Sewing: March 2007 Archives
While there's never a substitute for good technique, having good tools isn't such a bad thing, either. One of the things that became readily apparent as I was working on my quilting projects in class was that a nice sewing machine really does make a project go more smoothly. I worked on my first quilt project with my mom's travelling machine, a Husqvarna Romeo. Romeo is a fine machine, but he was lacking a few things that make quilting easier -- which is my way of saying that I got spoiled by the nice machines that Colette has available in the Quiltology sewing workshop and started jonesing for one of my own.
For my birthday, my dear sweet husband told me that I could go pick out a new video iPod of my choice. But I started my quilting classes before I got to the Apple store and I asked him if I could invest in a different sort of hardware. I think I traded on options for anniversary and Christmas presents as well in order to be able to ask Colette to order a Bernina Activa 230 Patchwork Edition for me, but I think it's well worth it. This machine has some lovely things on it that make it perfect for quilting, but it's also an excellent general purpose machine that will be great for other home dec and garment projects. I love that it has a nice pre-programmed stitch library, which means that it can do applique work and some fancy embroidery stitches, and I can purchase the walking foot if I decide I want to quilt my own quilt projects with it.
This machine has lots of room for me to grow into. Truth be told, it's probably more machine than a newbie quilter ought to be investing in. But almost everyone I talked to who had a sewing machine of their own suggested that I wouldn't regret getting a machine a step or so above what I thought I needed. And from what I understand of Berninas, they are the sort of machine that can last a sewer, if not a lifetime, then at least a good long time.
So now I don't have any excuse for not getting all my 9 patches pieced together before my next class!
P.S. I just installed a new plug in to help with the annoying comment spam problems that I've been having. So far it seems to be doing a good job of blocking some of the crap that was hitting my site. It should be invisible to anyone who leaves me a comment, but if you suddenly start to have problems, please drop me an email (email address in my sidebar). I'm hoping that between this plugin and another one that helps me shut off the comments on old posts, none of us will have to see any more stupid "G'night" comments or advertisements for financial services, pharmeceuticals or pornographic materials.
