Mug Rugs

I needed to make some more adjustments on my new Featherweight before I could really use it.  I had trouble with the belt slipping and then my needle started to hit the needle plate.  After I made these adjustments, I wanted to see how it sewed.  It is a peppy little machine.  Peppier, I think, than my others.  I made these two little mug rugs with it.  I work remotely so have little contact with the other people in my department.  I decided to make some of them mug rugs.  They aren't quilters, so I am sure I will have some explaining to do when they receive them.  The women in my little quilt club hadn't heard of mug rugs either.  I spend too much time reading blogs!







Spent the rest of the weekend watching two of my grand kids while their parents went to a marriage retreat through their church.  It was tiring, and I am glad I don't have to do it all the time, but I miss them tonight!

Elijah had soccer practice-he is really enjoying himself.  Madison played with other little girls while their siblings practiced.

Two Terrain quilts

I have been wanting to make a quilt for two girls I work with to raffle for their teams to raise money for cancer.  Both are cancer survivors.  I work remotely and haven't been able to contribute anything to them, and thought this may be a fun project for all of us.

A friend asked me to make a quilt for her team to raffle for cancer.  I actually made this one first.  I wanted to use bright colors to represent all the cancers.  This one is Cross Terrain from the Moda Bake Shop.  I added another border just to make it a little bit larger.  Both quilts have mostly Terrain in them.  I bought the Terrain for myself for a Christmas present.  I saved a little of it to make myself a quilt.  I really love that fabric!

Two more finishes for this year.  I am pretty pleased with my progress.

Valentine's Day Early

My husband and I don't fuss too much with holiday presents.  We usually like to spend time together by going out to eat, watching a movie, walking around a flea market, etc.  He really surprised me by buying me a nice little camera for Christmas.  I love that.  Then he surprised me by buying this little beauty for me:

I have a few black ones, but none of this Celery/Cream colored one.  It was frozen up and I thought it probably had a thread caught in the bobbin race area.  I took that all apart and it was clean as a whistle.  There was no thread or lint in this machine.  I am pretty sure it was used because the bobbins were in various states of fullness for thread and there was some thread on the spool spindle.
I oiled and greased her to no avail.  My husband helped me force the bobbin race and hand wheel to move, but the machine still wouldn't work under its own power.  I oiled and greased her some more, and with sore hands from all this, I decided to let the oil soak in and try again in the morning.  I was going to bring the big guns down  (hair dryer) if I needed to.
After a little more oiling, the machine was loosened up.  I was now having trouble with tension, skipped stitches, and huge bobbin loops under the fabric.  I had the needle in backwards, which is easy to do with Featherweights!  That helped with the skipped stitches.  More adjustments to the tension and that seems to be straightened out.  They are not quite as perfect as I would like to see, but we are getting there.
I think since I took the bobbin race out, I don't have that lined up as perfectly as it should be.
Part of the deal with DH buying this Celery Featherweight was I would sell one of my black ones to help pay for this.  I just can't do it!  I told him I would sell my Pfaff.  I am going to get that and clean it up and get it ready to sell.

This is a Pfaff Synchromatic 1215 that I never really bonded with.  I think it is a pretty desirable machine, and I have seen it recommended for sail making.  Not sure what it is worth, but I think it will cover the cost of my pretty little Featherweight and make my DH happy.