a name.....lol)

Victoria

Victoria is a Bernina 550 quilters edition, she is actually, according to the manual a sewing computer and well yes she is computerised but i think Matilda (my mac laptop) might be a little offended with that comment 

anyway

so far we are getting along pretty well

although. . . . . . . . .

i recently attended a workshop and thought

here we go a good way to get to know my new machine

ummmm not a good idea

BEFORE you go to the workshop . . . . get to know . . . .  your machine. . . . .  a least a little bit . . . . lol

okay well the workshop was with Pam Furniss and the goal was to make a little quilt using a variety of techniques and in the process get to know your machine and what it can do 

so we started with a quilt as you go technique (which i wish i could show you but i was a very bad blogger and didn't take a photo)

then we used our decorative stitches to stitch over the seams using a similar coloured thread

i loved this it was like. . . . . . ahhhh. . . . i'll pick this one and then . . . . . ohhhh i want to do that stitch

heaps of fun

you really should try this you see the quilt was all together all three layers so the decorative stitches was the quilting

Pam showed us lot's of examples of how the decorative stitches make even the most mundane quilting look brilliant

then we  stitched some curved lines and then needed to do some satin stitch fancy stitches over them

now this is where Victoria and i hit some difficulty

you see you have to make sure your tension is perfect . . . . 

 you know, no back thread at the front, no front thread at the back  

and since i had black on the back, silver on the front it was very noticeable

and well Victoria wasn't behaving according to expectation 

also to me a satin stitch has the thread laying side by side as above, and Victoria's default setting had the satin stitch looking like a very close zig zag 

( easily fixed, but it really annoyed me on the day)

and when i received the comment 

ohhh it might need a service i almost went through the roof she was only two months old

anyway

when i got home i threw the quilt on the sewing cabinet, left Victoria there still in her travel bag and ignored both of them for a couple of days , then it got the better of me . . .  .

i set Victoria up with a sample fabric and started playing , re read her manual and we did it, we got the tension right

you see Victoria is a Bernina and Bernina's have bobbin cases the bobbin case has a little arm and when you do satin stitch the thread should be threaded through the eye on the end of the arm

this done i adjusted the tension appropriately and she sewed like a dream and we have got past our first argument

we also had to blanket stitch lot's and lot's of little circles and flowers onto the quilt with a blanket stitch appliqué  and whilst i had done this before i had never done it to this extent and by the last few circles i got pretty good

well i  think so anyway . . . . . LOL

so all in all this workshop taught me heaps about needles, thread tension, using your walking foot and all the lovely decorative stitches your machine has.

i am a firm believer that you never ever stop learning and i know that there is a lot i have yet to learn in  life and about my craft 

Ohhh and  i just had to show you this 

my very very best friend made this for me, it's a little ladybug pincushion as you can see by the size of the needle it is pretty small, and is perfect to sit on top of the machine

(apparently she used a coca cola lid as the base)

and i also just wanted to show you the detail, she is a wonderful embroiderer and never resists the temptation of stitching on the smallest pieces of fabric

anyway i think i have talked your head off enough for one day,

 i am starting to get writers cramp . . .  .LOL

i hope your hands are working on a project that you love

Ciao