Wishful Wednesday #3 (shh...)
Wednesday was a little hectic for me, so unfortunately I didn't manage to get a post out. I really need to write a post (hopefully this weekend) about my wonderful birthday (ACK 22!) and the chaos that surrounded it, but that will have to wait until I've got more than 15 minutes total to write.
But anyways, on to the Wishful Wednesday. Thursday. Whatever.
So I adore my little Janome. It's a workhorse of a machine, stubborn, and puts up with my abuses with nary a complaint. But unfortunately it was never meant to be able to sew and quilt an entire quilt. It does an admirable job on twin size quilts, don't get me wrong, but the poor thing cannot handle the stress of doing anything larger. While working on Glenn's quilt I had to manhandle the quilt to get it to go under the needle, and it took no little amount of tugging and rolling to get everything to fit together just so.
After doing a great deal of research (read: drooling over machines for hours on end) I decided that if/when I am able to afford to upgrade my hobby I will purchase the Juki TL98Q machine. It's got plenty of arm space (8.5 x 5.9), comes with all the feet I would ever need or want for this machine, and includes a table standard.
I've only noticed in this most recent project how annoying it can be to have to work with the default bed of the machine. If I'm not careful while sewing my project can go off kilter because my hand has slipped off the base, now hidden by the enormous blocks I'm working with. So having that nice big working area would be a huge help.
Another feature I've been dreaming about is the needle up-down option. Jess can't even begin to count the number of times I've grumbled about not having this feature, and honestly I refuse to think about another machine unless it has this. Even if machines were set to do one or the other by default I think I would be happy--it takes a lot of sewing to work out the particular timing of getting that needle to be upright and about to come down so it doesn't run off with my thread and force me to untangle everything.
It's a little pricey at 899$, but I'm thinking it might be my Christmas present to myself, or a present for getting something published. Certainly not something I'll be getting anytime soon, but it will be nice when/if it does happen!
And because I'm late with this one, I want to add another handy tool I'm considering thanks to Rossie of fresh modern quilts fame.
This handy little gadget is basically one of those 'tub assist' handle things they used to advertise on late night TV, for folks who had trouble getting in and out of the tub. While I don't doubt their efficacy in showering, I think applying the concept to quilting is a fabulous idea. Having a handle to apply pressure with sounds like it must make things a breeze. It would certainly help even out the pressure along the ruler so fabric doesn't try to escape!
That's all for now; I have to go pack up the essentials for my trip to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania over the next two weeks. I will try to remember to bring my camera, I plan to do quite a bit of quilting inbetween the long drives!
Marisa
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| Picture from icanhelpsew.com |
So I adore my little Janome. It's a workhorse of a machine, stubborn, and puts up with my abuses with nary a complaint. But unfortunately it was never meant to be able to sew and quilt an entire quilt. It does an admirable job on twin size quilts, don't get me wrong, but the poor thing cannot handle the stress of doing anything larger. While working on Glenn's quilt I had to manhandle the quilt to get it to go under the needle, and it took no little amount of tugging and rolling to get everything to fit together just so.
After doing a great deal of research (read: drooling over machines for hours on end) I decided that if/when I am able to afford to upgrade my hobby I will purchase the Juki TL98Q machine. It's got plenty of arm space (8.5 x 5.9), comes with all the feet I would ever need or want for this machine, and includes a table standard.
I've only noticed in this most recent project how annoying it can be to have to work with the default bed of the machine. If I'm not careful while sewing my project can go off kilter because my hand has slipped off the base, now hidden by the enormous blocks I'm working with. So having that nice big working area would be a huge help.
Another feature I've been dreaming about is the needle up-down option. Jess can't even begin to count the number of times I've grumbled about not having this feature, and honestly I refuse to think about another machine unless it has this. Even if machines were set to do one or the other by default I think I would be happy--it takes a lot of sewing to work out the particular timing of getting that needle to be upright and about to come down so it doesn't run off with my thread and force me to untangle everything.
It's a little pricey at 899$, but I'm thinking it might be my Christmas present to myself, or a present for getting something published. Certainly not something I'll be getting anytime soon, but it will be nice when/if it does happen!
And because I'm late with this one, I want to add another handy tool I'm considering thanks to Rossie of fresh modern quilts fame.
 |
| From The Gypsy Quilter. |
That's all for now; I have to go pack up the essentials for my trip to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania over the next two weeks. I will try to remember to bring my camera, I plan to do quite a bit of quilting inbetween the long drives!
Marisa
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