Friday, February 25, 2011

Tumbler block

 I have been drooling over this classic block called a tumbler. I had a template made by an online template maker I found on E-Bay. If I can find her name I will add a link.  Anyway...I wanted a 4" tumbler template because I have a box of 2000 4" squares that I bought from Keepsake Quilting YEARS ago. I guess I have been saving them for my next life. HA!
But before I cut into those precious squares I cut some tumblers from my scraps. As the "flimsy" grew I realized that I LOVE making this kind of quilt. It is easy to sew and the results are great.

My wonderful Hubby has been waiting for a monitor cover for quite some time now. As I brought out a partial "flimsy" I draped it over the monitor and the dimensions were so perfect that he became the proud owner of my first project off the new Janome 3160 QDC sewing machine. I fully lined the monitor cover in some quality muslin. A quick pressing and it is now on his monitor.


Looks really nice!



 This is a partial review on my new sewing machine. First off I had to find a place to set her up away from my main sewing area. A few moves and a crippling sore back (muscle spasms) I have her in my cutting/pressing room where I used to sew exclusively. So small in there I cannot take a full step...well enough about this small house. I cannot believe I used to have all my setup in that room!!!!!!

The machine sewed not so good. So, I threw away the needle that came with the machine and used my Organ 12/80 titanium needle. That helped the skipping stitches. Then I tried different feet and needle positions until I acheived my 1/4" seam. So far so good. But the 12/80 needle did not like the small spool of Coats and Clark 50 weight thread (me either...too much lint).  Then somehow the entire bobbin case jumped out of position in the under plate area. Jammed so tight that I couldn't get the plate cover off...it had been pushed crooked! I managed to undo the bind by moving the feed dogs a bit and reset the bobbin case. So, I set up my thread stand and used a spool of So Fine. Now I was cooking! I whipped through that sewing session very pleased with the machine. But I am wondering how the bobbin case was able to jump. I had not removed the plate yet...so maybe it was not set right from the factory. I will keep an eye on it. this is unacceptable if it does it again. The bobbin was nearly empty when this happened. I will see what happens when this bobbin runs low.

All in all the machine sews great. It is quiet and powerfull and only weighs 12 lbs!

 This was my pile of 5 quilts that needed to be quilted this last week. They are all done.
  1. Two quilts for Project Linus
  2. pink quilt for my new grand niece (who is not born yet)
  3. Toy Shop quilt (Wind it up fabric) for great grandson's 1st BD (Logan)
  4. a bonus quilt for Logan. I made too many pinwheels.

 Here I am just beginning to straight line quilt. My Janome 6600P does such a perfect job of quilting.

And I used only one Organ Titanium 90/14 Topstitch needle for all five quilts. And it is still sharp!
I ordered 100 of them through "needlecoop" on Yahoo groups. They have not arrived yet.
 Isn't this a great fabric? these squares are 1 1/2" cut. I can see them as a center for a Log Cabin, Pineapple, Peaky and Spike....just so many options. I found this fabric on E-Bay. LOVE IT! And I am not a red person but I am slowly learning to love red. Just a bit in a quilt adds so much punch. I am trying to learn to love orange...still trying!
 My Pineapple quilt arrived home just before the snowstorm hit on Friday. Mary said she had included some scraps. There has to be a whole pound of scraps here!!! This morning I woke up at 3:45 a.m. What to do? Why press and harvest some of those scraps!!! I did not even make a dent in them!
THANKS MARY!
I will post a picture of the Pineapple quilt after I get it bound. I had made a scrappy binding for the quilt then changed my mind. I cut strips from the border fabric (Fat Cats) and need to sew it on yet.
First light this morning.
The snow was really blowing.
 It hardly ever gets blown onto my front picture window.
The cats were freaked out and kept trying to touch them through the window.
I had to raise the blinds before they ruined the them!
Then the sun came out and melted all the snow.
Sigh!
I love snow!

10 comments:

Linda said...

I love the tumbler too! You put them to good use! Turned out great!! Good to hear you like your new machine after the little skipped stitch issue.

Gail said...

Hi Subee, I wonder if the bobbin case in your new Janome has a weight sensor for the bobbin which allowed it to jump the track when it was almost empty. Check the manual, it might say something about it.

My BL Sofia2 beeps when the bobbin is low, so I know that it has a weight sensor.

Gail said...

P.S. Really like the monitor cover and I'm kind of anxious to try the tumbler block too. I think it has a lot of potential.

gail

regan said...

Wow, have you been busy! Love the red fabric squares....those WILL be great as a center piece or cornerstone. Glad you have your machine running smoothly. It's always disheartening when they give you problems....we are so dependent on them working right!

regan said...

Oh....almost forgot....the monitor cover is AWESOME!!!! I love it!

Dionne said...

Wow! Subee, you really amaze me. You are SO productive. I love that monitor cover by the way. I have made a few tumbler blocks and they do sew up quick. Although the first couple of times I had an issue with placement, fat ends to fat ends ~ oops. I'll bet you never did that!
Cheers,
Dionne

Ruthie said...

I also love those little squares. thank you very much. I received your check and registration form today!

Valspierssews said...

The monitor cover looks great. It is frustrating when the machine isn't working quite right. Hope it works out. I like the sound of the titanium needle. I will check it out.

JudyCinNC said...

Those little red blocks are going to be very nice as the center of another block - can't wait to see that finish. I have been doing the "apple core" and wonder if it would look as good as your tumbler for a monitor cover. Joyd in your new machine. Judy C

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad to have read your blog this morning and see that your quilt and scraps made it. I hadn't received and email from you so didn't know.
Great cover up and I have to say you scored on that red fabric!