New Year, New Machine

Welcome to 2023! Things have been so busy here, I hardly know where to start. But since this blog is primarily about my sewing and quilting, that’s the most logical point, right?

Last week I mentioned that my Bernina 550QE was in the shop for her annual spa treatment. As usual, when I took it in I asked for a stitch count, which I meant to be for the year. Once again this year I hit 3 million stitches, which didn’t surprise me given how much sewing I’d been doing. What I didn’t expect, however, was a total lifetime stitch count on this machine of 19 million stitches (9 years). And then the service technician said (1) “You’ve been a busy girl”, and (2) the machine would soon need a gear replacement, likely mid-year or whenever it started skipping stitches. Apparently the gears eventually get dull and worn down (like tires on a car?) and packed with lint. The machine had not ever given me any real trouble (except one quilt that I could NOT ever get the tension right on; I later figured it was the fabric itself. But I digress…).  He also said that was a pretty high stitch count, one that most machines don’t reach in a lifetime. 

So of course, that got MY gears turning. Would I want to do another (pricey) servicing soon, or should I just upgrade a bit? The thought had been noodling around in my brain for a few months. Long story short, I took the plunge and upgraded to a new, slightly larger machine. The year-end sale and fantastic trade-in were additional incentives. 

First I have to show you the box. When we brought it in the house and took a picture, I sent the pic to Cousin Kim, saying “FRA-GEE-LAY” (a reference to the Christmas Story movie where Darren McGavin’s character wins a “major prize” that comes in a crate marked Fragile and turns out to be a leg lamp). I told Kim the box either contained my new machine or a leg lamp. She was rooting for a leg lamp! Ha! 

But it was my new Bernina 570QE, shown here not yet completely unwrapped. Yay! I’m in love with the wider (by 2”j harp space.

So, I’ve been just doing basic sewing this week. My three New Owner classes begin this morning and run for three Saturdays. The bobbin is HUGE (holds 70% more than the last machine). I have had no trouble with anything so far except getting the last couple threading steps right on the bobbin insertion, resulting in poor tension. But I figured it out. And that’s how I roll - I learn better when I make missssssnakes and have to work my way out of them. This may be a long learning curve! But I hope to be ready to actually quilt something by mid-month.

So here we are, beginning a new year with Angela and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. January’s color is blue; darks and brights (which translates to me as darks to mid-value range). I’m linking up to our first Scrappy Saturday gathering. 

My first RSC blocks of the new year are these delightful Chaser blocks from Cynthia Brunz of Quilting is More Fun Than Housework. This is a great pattern - basic, but with so many variations and ideas jam-packing her pattern, that I can’t recommend it highly enough. Besides, it’s great to support our quilting friends, right? See her patterns HERE. I’ll probably add in other variations of this block as the year progresses.

I’ve decided to use black as my constant/background color to help me continue paring down my dark scraps. And speaking of whittling down darks, here is another block (four-in-nine) that I’m doing with the same goal in mind:

Yes, I see that the upper right section in the upper right block is turned wrong. I always wondered how someone could do that and not see it the first time. Now I know!! Don’t worry, I’ll fix it today. What I don’t believe is discernible in this photo is that the 1.5” squares (the constant color) in the top two blocks is navy, and in the bottom two blocks is dark gray. I plan to make two quilts at year-end. The gray quilt will eventually include pink and girly colors and the navy will be boyish. 

These Little Brick blocks, courtesy of Sylvia, are a continuation from last year. I’ll probably make more of these in the blues later this month. 

I also have sewn together the two quilt tops from these donated blocks. They were both supposed to have orange cornerstones, which I cut out and had at the ready. But I was concentrating so hard on sewing with the new machine that I forgot them both times!!

These two tops and their backings have gone into the to-be-quilted line. 

And taking up residence on the design board are the 4” bow tie blocks made as one of my 2022 RSC blocks. I made only enough for one quilt, and it’s undergoing top assembly now.  I’ll probably add a bright 2” border all around and call it good.

It appears that our House of Reprehensibles finally elected Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. The Republican Party has shown what a clown show they are. They need to get the MAGAts out and get back to responsible governing. And I’ll spare you the rest of my diatribe. (You’re welcome).

Have a great week, friends.