Oh My Star

I always love star blocks and when I saw Jera of Quilting in The Rain "Summer Mini Star" quilt I just went ahead and bought the pattern

one year ago...

and it's super easy to do

I've done it in a day...well if you count the hours that I am working on it ;-)

here is the detail of the FMQ, isn't that pretty??

Please don't mind if I can't stop being narcissistic here 

I've been trying FMQ in my HV Designer Topaz 20 which is I must admit it was rather bumpy journey. I read and watched a bunch of tutorials, fiddle with the settings, etc but it was not working as smooth as my  humble Usha Stitch Queen. 

and this one I did with Rayon thread in butter yellow color. It's so gorgeous in person. 

HV DT 20 in my opinion is good as embroidery machine or general sewing. But not for quilting. This is from my personal experiences. 

At the back, I decided to go with this yellow and green geometric print from my Etsy Fabric Shop. I wanted something bright.

And the binding is dark grey polkadots. 

For now, it's hanging prettily above my sewing machine. 

It's my inspiration as I can finish my first quilt of the year.

To tell you the truth, I was almost giving up on FMQ, until the other day. I was trying to tell my self that FMQ is not everyone's cup of tea.

well, if you get the right machine, then  why not?? It's easy it's fun. 

Sometimes something simple is all you need!

Until then,

Happy Quilting

The Queen is home

I've been looking for a 3rd machine. I want something semi automatic, something heavy duty. I read online about Janome HD1000 and visited Usha Janome shops in my town and they said it is not available in India. 

But I need a machine to sew my wallets and bags. 

My Bernette has been having some problem and in and out of service a couple of times but the problem persist. My Husqvarna Viking  DT 20 can handle it so far, but it is not tough enough to handle the load. Besides, if anything happen, there is no service support for Husqvarna Viking in my town or the nearest Metro (that is Calcutta), it's going to be a headache for me.  So, I was looking something less expensive which will serve my purpose.

First I went to the main dealer of Usha Janome in GS Road, the guy there was trying to sell me the high end machine, and refused to show me Usha Stitch Queen, the machine that I have in mind (besides the HD1000). I told him, I already have fancy one and I don't need another one. So I  went to the shop where I bought my first Janome when I came to India 14 years ago. 

I spoke to the old man and showed me 2 machine, Janome Empress and Usha Stitch Queen which basically the same, except Janome Empress only treadle and has a couple of decorative stitches, while Stitch Queen is equipped with electric pedal and only has straight and zig zag stitches (which is what I need). He insisted that I try sewing using the sample fabric that I had with me. He said "I will not sell you the machine if you are not happy with it and it doesn't serve your purpose". And I was sold. His honesty is a rare quality of a master salesman. Despite of having a small shop, he didn't try to sell me the more expensive machine. He also insisted that I meet the machine demonstrator to check if everything is ok and will send him to my house for thorough demo. 

And so I brought the Queen home ^_^

Top View ~ you can see the motor attached at the back, that is Janome motor. 

it's written : designed and specified by Janome 

and I got more than what I bargain for, that I can drop the feed dog down, that mean you can you FMQ, right? 

I mean, if you google about FMQ you will always find  the instruction goes like 1) drop the feed dog and 2) set the stitch length to 0 

et voila!!

My first trial

I was amazed. No loose stitch, no tension issues (literally!!!) and it just goes...smoothly..just like when you drive again after a long gap, after few minutes you will race in the highway

and I did finish this mug rug in one go...just as simple as 123...

And I recently found this tutorial by Lizzie Lenard on YouTube  on How to do FMQ if you have treadle machine. 

Isn't it inspiring? 

Until then,

Happy Sewing

Spring Garden Quilt

If you read my previous post, I wrote about my first quilt competition which - during the competition time frame (dec-April) - I was not allowed to disclose what I was making in any online social network - now I can show you.

Since the theme was the joy of flowers, so I made this with spring in Assam (my adopted homeland) in mind. 

More pictures on the making process can be viewed HERE and HERE 

I love Seminole and finally had a chance to use it as a border. making traditional quilt blocks using Indian mulmul fabrics was a challenge. I have to repeat many blocks cos the size keeps changing after squaring. But it's all worth the result.

I did FMQ in most parts of the quilt and tried decorative stitches in one border. 

The applique leaves were done by machine since the RULE said there should be very minimum handwork. The event was sponsored by Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff, and Handi Quilter, so I guess they wanted to show more of machine work. 

The backing

Close up 

I hope you enjoy your visit! 

That's all for now

Happy Quilting

Until then,