Tag: Quilting

My essential Featherweight feet

February 13, 2024

Intended audience for this post: Newer Featherweight owners.

Your machine may have come with a single presser foot all the way to a blue velvet lined box full of different feet. The Featherweight Shop does a great shop of explaining each foot and its purpose. That said, you really only a need a few presser feet to handle most quilting, garment and home dec sewing projects.

These are the feet I keep with my Featherweight at all times:

  1. Original presser foot
  2. Original zipper foot
  3. Modern low shank snap-on adapter with 1/4″ foot, scant 1/4″ foot and “open toe” foot
  4. Modern walking foot made especially for the Featherweight
  5. Modern low shank FMQ foot with feed dog cover

I use my FW for piecing quilt blocks, quilting small items, mending and making home dec projects. The one separate attachment I highly recommend is a buttonholer with as many templates as you can find.

Collecting vintage feet and accessories is fun! I do have a complete set of original feet that would have come with my FW in an original Singer box that’s seen better days. It’s put away for safekeeping, along with the original foot controller and cord with the bakelite plug. I also have several other accessory feet that I’ve found while antiquing, including a Penguin foot. My collection includes a zigzag attachment with several pattern cams. It’s fun to play with, but not exactly designed to be used for precise zigzag stitching that you might need in applique. If I’m at a retreat with my FW and our project involves applique, I utilize the Lori Holt solution – hand applique or use a straight stitch. If I know in advance I’ll need a zigzag or blanket stitch for a project, I’ll bring my 3/4 size Elna STAR edition instead. It fits in the same Buc-cee’s travel bag!

Playing the waiting game

February 9, 2024

On Tuesday morning, I officially applied for retirement. A short while later, I received a document outlining additional tasks I needed to do in order to complete my retirement application package. It took some time, but everything has now been submitted. I’ve done everything on my end. Now, as with our health insurance, we wait while everything goes through the prescribed processes. Unfortunately, at this stage, there’s no tracking mechanism in place for me to follow the status online. I’ll actually have to call and speak to a rep to find out where we are in the process – or wait for the mailed document. Maddening. Quilting keeps me focused on other things while I wait.

Yesterday, Sadie & I participated in the Middle Georgia Shop Hop. It took nearly 2 hours to reach our first stop off I-75 with all the traffic getting out of Atlanta. The shops were really busy. A number of vans were taking shop hoppers to the venues this year. Three of the shops were so crowded, I didn’t even look around. I merely had my passport stamped, purchased my blocks and left.

Of course, we made the obligatory pit stop at Buc-cee’s in Fort Valley before heading across the state to the shops along I-85. Around 3:30 p.m., I turned in our completed passport to Hometown Quilt Shop – we were the first completed passport to be turned in! 

Today, I helped a friend spray baste her first quilt and learn how to do straight line quilting using a walking foot. She finished quilting her top right as we needed to pack up and vacate our space at the library so the next group could use it. Perfect timing! She’s going to trim her quilt and make the binding this week. If she’s brave, she’ll try to attach it. I’ll guide her through machine stitching it down and joining the binding ends next Friday.

My CraftLAB kiddos will be stitching with me on Saturday afternoon to complete their cross body bags. I’ve already advised them that the next project will be to work on their blocks for the kid’s exhibit at the June quilt show. Speaking of which, I’d best get started on quilting my own entry.

Welcome to Quilty February!

February 1, 2024

The above free pattern comes from Fat Quarter Shop. My wall hanging is made of leftovers from last year’s quilt projects. So fun to put together! Definitely planning to start the Letters to Santa quilt in July. This one looks to be another stashbuster project! Setting aside any potential fabrics now as I sort through my fabric bins.

For January, I joined the “no spend” fabric challenge with my Friday sewing squad. It was a learning experience. Main takeaway: “Low spend” is much more realistic than “no spend” for me especially when it pertains to quilting/sewing. I actually bought no fabric for my own projects; however, I did need a small amount of fabric for my kid’s classes and had to take a sewing machine in for repair. I can “no spend” on books & magazines because I have access via the Libby app and don’t feel deprived. Not the same with quilting. Swapping fabric with friends and shopping the free table at guild meetings is fun, but many times their fabric preferences and mine don’t necessarily match. Hence, I’ll always keep a little quilty spending money in my budget! :-)

February brings the Middle Georgia Shop Hop. Sadie and I will enjoy our third journey visiting quilt shops in the middle part of the state. It’s a fun day out for both of us as Sadie is welcome in two of the shops and there’s a really nice dog park half-way through our trip. I like to collect the two block kits ($1 each) designed by each shop specifically for the shop hop. Last year’s blocks made a bright, colorful quilt that was donated to my guild’s community service.

QuiltCon 2024 is later this month in Raleigh, NC. I’m excited for the opportunity to travel to a city I’ve never visited previously and get some much needed “me time” away from home. I’ll also get to reconnect with some of my quilty peeps who no longer live in the ATL and hopefully meet some folks I follow online. Quilts on display at QuiltCon are always unique. There are modern quilts, some traditional with modern twists and others just plain out there. How long I spend looking at quilts depends on what’s in the show. This year’s lecture topics sound interesting and the vendor list looks amazing. I’ll thoroughly enjoy learning about everything that’s new. So far, my shopping list consists of themed stickers and goodies for my CraftLAB kiddos, a newly re-designed Oliso mini iron for me (Tula Pink edition preferred) and some bag hardware from Sallie Tomato for a friend.

And finally, deadlines for the Georgia Celebrates Quilts show are fast approaching. I finished the quilt top last week. I have six weeks to get it quilted and bound so I can take the required photographs to go along with my show entry form. It’s a throw size, so I feel comfortable FMQ this one myself. I’ll stitch an all over paisley design, which I think best complements the fabric and quilt blocks.