And I Sewed, Too!

I have to tell you, I felt like I was slacking and playing hooky and getting away with something I should not be getting away with either!

And it was GREAT!

Usually, my trips go like this…..I teach ONE class per day that lasts either a half day ((4 hours)) or a full day ((6 hours plus time for lunch)) with the average day running from 9am to 4pm. And everyone does the same class. And I spend my time with each student, making my rounds around the room.

If I need to sew for a demo, I bump someone out of their chair and use their machine.

I don’t sit! I certainly don’t sit at the front of the class and work on my own projects, that’s not what I am there for.

So Thursday night I taught from 2pm until dinner time….and then *I* got to sew!

Remember the trouble I had with the difference in seam allowance when switching between machines at retreat in Shipshewana last November? Even though my new featherweight had a brand new highly touted “PERFECT” 1/4” foot on it, all my blocks came out to be 1/4” too small when compared to the ones I had made at home on my Bernina.

I was NOT going to deal with that this time! ((And yes, I ditched that 1/4” foot with the little black guide because it sews FAR too wide, and because that black thing is there, you can’t see WHERE the edge of your fabric is))

On the left is the pair of triangles sewn with the “perfect 1/4” foot with guide. TOO WIDE!

ON the right is the one I sewed on my home machine, my Bernina 1080, with it’s scant 1/4”.

These triangles needed to measure 2” when pressed. The one with the 1/4” foot on the featherweight came out 1 7/8”. You can see just by looking at the pic that the seam allowance on the left hand pair is too wide.

So how do I get what I sew on THIS machine to match what I am sewing on my home machine? I had a light bulb moment!

I put my original foot on that came WITH the featherweight…..this foot is too narrow by itself for a 1/4” seam, but I took the “CORRECT” triangle pair, the one I sewed on my home machine, and put it under the needle. I sunk the needle right into the stitch line. I used my little screw on seam guide and adjusted it right up to where the seam allowance needed to fall.

I knew the seam would be the same as the ones I sewed at home at this point…I double checked by holding ones I’d done at home against the ones I was doing here. NO DIFFERENCE. I think this is even more important than measuring your seam with a ruler. Just be sure you bring a unit that you sewed on the “other” machine so you can set the traveling machine to give you the same result.

Friday I taught until about 3:30pm…and everyone had really gotten into their projects and didn’t need me anymore, and the machine beckoned!

I sewed until dinner, and I sewed after dinner until I crawled off to bed around 10:30pm ((Yeah, I know, what a WIMP!!))

Saturday I got in LOTS AND LOTS of sewing time! So much so that all I had left were the leader/ender bow-ties I had brought….and they became primary project material!

Woah! Can I actually do it this way? Is that cheating?

If I am using one bow-tie to be the leader ender of a second bow-tie…does that make it more legal!?

When I ran OUT of pre-cut bow-tie parts..I grabbed the motley crew of scrap fabrics I had brought with me and pressed them. And then I had a cutting fest! ((Yep, there are some real classic vintage oldies in here! How fun to put them to good use in these ties!))

I spent my last night in Rangeley back at Quilt Inn, covering the wonderfully large cutting table with little kitted up squares for MORE bow-ties!

I’m headed to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM on Saturday. Guess who’s going to be ready for some MORE piecing time?!